ALLEA launches Open Science Task Force

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ALLEA has launched a task force dedicated to open science and chaired by Luke Drury (Royal Irish Academy). The ALLEA Open Science Task Force will contribute to the development, coordination and implementation of Open Science policies and initiatives with an emphasis on issues relevant to the European Research Area.  

The group will draw on the expertise of ALLEA’s national academy members in promoting science as a global public good that is as open as possible and as closed as necessary and paying close attention to specific considerations of the social sciences and humanities.  

The task force will:   

  • work together with the Global Young Academy in assisting the creation and implementation of the European Commission Open Access publishing platform;   
  • contribute to the expert consultations on the UNESCO Recommendation on Open Science;  
  • liaise with other pertinent stakeholder organisations on Open Science.  
  • amplify the voice of the European Academies in this policy area 

Past work on Open Science 

ALLEA has actively contributed to the open science debate since the early 2000s through various initiatives and working groups. Recently, it published the ALLEA Response to Plan S , the open access proposal initiated by European funders, as well as the policy paper Towards Implementing the European Open Science Cloud.  

For more information on the rationale behind the task force, check out Luke Drury’s op-ed on the ALLEA Digital Salon.  

New member: Cyprus Academy of Sciences, Letters, and Arts

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The Cyprus Academy of Sciences, Letters, and Arts joined ALLEA as a result of the 2020 General Assembly, which took place by correspondence.

The Cyprus Academy of Sciences, Letters and Arts is the highest intellectual institution of Cyprus in the Sciences, Letters, and Arts. The academy was founded in 2017 and has since established itself nationally and initiated connections with European partners. As an independent and completely autonomous institution in its aims to promote the scientific work of Cyprus the academy consists of 3 Sections:

  • Natural Sciences,
  • Letters, and Arts (Humanities),
  • and Ethics, Economic and Political Sciences.

Its main missions are to recognize and promote excellence in Science, Letters, and Arts, cultivate mutual interaction between the Sciences, the Letters and the Arts and establish a Permanent Dialogue between the Sciences and the Humanities.

The first body of the Cyprus Academy, elected  on April 10 2019, currently consists of 16 Members, the 12 Permanent Members plus the four Provisional Permanent Members.

Achilles C. Emilianides, the Secretary-General Cyprus Academy of Sciences, Letters, and Arts said: 

“The Cyprus Academy of Sciences, Letters, and Arts expresses its satisfaction for its acceptance as a full member of ALLEA. It is an honor and an opportunity for which we thank ALLEA and its Member Academies.

Both the Cyprus Academy and ALLEA represent the Natural Sciences, the Humanities, and the Social Sciences and this makes the relationship between the Cyprus Academy and ALLEA a truly important one. We do hope that our collaboration in addressing interdisciplinary issues and in advancing new trans-disciplinary initiatives will be mutually beneficial.”

Address: P.O. Box 22554,
1522 Nicosia, Cyprus
E-mail: info@academyofcyprus.cy

New member: Die Junge Akademie

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Die Junge Akademie has been elected to join ALLEA as the first representative of the younger generation of academics. Die Junge Akademie is the first academy of young academics worldwide. It offers prominent young academics and artists from German speaking backgrounds interdisciplinary and socially relevant space for academic collaboration. The academy was founded in 2000 as a collaborative project of the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and Humanities and the German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina. Since then, Die Junge Akademie has developed into a model organization and inspiration for similar initiatives worldwide.

As a member of ALLEA, Die Junge Akademie hopes to help strengthen science and research within Europe and create a freer, more independent and more united research system. Membership of ALLEA also gives Die Junge Akademie an additional opportunity to enrich international dialogue in the field of scientific discourse and policy contributing the perspectives of the younger generation of academics.

