January has been a very positive month for the GYA. The independent core Evaluation Committee, appointed to review GYA activities over the last 5 years and make recommendations to our core funder, met on 14 January. Whilst we await the final outcome, informal feedback was encouraging. Overall, the evaluation exercise was a valuable experience that allowed us to both gain a better overview of all the ways we have successfully contributed to our strategic targets, and to reflect on areas that can be improved (more on that in the newsletter).
We have begun our 3-month countdown to our AGM and International Conference for Young Scientists, which will begin on 29 April. Registration has opened, so do check out the website for more information on the programme and how to register.
GYA members also continue to be amazingly active and engaged, which has motivated us and filled our minds with encouraging and positive thoughts. We are pleased to share these achievements and engagement with you here.
Registration is open for the 2019 AGM and International Conference for Young Scientists
Conference planning is actively underway. Interactive panels will examine ‘enlightenment’ in a broad sense and from a global perspective, discussing global and local sources of knowledge, different paths to truth, the role of science and scientists in society, as well as the limits of (re)Enlightenment.
Confirmed speakers include Clifford Siskin (Director of the Re-enlightenment project), Amy Luers (Executive Director of Future Earth), Vladimir Sucha (Director-General of the EU Joint Research Centre), Ismail Serageldin (Founding Director of the Bibliotheca Alexandrina) and Sheila Jasanoff (Pforzheimer Professor of Science and Technology Studies at the Harvard Kennedy School).
See the draft programme and more details on the conference website.
GYA under the microscope – how goes the evaluation?
In order to provide open-ended core funding for the GYA in Germany, the German government asked for a thorough evaluation of the GYA’s accomplishments over the years. To guide the independently-appointed team of international reviewers, the GYA Co-Chairs and Office provided a self-evaluation report last September, which described our activities against the benchmarks set by our strategic plan 2016–2020. After the in-person meeting of the core Evaluation Committee on 14 January in Halle, which the GYA Co-Chairs and Managing Director attended to respond to questions from the committee, GYA leadership is optimistic a positive report will be received, which would then inform the process for prolonging our core funding in Germany. That being said, the evaluation process was also a valuable exercise that allowed us to gain a better overview of all the ways we have successfully contributed to major parts of our strategic targets. We remain cognizant of the need to reflect on the ways in which we should adapt to remain responsive to the global challenges of our time, whilst also considering our unique contribution to the conversations surrounding these challenges. Moreover, our past activities and engagements have resulted in many new and important opportunities, such as a recent invitation to join the Steering Committee of the World Science Forum, as well as ongoing discussions with the International Science Council on formalising our cooperation.
New Year sees changes at Office Assistant position
Sadly, the GYA had to say goodbye to our Office Assistant Geert Luteijn in December. Geert helped many members with their travel logistics and sometimes challenging visa questions in the past year. Thanks to his academic background, he was also good at drafting meeting minutes or translating documents, and deserves a big thank you for his reliable help! While Geert has gone back to his home country (the Netherlands), Sandra Bobach has joined the GYA Office team. Sandra has a background in Spanish philology and worked for an academic publishing house in Leipzig, Germany, before she joined the GYA.
Earlier this month, the GYA Office team wholeheartedly welcomed Sandra, who is already preparing for the AGM visa campaign. Sandra works part-time Monday to Thursday (UTC mornings), and can be reached here: Sandra.Bobach@globalyoungacademy.net.
Making Connections great!
This year’s Connections Editor and GYA member, Anindita Bhadra (India) invites you to help us create a special collage filled with your memories that would serve as a keepsake for the entire GYA network. If you have a fond memory of interacting with the GYA or any of its members from our first 10 years, please take a moment to share it for posterity! Three kinds of submissions are welcomed – short essays up to 500 words, anecdotes or quotes of any length detailing your best/funniest/most interesting memories, and photos of any sort that you would like to share. It would be great if you could send your submissions by 10 February 2019 – we look forward to sharing your memories! Please email your stories, pictures and articles to Press Officer Jim Curtiss. Thank you!
Societal and economic impact as funding criteria discussed at Global Research Council Middle East and North Africa meeting
GYA member Mohamed Elhadidy (Egypt) represented the GYA at the 2018 Global Research Council (GRC) Middle East and North Africa Regional Consultative Meeting from 3-4 December 2018, in Cairo, Egypt. The meeting brought together science funding organisations from the Middle East and North Africa region and beyond to address the theme 'Expectations of Societal and Economic Impact'.
Conference report published: Global individual responsibility in refugee integration
As an outcome of the international symposium 'Global Individual Responsibility: The Role of the Citizen in Refugee Integration', held at the Munich Center for Ethics at the University of Munich (Germany) from 25 to 27 April 2018, a recent GYA report presents recommendations to individuals and policy makers with an aim to support and improve conditions for individual action and initiatives from civil society with respect to refugee integration.
