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President's page#

Sierd Cloetingh

Letter to AE and YAE members and guests from the President Sierd Cloetingh#

Winter 2019#

Dear AE member, member of the Young Academy and guest readers,#


As 2019 draws ever closer, I would like to thank all of the members of the Academia Europaea, both new and not so new, for your continuing support for our Academy. 2019 has been a very busy year, both for me personally and for the AE in general and given the turbulence across Europe I am proud that our organisation has continued to demonstrate its relevance to and support for our European scholarly community. Our role within the international SAPEA policy advice project has been well received and recognised for the excellence of our contribution across the institutions of the EU and more widely; our membership continues to grow and we have elected over 350 excellent new scholars who attended the 2019 Barcelona annual conference in the largest numbers ever; our regional relevance grows and we successfully launched our new Knowledge Hub in Tbilisi, Georgia and plans are in hand for the official launch of our Regional Knowledge Hub in Munich in 2020. Our HERCuLES group continued to develop major international symposia on topics of relevance to Higher Education and Culture and each of our Hubs organised a very active program of activities of wide interest and relevance, in particular for younger and emerging scholars.

It is important that all of us thank the staff of all our Regional Knowledge Hubs and in our HQ office for the incredible efforts that they have made in 2019. These efforts generally go unnoticed, but without their work our Academy would not function. I would also like to thank my fellow member colleagues who give freely of their time to serve on the Board of Trustees and as members of the Section Committees and other specialist groups. Their dedication to the AE, means that our elections processes, the management and governance of the AE and our expanding range of activity all benefit from their professional experience and guidance, and we remain safe in their hands.

Below there are three important announcements we end the year with. Please look at these and please do respond with enthusiasm.

European Scientific Advice Mechanism#

Evidence review on the topic
Biodegradability of plastics in the open environment#

Call for nominations for an international working group to conduct the evidence review#

The European Scientific Advice Mechanism (SAM) provides independent and transparent scientific advice to the European Commission, working with a Group of Chief Scientific Advisors and the European Academies (SAPEA).

SAPEA (Science Advice for Policy by European Academies) comprises the five European Academy Networks: Academia Europaea, ALLEA, EASAC, Euro-CASE and FEAM. SAPEA represents over 100 Academies in more than 40 European countries, and spans all the major disciplines (including engineering, humanities, medicine, science and social sciences).

The Group of Chief Scientific Advisers intends to produce a policy-based Scientific Opinion on the topic of Biodegradability of plastics in the open environment. The overarching question is:

From a scientific point-of-view and an end-of-life perspective, and applying to plastics that biodegrade either in the terrestrial, riverine or marine environments, and considering the waste hierarchy and circular economy approach:

What are the criteria and corresponding applications of biodegradable plastics that are beneficial to the environment, compared with non-biodegradable plastics?



SAPEA will undertake the evidence review that informs the Scientific Opinion. To address the topic, SAPEA will set up an international and interdisciplinary working group of around 15 expert members, covering both scientific/technical fields and the social sciences/humanities. The experts will provide their input via physical meetings and are expected to draft sections of a report in-between meetings. A final first draft of the Evidence Review Report should be completed by September 2020.

SAPEA offers the opportunity to raise the profile of your Academy’s work and expertise on a European level. We ask as a first step for the contribution and support of your Academy by nominating experts for the Working Group, in accordance with the expertise indicated in Annex 3.

Please address your response to louise.edwards@sapea.info by the target date of Monday 13th January 2020 (or latest by Friday 17th, after which the call will close).

Nominations of experts should be accompanied by a short curriculum vitae (please not more than 2 pages), together with a short explanation on how the nominee’s experience meets the specific areas of expertise needed listed in Annex 3.

Reasonable travel costs will be reimbursed by SAPEA for attendance at physical working group meetings.

THE FULL TEXT OF THE CALL CAN BE DOWNLOADED FROM THIS FREE DROPBOX LINK

THE CALL FOR NOMINATIONS of CANDIDATES FOR ELECTION TO THE ACADEMIA EUROPAEA IN 2020, IS NOW OPEN#

The online forms and full instructions and information about the nomination and election process can be found through the ae-info website.

THE CLOSING DATE TO SUBMIT COMPLETED NOMINATIONS IS 31st MARCH 2020.#

NOTE:

  • ONLY nominations on fully completed forms will be considered.
  • Nominators should seek permission of a candidate first, before submitting a nomination.
  • Members can nominate candidates to any section and class and are not limited to scholars from their own fields.
  • There are no limits to the number of candidates any member can submit.
  • Citizenship and nationality are irrelevant for membership.

IF YOU NEED ANY ASSISTANCE PLEASE CONTACT office@AE-Info.org.

SAVE THE DATE#

32nd ANNUAL MEMBERS CONFERENCE OF ACADEMIA EUROPAEA#

"BUILDING BRIDGES III"
and the 32nd Annual Business Meeting of AE members#

20-23 October 2020, Barcelona, Spain#


Speakers include;
The full programme and event website will be launched in MAY 2020.

Sierd Cloetingh
Utrecht, December 2019

Past newsletters and statements#



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