European academy networks launch Horizon 2020-funded SAPEA project: Science Advice for Policy by European Academies

On 13 December 2016, Presidents of the five European academy networks that make up the SAPEA project consortium joined the Director-General for Research and Innovation, Dr Robert-Jan Smits, for the official launch of SAPEA in Brussels. More than 100 academies across Europe will contribute to the European Scientific Advice Mechanism (SAM), which provides independent, transdisciplinary and evidence-based scientific advice to the European Commission.

Director-General Smits welcomed the launch of SAPEA: "Today's agreement with the five European Academy Networks will boost the Commission's Scientific Advice Mechanism. It will allow it to tap into the Academies' broad knowledge across disciplines and regions in Europe. The Commission is looking forward to this new partnership with the Academies."

SAPEA Chairman and ALLEA President Professor Günter Stock voiced his appreciation that “the Commission has established a comprehensive system for providing independent and evidence-based scientific advice for EU policymaking. The five European academy organisations look forward to constructively working together with SAM’s High Level Group."

SAPEA combines the expertise of more than 100 academies across Europe, spanning the disciplines of science, engineering, medicine, humanities, and social sciences, with hundreds of Fellows respectively who will contribute to the work of SAM. The project will run over 4 years and is funded through a grant from the EU’s Horizon 2020 programme. SAPEA stands for “Science Advice for Policy by European Academies”.

The participating European academy networks include Academia Europaea, ALLEA, EASAC, Euro-CASE, and FEAM, which will aggregate their existing structures to advance international, transdisciplinary cooperation among academies in more than 40 European countries.

For more information on SAPEA please contact:
Mr Robert Vogt
SAPEA Communications Officer
vogt@allea.org

Full press release