ALLEA Board Appoints New Vice-Presidents

On 3 July 2024, the new ALLEA Board convened its first meeting online to kick off discussions on the strategic and operational future of ALLEA. During this meeting, the recently elected ALLEA President, Pawel Rowiński (Polish Academy of Sciences), proposed two candidates for Vice-President – Annette Grüters-Kieslich and Marie Louise B Nosch – who were subsequently unanimously elected.

Prof Grüters-Kieslich (Leopoldina and The Union of German Academies of Sciences and Humanities) is a thought leader in the fields of paediatrics and endocrinology, and has made significant contributions to the study of rare diseases in children. She has also been active in promoting the development of scientific structures and career paths in biomedicine as Dean of the Medical Faculty at the Charité in Berlin. Prof Grüters-Kieslich previously served as Vice-President of the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences.

Prof Nosch (Royal Danish Academy of Sciences and Letters) is a respected voice on the interdisciplinary study of ancient textile production and Greek History. She has also contributed extensively to supporting the growth and progress of early- and mid-career researchers, and has won several accolades, including the Iris Foundation Award for Outstanding Mid-Career Scholars (2009), the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation’s Anneliese Maier Award, and the Chevalier dans l’Ordre des Palmes académiques. Until 2024, Prof Nosch served as President of the Royal Danish Academy of Sciences and Letters.

Prof Grüters-Kieslich and Prof Nosch will serve as Vice-Presidents of the ALLEA Board from 2024-2027.

SAPEA Workshops Highlight Academy Interactions for Better Policy Advice

On 23 May 2024, SAPEA organised two engaging workshops in Berlin aiming to address key aspects of scientific collaboration among European academies and to promote the involvement of early and mid-career researchers in science advice. This event brought together 90 representatives from various European academies and was included as part of the ALLEA General Assembly.

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Event report: European Research Collaboration in a Shifting Geopolitical Landscape – How Open Can We Be?

ALLEA marked its 30th anniversary with its general assembly in Berlin on 22–23 May 2024. The event featured a public symposium which convened prominent researchers, policymakers, and civil society representatives from across Europe to explore the complexities and opportunities of open research collaboration in today’s evolving geopolitical climate.

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#ResearchMatters: Joint Letter to Strengthen Research and Innovation in Europe

In alignment with the recent ALLEA statement on the guiding principles for Framework Programme 10, which advocates for increased investment in Research and Innovation in the upcoming 10th European Union Framework Programme for Research and Innovation, ALLEA is proud to join the #ResearchMatters campaign.

Both ALLEA’s statement and the #ResearchMatters campaign call for a substantial boost in research and innovation funding, urging European leaders to allocate over 3% of GDP to R&I and to double the FP10 budget to 200 billion EUR. These measures are crucial for addressing Europe’s pressing environmental, societal, and technological challenges and for ensuring its competitiveness and future prosperity. We encourage you to read and share the open letter widely within your network.

Open letter (read the PDF here)

A call to strengthen research and innovation in Europe

In a world of major environmental, societal, and geopolitical crises, it is imperative that Europe invests in its future. Investing in our knowledge capital is the foundation for Europe’s competitiveness, wellbeing, and peace.

We need urgent solutions to address the complex challenges facing our societies: Climate change, AI, cybersecurity, environmental and energy crises, threats to democracy and security, pandemics, among others. Developing and enhancing excellent research and innovation with a long-term, multidisciplinary, and cross- sectoral perspective is key to our future.

In recent years, North America and Asia have massively ramped up their investments, leaving Europe behind. To remain competitive and advance the economic, ecological, and societal transitions, European countries and the EU must boost their research and innovation funding.

With the ResearchMatters campaign, leading research, and innovation (R&I) organisations urge Finance Ministers of European countries, and the European Council, Commission and Parliament, to act boldly and:

  • Push funding for research and innovation in Europe through the achievement of over 3% of the GDP within the European Union and all European countries.
  • Double the budget for the EU’s next research & innovation programme (FP10) to reach 200 billion
  • Protect the latter by ringfencing the budget.

Together, these measures are critical to provide Europe with strategies to cope with current and future geopolitical and societal challenges. By increasing investments in knowledge creation, research, and research- driven innovation, we are investing in the very future of Europe and its people. In this campaign, we urge the European institutions and all European countries, national and regional policymakers, the whole research and innovation community, society, and the media, to join our quest.

The time to act is now! Let’s get our act together and build a bright future for Europe. Read about the campaign and stories on the benefits of R&I on: research-matters.eu.

