Academia Europaea
The European Academy of Sciences
Towards a stable and robust Academia
Prof. Dr. Sierd Cloetingh
Faculty of GeoSciences
Utrecht University
(sierd.cloetingh@uu.nl)
The concept of a 'European Academy of Sciences' was raised at a
meeting in Paris of the European Ministers of Science in 1985. The
initiative was taken by the Royal Society (UK) which resulted in a
meeting in London in June 1986 of Sir Arnold Burgen FRS (Foreign
Secretary, The Royal Society, UK), Hubert Curien (Minister of
Science, French Government, F), Umberto Columbo (ITA), David
Magnusson (S), Eugen Seibold (Germany) and Ruud van Lieshout
(NL) – who agreed to the need for a new body that could express the
ideas and opinions of individual scientists from across Europe.
Build on Academia Europaea’s
assets
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Broad-based reputation
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Membership
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Office
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Track-record of workshops and reports
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International advisory role
Leadership & service
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Inspiration to members
Support to the office
Activate the activists
Create opportunities for European science
Influence policy/decision makers
Work on a stable financial base
TOPO-EUROPE – The Geoscience of Coupled
Deep Earth – Surface Processes
Klaus Tschira
Foundation
GmbH
International
Lithosphere
Program
Netherlands
Research Centre for
Integrated Solid
Earth Sciences
23 countries joined TOPO-EUROPE: 14.5 Meuro budget,
60 new research positions
Academia
Europaea
TOPO-EUROPE workshop 2005
Participants of the TOPO-EUROPE workshop at
the Studio Villa Bosch in Heidelberg, Germany.
TOPO-EUROPE workshop 2014
Interplay between surface, lithospheric, and mantle processes
Barcelona, September 17-19, 2014
Venue: CosmoCaixa, Science Museum Barcelona
Need for active Sections
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Give support to strong leadership
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Promote cross fertilization amongst sections
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Incentives for new initiatives carried by excellent
young researchers
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Benefit from the full European added value
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Foster capacity building in Europe
Set up in 2007 by the EU, the European Research Council (ERC) is the first pan-European
funding organisation for frontier research. It aims to stimulate scientific excellence in Europe
by encouraging competition for funding between the very best, creative researchers of any
nationality and age.
The ERC consists of an independent Scientific Council and an Executive Agency. The
Scientific Council, the ERC's governing body, is composed of 22 distinguished scientists and
scholars, including the ERC President, who define the scientific funding strategy and
methodologies. They act on behalf of the scientific community in Europe to promote creativity
and innovative research.
From 2007 to 2013 under the seventh EU Research Framework Programme (FP7), the ERC's
budget was €7.5 billion. Under the new Framework Programme for Research and Innovation
(2014-2020), Horizon 2020, the ERC has a substantially increased budget of over €13 billion.
Since its launch, the ERC has funded around 4 000 researchers and their frontier research
projects.
AE hub
Barcelona
AE head office, London
AE hub
Wroclaw
Executive Board
meeting in Brussels
Andreu Mas-Colell
Ole Petersen
David Coates
Minister of Economy
and Knowledge,
Catalonian Government
Chair of Nominations
Committee
Executive Secretary
European Commission President
Jose Manuel Barroso
The position of Euro-CSA was created by the current President of the European Commission,
Jose Manuel Barroso in January 2012. Professor Anne Glover was appointed to the role with
responsibility for advising the President on matters relating to science, technology and
innovation. The Royal Society and the European Academies Science Advisory Council
(EASAC) have supported and welcomed the creation of the Euro-CSA role, and have
proactively engaged with her during her mandate. The position is currently linked to the
Barroso presidency and is due to expire in October 2014. Any continuation under the next
leadership may depend on key scientific institutions and individuals in Europe articulating a
clear case for doing so. We are already aware of concerns that the Euro-CSA does not have
adequate staff resources.
Priorities for Academia Europaea
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Widening and intensifying participation of the membership
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Promoting synergy between Academia Europaea and the Young
Academy of Europe
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Strengthening the role of the sections, enhancing their effectiveness
and interaction
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Strengthening the internal organization and financial sustainability of
Academia Europaea
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Proactive role as voice for science in Europe, in close partnership
with e.g. EASAC, ALLEA, ERC, and national academies
Forward look
With
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your support
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my experience of fruitful interaction with many of you in my
different capacities within Academia Europaea since I was
elected in 1993
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my strong belief in the potential of Academia Europaea,
I hope to be able to realize these goals and to continue to position
Academia Europaea as an influential body of European scholars in the
European research landscape.