MARA is an official project of the London School of Economics with academic support from the Faculty of Economics at the University of Buenos Aires.

The German Ambassador to Argentina, Dr. Schumacher, the British Ambassador to Argentina, Dr. Hughes and the Argentinean Minister of Education, Science and Technology, Lic. Daniel Filmusthe are the patrons of MARA.

Greeting of Lic. Daniel Filmus,

Argentinean Minister of Education, Science and Technology

Lic. Filmus, Argentinean Minister of Education, Science and Technology

Interdisciplinary and international research co-operations have always played an important role for the scientific and technical development of Argentina. The MARA project – organised by young Argentinean and foreign academics – contributes to this development by transferring new technologies and methodologies to Argentina. Students and young professionals involved in MARA worked with partner organisations in Argentina to show how decision-analytic methodologies can facilitate a more efficient use of resources. The project therefore transfers academic knowledge into the private and public sector in Argentina.

I am happy and proud to support the efforts of this group as it shows the willingness to take responsibility and to have a say in the scientific-technological progress of Argentina. With respect to the academic involvement, I am sure that the insights gained during the MARA project will fruitfully feed back into the educational programmes in Argentina. I would like to wish the organisers a very successful development for their future projects.

Lic. Daniel Filmus,

Argentinean Minister of Education, Science and Technology

Greeting of Dr. John Hughes,

British Ambassador to Argentina

Dr. Hughes, British Ambassador to Argentina

The British Embassy was pleased to lend support to the MARA project 2005 in Buenos Aires. If not unique, the MARA project must be one of a small group of truly multinational academic exchanges. With students and academics from the University of Buenos Aires, the London School of Economics and the Foundation of German Business, the project highlights the close bond that exists between our three countries in economic, cultural and academic terms.

The MARA project applies methodologies drawn from Decision Science to help managers take more technically rational and less intuitive decisions matching scarce resources to priorities. The success of the project is testament to the hard work and initiative of its young team, and their accurate perception that Decision Analysis has something to offer public sector organisations and private sector companies alike.

One of the founding principles of the London School of Economics was to find a way for social science research to offer practical and real solutions to society's problems. As a former LSE student, I am proud to see this principle present in Project MARA. I wish the team success in Germany in 2006.

Dr. John Hughes,

British Ambassador to Argentina

Greeting of Dr. Rolf Schumacher,

German Ambassador to Argentina

Dr. Schumacher, German Ambassador to Argentina

International academic exchange enhances science and economy and is as a medium of intercultural dialogue of particular interest in the foreign cultural and educational policy of The Federal Republic of Germany.

The great success of the MARA project 2005 in Buenos Aires, Argentina, as a pilot experience to demonstrate the methodologies and benefits of Decision Analysis not only visualises the high importance of international research cooperation but also the close link between Argen­tina, Germany and the UK in the economic and cultural field. Therefore, the German Embassy gladly supported the innovative project in 2005 and I hope that this cooperation will be continued in the follow-up project that will be organised in Germany next year. Besides intensifying the transfer of academic knowledge, a complementary aim of MARA 2006 will be to concentrate its focus on con­­veying to young inter­national academics and professionals an im­pression of Germany as an attractive meeting point for re­search and studies.

Under the leadership of a young and creative team, it has successfully been demonstrated that the interests of international companies, NGO’s, uni­versities and others coming from Argentina, UK and Germany could be unified and welded into one common project which can only be referred to as having accomplished its goal successfully.
 

I am convinced that this team-work will result in extensive and far-reaching cooperation of all participants in the future.

Dr. Rolf Schumacher,

German Ambassador to Argentina