Norbert Jousten, executive director, International Science and Technology Center, Moscow

With his affinity for eastern Europe, his diplomatic abilities and his solid background in nuclear technology, Norbert Jousten feels prepared for his new post as executive director of the International Science and Technology Center (ISTC) in Moscow.

Jousten is used to change. In December 2000, he was a diplomat for the European Commission in the Ukranian city of Kiev when the government there submitted to the will of the international community and closed the last nuclear reactor at Chernobyl. “It was a fascinating time,” he remembers. “You could feel the tremendous changes going on and the great desire of the people to come closer to Europe.” (see CV)

Now the 57-year-old Belgian is preparing to help bring about further changes in the eastern bloc. The ISTC helps to make peaceful use of the legacy of the former Soviet Union's nuclear programme. The end of the cold war left many highly trained weapons experts without a job. Since 1994, the ISTC has been scouring their home countries in an attempt to find them civilian research jobs.

Jousten, who studied nuclear physics in Liège, Belgium, before beginning his career in nuclear technology and, later, diplomacy, is optimistic about the prospects of success in his newest mission. So far, he notes, fears that former Soviet weapons scientists could be tempted to offer classified knowledge to ‘undesirable’ paymasters have proved unfounded — at least, in most cases. Jousten hopes that, as Russia's economic situation stabilizes, the ISTC's attempts to redirect military know-how into socially beneficial activities will continue to prevent scientists from defecting. “There are many newly emerging opportunities for military researchers,” he says.

Currently, Jousten is living without his wife and family in a Moscow hotel, where he is trying to improve his Russian. “Not an easy task,” he admits. “But Moscow is such an incredibly fast-developing city, I really like working here.” By the end of October, when the ISTC will celebrate its tenth anniversary with a big conference, Jousten hopes that the search for a flat will be over, his Russian will be good enough to order dinner, and his family will be reunited.