The Royal Academy of Cambodia (RAC) was originally established by Royal Decree of 25 August 1965, although its development was subsequently impeded by the 1970-1975 war and from 1975 it was disbanded. Efforts to re-establish the Academy began in January 1997 with the establishment of the Scrutinising Committee on Cambodian History, which became the Academy of Cambodian History in March 1997, the Academy of History in January 1998 and in 1999 (by a Royal Decree dated 11 May) the Royal Academy. At that time it was composed of four institutes: Culture and Fine Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences, Biology-Medicine and Agriculture and Science and Technology. The Institute of National Language became its fifth institute by a Royal Decree dated 27 December 1999. The Royal Academy was then renamed the Royal Academy of Cambodia (RAC) and an inauguration ceremony took place on 19 January 2000. The Royal Academy of Cambodia is a public institution with a cultural and scientific mandate, managerial and financial autonomy and the status of state secretariat under the Office of the Council of Ministers. Since its re-establishment, the Royal Academy of Cambodia has fulfilled a number of missions that have actively contributed to the training and the development of human resources in Cambodia. The objectives of the Royal Academy of Cambodia are: (i) to manage and expand research activities on Khmer studies and other fields of study in Cambodia; (ii) to establish co-operative relations in research with ministries, institutions, national and international organisations which have the same goals; (iii) to organise scientific and educational forums in order to help the country's development in all fields; (iv) to train researchers for the Masters degrees and Doctorates; (v) to widely distribute documents and research findings in the national language for the public in the country and Khmer studies in foreign languages for the international audience; (vi) to collect and preserve research findings on Cambodia, countries in the region and the world; (vii) to bring together national intellectuals with a view to fostering the country's development; (vii) to propose scientific decorations for national and international dignitaries; (viii) to co-operate in the examination and evaluation of higher, including postgraduate, education; (ix) to participate and co-operate in the protection of intellectual property; (x) to examine and evaluate scientific research findings; (xi) to examine and evaluate social evolution and contribute to the development of the country; (xii) to co-operate in the establishment of research institutes at ministries; (xiii) to establish and manage branches of the Royal Academy of Cambodia at the regional level throughout the country; and (xiv) to co-operate with relevant ministries for the establishment and management of prehistory and history museums in cities and provinces. Since 2003 the Academy has offered a range of Masters and Doctoral programmes. It promotes research and organises scientific forums with a view to actively contributing to the development of human resources in Cambodia. The Royal Academy organised the first National Conference on the Preservation and Development of Khmer Culture and Fine Arts in April 2001 and the second conference in October 2004. At the time of writing a fifth sub institute - the Institute of Continuous Learning - is being established with the aim of upgrading the capacity of the public service in order to strengthen Cambodian state institutions.