15th Anniversary of EASAC - "A Celebration of Science for Policy"

On the occasion of the 15^th Anniversary of the National Science Academies of the EU-member states, Norway and Switzerland (EASAC), a special event took place from 11^th to 13^th May 2016 during the biannual Council Meeting. This event was hosted by the Norwegian Academy of Sciences and Letters (DNVA), which was able to secure the Norwegian Nobel Prize laureate Professor Edvard Moser (Trondheim) as the keynote speaker. Moser gave a lecture about his research into the spatial orientation of living organisms through highly specialised nerve cells in the hippocampus. Professor William J. Sutherland (University of Cambridge) was also among the speakers at the event. He talked about the incorporation of scientific findings into political decision-making. The Norwegian Minister of Education and Research Torbjørn Røe Isaksen presented the Norwegian view on European scientific collaborations.

The special event was also an opportunity to present EASAC statements and to illustrate their role in policy advice.  Reports from 2015 on the impact of neonicotinoid-based insecticides and on gain of function in virology were introduced to the guests. The statement on marine sustainability published in early 2016 and the EASAC report entitled “Electricity Storage”, due to be published in autumn 2016, were also presented at the event.

The gala occasion was followed by the regular EASAC Council Meeting which was also dedicated to the 15^th anniversary. Dr Peter Collins, former director of the Royal Society and head of the previous EASAC Secretariat at the Royal Society (2001-2007), gave an evening lecture on the foundation and history of EASAC. A special anniversary booklet that vividly documents EASAC’s achievements and developments over the past 15 years was published to mark the occasion.

Download anniversary booklet <link fileadmin images oslo_council_meeting easac_15_anniversary_web.pdf download file>here.

Pictures copyright: Eirik Furu Baardsen/DNVA