Letter from students to Harry Kroto in June 2008

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Dear Professor Kroto

We hope that you are fine, and we sincerely thank you for your time. We come to you with an embarrassing issue that is happening in the mexican scientific community. As you may know, professors Mauricio and Humberto Terrones have been working very hard to build an international-level research group and graduate school in San Luis Potosi, Mexico. Under their leadership, this group has grown to be one of the most important Nanoscience and Nanotechnology research groups in Latinamerica.

However, in the last couple of weeks several unjustified administrative changes have threatened the future of the group's research projects. The new administration is taking control of the characterization equipment and laboratories, which were acquired with federal funding through professors Mauricio and Humberto Terrones' research grants. This is not the first time that available resources are made unaccessible to our group because of administrative policies, two electronic microscopes were kept in boxes for four years. Furthermore, they are trying to take over the graduate school, while asking Mauricio to start a new graduate program.

Under normal circumstances, we would not be afraid of having our work compromised by these internal policies, but the harsh environment that this situation has created, has resulted in threatenings and repression against students, academic staff and faculty members by the new administration. We come to you as an effort to express our concern to the international scientific community. We believe these situations should not exist in an academic institution, whose main reason to exist is the progress of the scientific knowledge and the development of new scientists.

We thank you again for your time, and we hope our next communication would be in better circumstances.

Yours Sincerely,