“At Die Junge Akademie it’s important to us to cooperate with academics in other disciplines and also in other countries. We are very much looking forward to working with the other European academies and boosting public awareness of the importance of science and research as a central pillar of our shared European future,”

says the speaker Philipp Kanske, a psychologist and neuroscientist at TU Dresden.

In ALLEA interview, Philipp Kanske talks about the emergence of young academies, the role of early-career researchers and the risks and opportunities for science during the COVID-19 pandemic.

In 2020, Die Junge Akademie celebrates its 20th anniversary. All information and events on www.2020.diejungeakademie.de and on Twitter: #jungeakademie2020

Die Junge Akademie an der Berlin-Brandenburgischen Akademie der Wissenschaften und der Nationalen Akademie der Wissenschaften Leopoldina
Jägerstraße 22/23
10117 Berlin
Phone: +49 (0)30/20370-650
E-mail: presse@diejungeakademie.de
Facebook: www.facebook.com/diejungeakademie
Twitter:  @Junge_Akademie

SAPEA launches a series of webinars on sustainable food systems

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The challenges of creating a sustainable food system for Europe will be examined in a series of high-profile webinars in the second half of 2020 — including an analysis of changing consumer attitudes in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic. 

Co-hosted by Europe’s academies and other partners, the webinar series will explore different aspects of Europe’s food system following the publication of our major evidence review report, A sustainable food system for the European Union and the scientific opinion of the European Commission’s Chief Scientific Advisors.

Each webinar will be under an hour in length and feature high-profile speakers, including members of SAPEA’s working group on sustainable food systems and representatives of organisations working on related issues. The first event in the series, planned for Thursday 2 July, will focus on changes observed during the Covid-19 pandemic, and will be co-hosted by UK sustainability campaign organisation Hubbub. 

Future webinars in the series, planned for the autumn, will examine the EU’s new Farm2Fork strategy (co-hosted with the EU Food Policy Coalition) and the role of agroecology and technology in sustainability (co-hosted with a European academy). 

For more information visit SAPEA website.

1st SAPEA webinar “Covid-19 and our food: How is the current crisis affecting how we eat?”

2 July 2020, 15:00 (CEST)

Register now

 

PERITIA Call for Abstracts: Trust in Expertise in a Changing Media Landscape

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The EU-funded research project PERITIA has published a call for abstracts on the topic “Trust in Expertise in a Changing Media Landscape”. Accepted papers will be discussed in an international conference in Berlin on 18-19 March 2021. The keynotes of the event include Prof Onora O’Neill (Cambridge), Prof Natali Helberger (Amsterdam), Prof Michael Latzer (Zurich), Prof Christoph Neuberger (Berlin). The project invites abstracts of up to 300 words and a short bio of up to 100 words by 1 September, 2020.

The conference will highlight the question of trust in a changing media landscape, addressing the following three general questions:

  1. How does trust in expertise play out in the context of a changing media landscape, in particular the transformation from legacy media (newspapers, tv) to digital platforms (social media, blogs, vlogs)?
  2. Can we develop a better understanding of conditions of trust and trustworthiness in the context of digital platforms and social media? How may conditions differ in various (European) countries or in the (geopolitical) contexts of different continents?
  3. What is the impact of digital media and its users on (institutional) trust in governance that is rooted in scientific evidence and fact-finding?

Possible topics may include (but are not restricted to):

  • Analytical perspectives on, and empirical investigations of, public debates concerning the value of scientific expertise, e.g. in the area of climate change and the corona-pandemic.
  • Theoretical and practice-based studies on the (changing) conditions for anchoring public trust in institutions and professionals; the ethics of digital communication.
  • Empirical and investigative studies on the role of legacy media vis-à-vis digital platforms in undermining or enhancing trust in social institutions.

Submission Details

This call solicits presentations and papers from a number of (inter)disciplinary fields, bringing together perspectives from media and communication studies, information science, public policy, philosophy, social and political sciences, and more. Papers will be selected on the basis of quality of content and suitability to the theme. The two day conference will feature up to 60 presentations in various panels and keynotes. Selected papers will be considered for publication in a special issue or edited volume.

