Interest is growing in tools and innovations that can ease the workload imposed on women farm workers, report M Sreelata and Naomi Antony.

SciDev.Net speaks to Vaughan Turekian, editor-in-chief of the AAAS's new quarterly publication, Science & Diplomacy, which launched this week.

The state of Lagos has set up an advisory council to guide it towards becoming an innovation hub for West Africa. Emeka Johnkingsley reports.

India dreams of becoming a scientific powerhouse, but challenges lie ahead, including complex bureaucracy.

Yojana Sharma describes various proposals for a new panel to monitor progress towards sustainable development after Rio+20.

Princess Sumaya bint El Hassan of Jordan talks to SciDev.Net about hopes for science in the Middle East, science diplomacy and the role of women scientists.

An international meeting aims to shake up donor−recipient relations in a quest for more enduring health gains, reports Beverly Petersen Stearns.

Will Vietnam's science stipends be enough to keep scientists at home or will corruption, entrenched hierarchies and poor facilities prevail, asks Mike Ives?

SciDev.Net speaks to UNESCO's Gretchen Kalonji about how a new panel of experts is breathing fresh life into the organisation's science plans.

Bernie Fanaroff, director of South Africa's Square Kilometre Array project, tells SciDev.Net how hosting the world's most powerful radio telescope would benefit Africa.

Philippe Mawoko, the first head of the African science observatory currently under construction in Equatorial Guinea, speaks to SciDev.Net about the new institution.

Romain Murenzi, the new executive director of TWAS, the developing world's science academy, talks to SciDev.Net about his plans for the organisation.

The Royal Society's new foreign secretary, Martyn Poliakoff, talks to SciDev.Net about his plans to develop links with African scientists.

Developing countries need more women scientists. Jeanne Therese H. Andres charts the obstacles and how to overcome them.

Women from Jordan, Kenya, Pakistan, Peru and the Philippines tell SciDev.Net how they realised their dreams of careers in science.

Can recent policies and new programmes tackle Mexico's serious shortage of homegrown science and technology? Cecilia Rosen finds out.

Munyaradzi Makoni explains how an economic crisis and a brain drain have created problems for Zimbabwe's science minister, Heneri Dzinotyiweyi.

Harvard globalisation professor Calestous Juma talks to SciDev.Net about how to get Africa's wealth of innovation making an impact.

Mohamed Hassan, outgoing executive director of TWAS, talks to SciDev.Net about 25 years in the job and his hopes for the academy's future.

The African Union is determined to push ahead with plans for a Pan-African University, despite disputes over several of its five hubs.