Sincerely,

Signing organisations:

International organisations
Academia Europaea
ALLEA (All European Academies)
CESAER (Conference of European Schools for Advanced Engineering Education and Research)
Coimbra Group Universities
EARMA (European Association of Research Managers and Administrators)
ECIU (European Consortium of Innovative Universities)
EERA (European Energy Research Alliance
EOSC Association
EASSH (European Alliance for Social Sciences and Humanities)
EUA (European University Association)
EU-LIFE (Alliance of independent European research institutes in the life science)
Eurodoc
EUPRIO (European Association of Communication Professionals in Higher Education)
EuroTech Universities Alliance
LERU (League of European Research Universities)
Science Europe
UAS4EUROPE
The Guild of European Research-Intensive Universities
ISE (Initiative for Science in Europe)
UnILiON (Universities Informal Liasion Offices Network)
YERUN (Young European Research Universities Network)
Young Academy of Europe

National organisations
ARCES

Universities
Hanken School of Economics, Sweden
Eindhoven University of Technology
Politecnico di Torino, Italy
Vrije Universiteit Brussels

If you’re interested in signing this initiative, please send an e-mail at info@research-matters.eu.

Academic Symposium Highlights Path Forward for European Research Collaboration

Yesterday, leading academics and policy experts from across Europe came together to discuss the critical role of international research collaboration in today’s rapidly changing geopolitical environment. ALLEA had invited them to Berlin for a public symposium on ‘European Research Collaboration in a Shifting Geopolitical Landscape’. 

As a part of ALLEA’s 30th-anniversary celebrations and their annual general assembly, this event took place at the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and Humanities. It was co-hosted by the German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina, the Union of the German Academies of Sciences and Humanities, and the Junge Akademie.

The Value of Open Research Collaboration

Fabiola Gianotti, Director-General of CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research, and world-leading physicist, received ALLEA’s Madame de Staël Prize for her distinguished contributions to European values and science collaboration. In her keynote address, Dr Gianotti gave an inspirational talk about her experiences in CERN and the discovery of the Higgs boson. As the leader of Europe’s most significant collaborative research project and one of the world’s most influential scientists, Dr Gianotti stressed that scientific cooperation, open science and data are essential means of boosting science and reducing global inequities. She depicted CERN as a laboratory for people around the world and as a model for global collaboration that not only drives innovation, but also creates and maintains a value system that promotes peace and prosperity in a world facing significant geopolitical shifts.

Limits to Openness

The symposium featured engaging discussions with a panel of international experts and leaders in academia and policy, including Katja Becker (German Research Foundation – DFG), Nienke Buisman (European Commission), Janneke Gerards (Utrecht University), Fabiola Gianotti (CERN), and Valeska Huber (University of Vienna). 

The panel addressed the role of research collaboration and its limits amid geopolitical complexities by asking: “How open can we be?”. It was stressed that the autonomy and freedom of research and researchers are indispensable, but that the times dominated by a romantic illusion of openly sharing data and ideas with everyone without any risk are over. 

An emphasis was also put on the fact that international scientific cooperation needs to be both open and safe, and that the goal should be to build capacity at various levels in European research systems. The main objective for policies governing research collaboration and research security should be providing researchers and research institutions with the necessary means to make informed decisions on the ‘red lines’ before entering international collaborations. 

Responsible Internationalisation

To conclude, the discussions underscored the necessity of strengthening international partnerships, for instance through international academy networks such as ALLEA. The symposium explored practical solutions to overcome barriers to such collaboration, emphasising the importance of maintaining high standards of academic freedom, integrity, and responsibility, creating a safe research environment, enabling an open debate, supporting the international mobility of researchers, and ultimately reducing polarisation and conflict within and between our societies.

For more information and documentation about the symposium, please visit the ALLEA General Assembly website: https://www.alleageneralassembly.org/scientific-symposium-2024-allea-general-assembly/

ALLEA Turns 30 and Elects New President, Board, and Members

The General Assembly of ALLEA, the European Federation of Academies of Sciences and Humanities, convened in Berlin to commemorate its 30th anniversary and inaugurate a new president and board. Paweł Rowiński assumed the role of the organisation’s eighth president, taking over from Antonio Loprieno, who led ALLEA from 2018 onwards. Additionally, the assembly welcomed three young academies as new members thereby expanding ALLEA’s total membership to 59.

Around 70 delegates from across Europe gathered in Berlin on 22 May for the 2024 ALLEA General Assembly, co-hosted by the National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina, the Union of German Academies of Sciences and Humanities, and the German Young Academy. The event stood as a milestone in ALLEA’s history, commemorating the 30th anniversary of the organisation, as well as consolidating its legal status as a registered charitable organisation in Germany.