This conference aims to foster the exchange of ideas across national and disciplinary borders between senior and junior researchers. We have therefore reserved limited funds for travel grants to support excellent contributions from early career scholars and scholars from the global south. Please indicate your interest when submitting your abstract.

PERITIA invites abstracts of up to 300 words and a short bio of up to 100 words by 1 September, 2020.

Abstracts should be sent to peritia@allea.org.

Information regarding acceptance should be available by early October 2020.

ALLEA is a partner in the PERITIA Consortium.

ALLEA admits new members and elects a new Board

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ALLEA President Antonio Loprieno proclaimed the outcomes of the 2020 General Assembly during a videoconference with the delegates of ALLEA member academies earlier today. 

Most notably, the delegates voted to admit two new member academies, the Cyprus Academy of Sciences, Letters and Arts, as well as the German young academy, Die Junge Akademie.  

Antonio Loprieno commented:  

“ALLEA warmly welcomes the Cyprus Academy and Die Junge Akademie into the European family of academies. We are looking forward to working with them. With the admission of the Junge Akademie, ALLEA has taken an important step in connecting young researchers with established academies. ALLEA sees itself as a truly transversal network, where topics are discussed across disciplines and borders, but also across career stages and origins.” 

Philipp Kanske, the Speaker of Die Junge Akademie said: 

“Becoming a member of ALLEA is a great chance for Die Junge Akademie to contribute to a common European framework of free and independent academic research. We look forward to collaborating with our fellow European academies, and to sharing our diverse experiences and expertise across borders and disciplines. We are particularly proud to be the first Young Academy in ALLEA and serve as a role model for future alliances.” 

Achilles C. Emilianides, the Secretary-General Cyprus Academy of Sciences, Letters, and Arts said: 

“The Cyprus Academy of Sciences, Letters, and Arts expresses its satisfaction for its acceptance as a full member of ALLEA. It is an honor and an opportunity for which we thank ALLEA and its Member Academies. 

Both the Cyprus Academy and ALLEA represent the Natural Sciences, the Humanities, and the Social Sciences and this makes the relationship between the Cyprus Academy and ALLEA a truly important one. We do hope that our collaboration in addressing interdisciplinary issues and in advancing new trans-disciplinary initiatives will be mutually beneficial.” 

The ALLEA member academies also elected a new Board, to serve alongside the President until 2022. The ALLEA Board now consists of 10 members representing academies from Austria, Finland, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Poland, Spain, Sweden, and the United Kingdom. 

In addition, the meeting participants heard reports on key ALLEA activities of the previous months as well as an outlook on future steps towards implementing ALLEA’s strategic objectives. 

Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, ALLEA organised this year’s General Assembly by correspondence only. The meeting was supposed to take place at the Royal Society in London on 3 June on the invitation of the UK and Irish ALLEA member academies. 

Read ALLEA Activities Report 2019-2020.

Read the press release published by Die Junge Akademie.

 

The Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters announces the 2020 Kavli Prize Laureates

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Research in observational X-ray astronomy, inventions of aberration-corrected lenses in electron microscopes, and the discovery of sensory receptors for temperature and pressure win USD 3 million Kavli Prizes

The Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters, Member Academy of ALLEA, announced the 2020 Kavli Prize Laureates in the fields of astrophysics, nanoscience and neuroscience today. This year’s Kavli Prize honours scientists whose research has transformed our understanding of the very big, the very small and the very complex. The laureates in each field will share USD 1 million.

This year’s Kavli Prize Laureates are:

  • Kavli Prize in Astrophysics: Andrew Fabian (UK)
  • Kavli Prize in Nanoscience: Harald Rose (Germany), Maximilian Haider (Austria), Knut Urban (Germany) and Ondrej L Krivanek (UK and Czech Republic)
  • Kavli Prize in Neuroscience: David Julius (US) and Ardem Patapoutian (US)

“The 2020 Kavli Prize Laureates represent truly pioneering science, the kind of science which will benefit humanity in a profound way, inspiring both current and future generations,” says Hans Petter Graver, president of The Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters.