This year marks the 150th anniversary of Dmitry Mendeleev discovering the Periodic System, and has thus been proclaimed the “International Year of the Periodic Table of Chemical Elements” (IYPT2019).
GYA alumni Javier Garcia-Martinez (Spain), a member of the Executive Board of the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry, is heavily involved in the planning, coordination and implementation of the activities of IYPT2019.
The initiative behind IYPT2019 has resulted in three main activities: the Periodic Table of Younger Chemists, the Global Woman's Breakfast, and the Periodic Table Challenge. All three activities are detailed in a news item on our webpage.
The GYA recently surpassed two social media milestones - 6,000 likes on Facebook, and 4,000 followers on Twitter!
We update our social media feeds daily, so if you are interested in keeping up with the activities of GYA members and alumni, as well as our strategic partners, this is the best way to do it.
Hopefully you already follow us on these platforms, but if not, please take a moment to:
Students need mentoring and guidance in their native tongues
GYA member Clarissa Rios (Peru) recently published a comment in NATURE on the lack of mentoring for young people in Latin America. ‘Although there are many excellent mentorship programmes in high-income countries, most are offered only to students already in those nations, and usually only in English.’
Co-Chair Tolu Oni (UK) was elected a Fellow of the African Academy of Sciences (AAS). The goal of the pan-African AAS is to help shape Africa’s agenda for science and contribute to developing the field. The AAS elects Fellows in or of Africa (in the diaspora), who are proven science, technology and innovation leaders, policy advisors and thinkers.
Mohamed Elhadidy (Egypt) was selected to be an Affiliate Member of the African Academy of Sciences. The purpose of the AAS Affiliates Membership Programme is to support the professional growth of young and early-to-mid career scientists in their efforts to develop into outstanding research leaders in their respective fields.
At last December’s Science Forum South Africa 2018, Teresa Stoepler (USA) spoke about the role of senior and young science academies in achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, while Co-Chair Connie Nshemereirwe (Uganda) discussed the role of young scientists in building leadership capacity on the African continent, particularly regarding the Africa Science Leadership Programme.
In early December Maral Dadvar (Germany) met representatives of networks with active members in the Middle East and North Africa during a 2-day workshop in the United Nations Buffer Zone in Cyprus. Her report is available here.
Isil Kurnaz (Turkey) has been elected as a ‘Term Member’ for the European Dana Alliance for the Brain, an organization of more than 290 eminent brain scientists, including five Nobel laureates, from 32 countries. In addition to ‘Full Members’, EDAB comprises ‘Term Members’ who are recognized for their Brain Awareness Week (BAW) outreach efforts and current presidents of European Neuroscience societies.
As part of a collaboration between two GYA members, Mirabbos Hojamberdiev (Uzbekistan) of Turin Polytechnic University in Tashkent, Uzbekistan visited the Indian Institute of Technology in Jodhpur, India from 11-27 December 2018. While in India, Mirabbos conducted two YSAP activities: (i) a science outreach programme at the Government Senior Secondary School of Barni Khurd, and (ii) a seminar talk and visit with researchers at the Indian Institute of Technology in Jodhpur, India.
In addition to regular base funding for the coming 12 months, top-up funding for specific additional activities has been granted to the following GYA working groups:
Biodiversity – a conference on Biodiversity in Uzbekistan in 2019.
The Young Academy Finland will be hosting the 2019 meeting of European Young Academies on 17-18 May 2019 in Helsinki, Finland. This meeting will offer a forum for European young academies, the Young Academy of Europe and the GYA to discuss current projects and share best practices. Young academies in Europe will have received further information on this meeting via a mailing earlier in January.
NYA updates – spread the news! If you have any news or updates regarding your NYA, please email Anna-Maria.
The 3rd International Women in Science without Borders (WISWB) Conference will take place 12 to 14 March 2019 in Egypt. After successful conferences in Egypt (2017) and South Africa (2018), the third conference will focus on ‘Science Diplomacy for Sustainable Development’.
GYA alumna Amal Amin (Egypt) continues to act as the Conference Chair, and Clarissa Rios Rojas (Peru) and Orakanoke Phanraksa (Thailand) will take part in the panel/workshop. The conference will be preceded by a training programme on ‘Science diplomacy and science advice’ on 10 to 11 March 2019. See here for further details and how to apply to participate.
European Federation of Academies of Sciences and Humanities report: Does social media sow distrust?
The European Federation of Academies of Sciences and Humanities (ALLEA) recently published a discussion paper ‘Trust in Science and Changing Landscapes of Communication’. The paper examines how the increasing use of social media and other digital transformations affect and challenge trust relations between science, media and society. You can download the publication here.