The meeting of representatives from more than 50 member academies marked the starting point for a new president and board for the term 2024-2027. Professor Paweł Rowiński of the Polish Academy of Sciences, who has served on the organisation’s board since 2018, will steer ALLEA as President for the next three years.

Professor Rowiński, an outstanding scholar specialising in Earth Sciences, previously held the position of Vice-President at the Polish Academy of Sciences from 2015 to 2022 and serves as the Director of the academy’s Institute of Geophysics in Warsaw. His research interests include mathematical methods in geophysics, geophysical flows, river hydrodynamics, and fluvial hydraulics. In addition to his notable contributions to his field of study, he actively engages in science advice, science popularisation, science ethics, and demonstrates a strong commitment to water and climate issues.

“ALLEA is a strong voice of European science on a global level and plays a crucial role in shaping the research ecosystem, promoting academic freedom, facilitating a green transition even in times of crises, and advising on the EU Framework Programmes for Research and Innovation. I am deeply honoured and grateful for the opportunity to serve ALLEA in the coming years. As international collaboration faces increasing challenges, cross-border cooperation among academies becomes more vital than ever. I am committed to working closely with all ALLEA members to ensure that the voice of the academies continues to be heard,” said Professor Rowiński about his upcoming presidency at ALLEA.

He succeeds Antonio Loprieno from the Swiss Academies of Arts and Sciences, who has led ALLEA as President since 2018. Reflecting on his term, Professor Loprieno remarked, “It has been a privilege to serve the community of European academies in a critical, but also pivotal period of our institutional history: a time during which science has turned into a decisive player in social and political life in European societies; a time during which the voice of European scientific academies has become clearer, younger, and stronger. And it is particularly gratifying to see that ALLEA’s mission will be continued by very capable hands!”

The new ALLEA Board who will serve alongside President Rowiński includes:

  • Jūras Banys – Lithuanian Academy of Sciences
  • Ylva Engström – Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences
  • Annette Grüters-Kieslich – National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina/Union of the German Academies of Sciences and Humanities
  • Lara Keuck, succeeded by Kerstin Pahl (July 2025) – German Young Academy
  • Marie Louise Nosch – Royal Danish Academy of Sciences and Letters
  • Jozef Ongena – Royal Flemish Academy of Belgium for Science and the Arts
  • Päivi Pahta – Council of Finnish Academies
  • Karin Roelofs – Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences
  • Neri Salvadori – Academy of the Lincei, Italy
  • Camilla Serck-Hanssen – Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters

The ALLEA General Assembly welcomed three new members: the Young Academy of Belgium (Flanders), the Young Academy of Spain, and the Hungarian Young Academy, thereby increasing the total membership to 59 academies from EU and non-EU countries, including young and senior academies. With their admission, ALLEA now counts six young academies among its members, reflecting the organisation’s commitment to promoting inclusivity, diversity, and collaboration across generations.

 

2024 European Parliament Election: National Academy Presidents Sign a Joint Address to Prioritise Science and Education

Today, presidents of national academies of sciences of the EU addressed a message to the candidates for the 2024 European Parliament elections. The address underscores the indispensable role of robust, open, and free science and education for Europe’s future.

Given the significant representation of ALLEA member academies among its signatories, the EU national academies’ address echoes ALLEA’s core mission and priorities, reflecting our shared vision on the primacy of science and education in shaping Europe’s future trajectory. This statement stands as a pertinent message to the candidates of the 2024 European Parliament elections, emphasising the importance of international cooperation, academic freedom, and the use of scientific evidence in policymaking. Read it here

ALLEA Provides Feedback to European Commission Consultation on Funding for Dual-use Projects

On 24 April, ALLEA responded to a public consultation by the European Commission, where different options are presented to enhance support for research on technologies that may have both civilian and military applications (i.e., dual-use technologies).

At present, European funding programmes for civil research and development projects and those with defence or security applications are strictly separated. However, to boost the EU’s (economic) security and competitiveness, the European Commission is currently exploring ways to promote cross-fertilisation between the two funding instruments.

In its response, ALLEA details how some of the proposed options pose the risk of creating adverse incentives, introducing ambiguity, and imposing additional administrative burdens. In addition, ALLEA stresses that equitable assessment of research proposals should remain central to any solution, and that support for projects with potential dual-use applications should not come at the expense of funding for civil research.

Read the full statement here.