More details available at the Kavli Prize website.

Climate Change Education should focus more on mitigation, adaptation, and climate justice

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Climate Change Education initiatives in addition to looking at causes of climate change need to expand to focus more on mitigation and adaptation, and help students understand that mitigation is not only crucial for future generations but is also essential for current disadvantaged populations on whom climate change is having the biggest impact.

These are some of the conclusions of a recently published ALLEA report “A snapshot of Climate Change Education Initiatives in Europe: Initial findings and implications for future Climate Change Education”. The document has been prepared by ALLEA’s Science Education Working Group and contains recommendations based on an on-line survey of existing initiatives complemented by educational research literature and the expertise of the scholars who conducted this work.

The report’s further headline recommendations include amongst others:

  • Existing high-quality examples of Climate Change Education resources for different age groups should be collated so that educators throughout Europe could use them in different educational settings.
  • The development, implementation and assessment of high-quality professional development programmes for teachers and the impact of these professional development programmes on the teaching and learning about climate change should be focused on.
  • More local initiatives that are fully contextualised and address the needs of communities should be developed.
  • Climate Change Education resources and programmes should adopt more solution-oriented and collective action approaches to climate change.

Cliona Murphy, chair of the working group who wrote the report commented:

“It is encouraging to see that there is a myriad of educational resources available to support teachers in teaching about climate change. However, it is also apparent that climate change education faces numerous challenges that require urgent actions, actions that will require significant financial support. It is essential therefore that a funding framework, perhaps similar to those of the highly successful FP6 and FP7 EU funding Frameworks, is established to support research in and the development of effective approaches for teaching and learning about Climate Change.”

The online survey was administered by ALLEA and shared with its membership of more than 50 sciences academies across Europe, which were encouraged to further reach out to relevant universities, education providers and outreach organisations that address climate change education in their work.

Thus, this scoping survey maps a sample of current Climate Change Education initiatives in a non-exhaustive way, to identify commonalities, gaps, and best practices. While the sample in the current study is relatively small, it provides informative and relevant findings that are particularly timely taking cognisance that climate change is one of the key challenges identified by the European Commission in their 2020 Work Plan among others. Key findings from this exercise aim to inform a more representative large-scale survey of Climate Change Education initiatives throughout Europe.

New project: international transfer of health data for research

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ALLEA is pleased to announce a new project on international transfer of health data for research. The initiative is the first tripartite collaboration between ALLEA, EASAC, and FEAM and will examine various aspects of data sharing in health research with particular attention to the implications of the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

Data sharing is an essential part of modern research. Within medical research, pooled data on individuals are often needed to ensure sufficiently large study numbers, and to replicate findings and identify complex pathways. The EU General Data Protection Regulation 2016/679 (GDPR) has harmonised legislation on the processing of personal data within the European Economic Area (EAA, which comprises EU member states plus Iceland, Liechtenstein, and Norway). However, substantial challenges remain for data sharing outside of the EEA. In particular, there is a lack of non-consent based transfer mechanisms that can be used for sharing personal data with public institutions in other countries such as the USA. 

This project aims to: 

  • illustrate the value of multinational medical research
  • compare the potential of different solutions for ensuring sufficient transfer of health data outside of the EEA; 
  • inform the European Institutions in the forthcoming evaluation of the GDPR, especially with regard to the transfer of personal data outside of the EEA (chapter V) so as to improve procedures for international transfer of high quality, personal research data, safely and effectively. 
  • The project will exemplify how data sharing adds value to EU research and its translation to policy, innovation and practice, and it will clarify principles and options for reform taking into consideration the legal, ethical, and in particular privacy implications. 

