About EASAC

EASAC’s supreme strategic and decision-making body is the Council (link), composed of representatives from member academies. The EASAC President and Vice-Presidents work together in the EASAC Board (link), while day-to-day operations are managed by a Secretariat (link). EASAC’s work of independent science-based advice for policymakers focuses on three core programmes: The Biosciences and Public Health Programme (link), the Energy Programme (link), and the Environment Programme (link). Each programme is run by a Programme Director and has one Steering Panel, consisting of experienced scientists nominated by EASAC member academies and networks. Steering Panels function as central body overseeing the programme lines and giving advice on the scientific scope, strategic significance, value, and viability of proposed reports and other EASAC output.

After a project has been scoped and recommended by a Steering Panel and approved by the Council, a working group is formed through nominations by EASAC member academies and networks. The group holds meetings to compile a report or other output, which then undergoes a rigorous peer review process before being circulated to all EASAC member academies for endorsement. When there is not much time to produce advice or when EASAC wants to address a relatively narrow topic, EASAC may produce shorter documents called commentaries or statements. Sometimes, key messages of EASAC’s work form the basis of EASAC articles in scientific journals. All EASAC output is made available in the publications (link) section.

The main procedures and structures of EASAC are outlined it its Statutes (link).

EASAC activities include:

• Producing high-quality advisory reports for EU policy-makers to inform political decisions;
• Collecting scientific evidence on pressing societal challenges from expert scientists across the EU;
• Hosting workshops to identify current scientific thinking about major European policy issues;
• Facilitating network activities to strengthen collaboration among Europe’s science academies;
• Building and maintaining relationships with EU bodies and other organisations and initiatives in the science-for-policy landscape;
• Engaging in a global network of science academies through the InterAcademy Partnership (IAP) as the regional member for Europe;
• Conducting outreach activities such as report launches and briefing events that inform policymakers, scientists, journalists, representatives of NGOs or other interested stakeholder groups on science-for-policy issues;
• Engaging non-expert audiences on important scientific and policy issues through EASAC’s communication channels.
    

EASAC is committed to promoting inclusion, diversity and sustainability in all its activities and governance structures.

Learn more about EASAC’s latest science-for-policy work here: https://science-advice-europe.eu/

Most of EASAC’s funding comes from its members, European science academies, who pay an annual contribution. Furthermore, they make substantial in-kind contributions by funding travel expenses for participation of their nominated experts in EASAC's Steering Panels and working groups. These experts give their time free of charge. EASAC receives support as the “Regional Affiliated Network for Europe” of IAP, which is in turn funded by the UNESCO. EASAC may also apply for project-specific funding from non-profit foundations, such as the United Nations Foundation. Additional contributions from independent foundations are possible.

Furthermore, the EASAC Foundation (link) invites donations and serves as a conduit for donors to support particular activities of the EASAC network, such as particular thematic projects or the dissemination and communication of the results. The EASAC Foundation is a charity under Dutch law (ANBI). Please consult the webpage of EASAC Foundation (link) for information on the foundation, its policy plan, and gift agreement.

EASAC was established at a meeting of leaders of the national academies of the EU member states, the Academia Europaea and ALLEA (All European Academies; link) at the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences (link) in 2001. The initial aim was for the council to provide authoritative scientific judgements to the policy-makers of the European Union on a wide variety of topics. EASAC's Secretariat has been hosted by the Royal Society (link) (2001-2010), the Leopoldina (link) (2010-2022), and the Austrian Academy of Sciences (link) (2024-present)

EASAC Presidents

President elect (incoming 2026): Lise Øvreås (Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters; link).