We Need a New European Institute for AI in Science, Academies Advise European Commission

A group of renowned scientists, nominated by academies through the European Commission’s Scientific Advice Mechanism, have advised Commissioners on the use of AI in science. 

The advice comes in response to a request from Margrethe Vestager, Executive Vice-President for a Europe Fit for the Digital Age, to guide and support the overall European Commission’s strategy for AI in research and innovation. These recommendations were handed over to Commissioners Ivanova and EVC Vestager, today in Brussels. The Scientific Advice Mechanism provides independent scientific evidence and policy recommendations to the European institutions.

“By bringing together experts from various scientific backgrounds, we have crafted comprehensive scientific advice on artificial intelligence that informs top EU policymakers” – says Professor Stefan Constantinescu, Chair of the SAPEA Board.

According to the advice, artificial intelligence has the potential to revolutionise scientific discovery, accelerate research progress, boost innovation and improve researchers’ productivity.  

Professor Anna Fabijańska, the co-chair of the SAPEA working group that reviewed the scientific evidence to inform these recommendations, says we need to rebalance the situation and boost public research across all disciplines and member states.

 “That means giving universities and research institutes across Europe fair access to state-of-the-art AI facilities.” – Professor Andrea Emilio Rizzoli, co-chair of the SAPEA working group added.

As part of the new advice, the Group of Chief Scientific Advisors to the European Commission recommends forming a new European institute for AI in science that would provide massive high-performing computational power, a sustainable cloud infrastructure, and AI training programmes for scientists.

Alongside these services, a European AI in Science Council would provide dedicated funding for researchers in all disciplines to explore and adopt AI in their sciences. These would also ensure that AI in research aligns with EU core values.

AI-powered scientific research requires a vast amount of data. That data should be high quality, responsibly collected and well curated, with fair access for European researchers and innovators.

Finally, scientists highlighted that the technologies of the future must be driven by people and communities, not only by profit. The EU should promote research on the philosophical, legal, and ethical issues that arise when AI is used in science, and the impact of these issues on fundamental human rights, transparency and accountability.

The evidence report by SAPEA and the recommendations by the Advisors are available here.

ALLEA Permanent Working Group on Science & Ethics Meets in Brussels to Discuss Emerging Topics in Research Ethics

On 2 and 3 April 2024, the ALLEA Permanent Working Group on Science & Ethics (PWGSE) met in Brussels to reflect on the experiences and impact of recent activities, discuss emerging topics in research ethics and research integrity, and scope future activities. 

The meeting was generously hosted by the Royal Flemish Academy of Belgium for Science and the Arts (KVAB) at the neoclassical Academy Palace in Brussels. It brought together research ethics and integrity experts from ALLEA Member Academies under the chairwomanship of Dr Maura Hiney (Royal Irish Academy). 

The European Code of Conduct for Research Integrity: growing impact  

A central and recurring theme in the meeting was the revised edition of the European Code of Conduct for Research Integrity, which was developed following extensive consultation with European research stakeholders. Since its publication in June 2023, the revised Code has been steadily finding its way into the research system, with already 12 translations released on the ALLEA website, and many more to come in the coming weeks and months.  

In addition, the Code prompts the development and update of national and institutional codes of conduct and is increasingly referenced in discipline-specific guidelines and (European and national) policy documents. For example, the Code inspired detailed general and field-specific guidelines for responsible Open Science, developed by the Horizon-funded ROSiE (Responsible Open Science in Europe) project, as well as the recently published guidelines on responsible use of AI in research by the European Research Area Forum. 

The future of research ethics and integrity within EU-funded projects 

The working group welcomed Isidoros (Dorian) Karatzas, Head of Sector for Ethics and Research Integrity at the European Commission Directorate Research & Innovation (DG-RTD), to the meeting for an extended discussion on the impact of the Code and the future of research ethics and integrity as part of EU-funded projects. Joint reflections identified additional outreach strategies, both with Academies and the wider research community, to further improve awareness and knowledge on good research practices. They also pinpointed a number of clauses from the Code where the PWGSE may be able to support researchers and their organisations by providing further context, help with interpretation, and additional resources. 

Agenda highlights: insights and initiatives discussed  

Further items on the agenda included reflections on and lessons learnt from the group’s recent publication on Predatory Publishing, as well as a joint statement with the ALLEA Working Group on Science Education on Scientific Literacy for Young Learners. In addition, the group discussed possible tensions that can arise when academic researchers collaborate with or are funded by the private sector, a request for feedback by the European Commission on support for projects with dual-use potential, and progress of ALLEA’s various activities as part of the Coalition for Advancing Research Assessment (CoARA).