 Joint project

This project is the first tripartite collaboration between ALLEA, EASAC, and FEAM and will benefit from the complementary expertise joined in these networks. ALLEA has significant interest in sharing and using data (e.g. “Flourishing in a data-enabled society” and  “Sustainable and FAIR data sharing in the Humanities”) and will ensure that the project takes a broad and interdisciplinary perspective. EASAC has a history of interest in optimising the use of health research data, and worked together with FEAM in providing evidence on the value of research and the need for collaborative activity, in previous discussions with the European Commission and Parliament (e.g. ‘’Protecting health and scientific research in the Data Protection Regulation’’). FEAM has collaborated with numerous health stakeholders to issue recommendations in view of the discussions preceding the GDPR (e.g. “Ensuring a healthy future for scientific research through the Data Protection Regulation”).  

Migrants need better access to healthcare, European Academies say

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EU and national authorities need to act now to support the health of migrants, according to European academy networks ALLEA and FEAM.

In a joint statement published today, European academy networks ALLEA and FEAM call on EU and national authorities to undertake crucial actions to support the health of migrants. This situation has become more critical as the lack of basic services and overcrowded conditions in refugee camps start to sound alarms all over Europe, especially during the coronavirus crisis.

The statement reviewed evidence showing that, in contrast to previous concerns, the transmission of communicable diseases from migrants does not appear to be a substantial problem. However, evidence also shows that migrants and other vulnerable populations are at high risk for several non-communicable and communicable diseases, including COVID-19.

“During this terrible crisis the issue of migrant health has been almost completely forgotten in Europe,” says Professor Luciano Saso, Vice-Rector for European University Networks of Sapienza University of Rome. “Forcibly displaced migrants are still struggling to reach Europe, exposing themselves to COVID-19. The incipient economic crisis threatens to further reduce the resources allocated by the EU to face migrant health issues.”

Academies recommend wider and easier access to healthcare services for forced migrants, and at least basic and emergency healthcare for irregular or undocumented migrants. Early access to healthcare may also lead to cost-savings for host countries.

According to Professor Alfred Spira, a member of the French Academy of Medicine,

“All international and European legal instruments recognise the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health, and all EU Member States should act to allow access to these basic human rights for everyone, including migrants and refugees.”

The coronavirus crisis has provided a global opportunity to enhance the integration of migrants while addressing shortages of healthcare workers. The recommendations within this statement, though drafted before the COVID-19 outbreak began, have acquired new relevance as several countries such as Germany, the UK, the US and Australia are incorporating refugees with foreign qualifications to address shortages in their health workforce.

The document concludes that reliable, validated and comparable data across countries and regions is the key element that will inform policies and confront myths around migration and health. Academies offer their support to lead the dialogue and scientific work to guide policies in this complex area.

This statement has been published at a time when developing evidence-based policies is particularly important. These recommendations, if transformed into policy, will enhance the protection of migrant health and of public health overall.

The recommendations from the academies include:

  • More scientifically validated data and frequent updates on migrant health should be produced and reflected in evidenced-based policies.
  • Increased cross-sectorial collaboration is needed to address current challenges in migrant health, also with a view towards tackling shortages of healthcare workers.
  • The health sector should be actively involved in policy discussions and actions on migration.
  • National health systems should allow for personal health information to be easily transportable and accessible while ensuring the protection of personal data.

The statement and the full set of recommendations is available in the publications section.  

This statement came about as the result of a joint ALLEA-FEAM conference on Migration, Health and Medicine held on 22 November 2019 in Brussels. Attended by stakeholders from research, policy and the civil society, this event strove to approach the topic of migrant health from a multidisciplinary, cross-sectoral point of view and in a coordinated fashion transcending national boundaries. This places the Academies of Sciences and Medicine in a critical position as they offer impartial scientific advice to policymakers for taking informed decisions.