2018 ALLEA General Assembly: Science in Times of Challenged Trust and Expertise

The annual meeting of ALLEA Member Academies convenes academies and learned societies from 40 countries across the Council of Europe region.

ALLEA’s 2018 General Assembly consisted of a two-day series of discussions on some of the most pressing issues concerning European science at present. On 16 May, the symposium Science in Times of Challenged Trust and Expertise featured sessions covering notions of the alleged loss of trust in research and evidence. Experts presented underlying causes, as well as questions on how valid knowledge can and should be acquired and communicated.

The scientific discussion was followed by the 2018 All European Academies Madame de Staël Prize for Cultural Values award ceremony. On this occasion, ALLEA honoured Andrea Pető, Professor in the Department of Gender Studies at the Central European University in Budapest. The European Commissioner for Digital Economy and Society, Mariya Gabriel handed over the Prize to the laureate.

On 17 May, SAPEA (Science Advice for Policy by European Academies) organised the policy symposium Shaping European Science Advice: Insights and Experiences. The speakers looked at the state and role of science advice for policy and how we can learn from experience to shape the future of policy advice.