International Science Council
The International Science Council (ISC) is an international non-governmental organization that unites scientific bodies at various levels across the social and natural sciences. The ISC was formed with its inaugural general assembly on 4 July 2018 by the merger of the International Council for Science (ICSU) and the International Social Science Council (ISSC), making it one of the largest organisations of this type.[1][2][3][4]
 | |
| Abbreviation | ISC |
|---|---|
| Formation | July 4, 2018 |
| Merger of | International Council for Science (ICSU), International Social Science Council (ISSC) |
| Type | INGO |
| Headquarters | Paris, France |
| Daya Reddy | |
| Website | council |
Daya Reddy from the University of Cape Town was elected as the inaugural President of the Board.[5] Heide Hackmann serves as the CEO.[6]
Mission
The mission of the International Science Council is to act as the global voice for science.
Activities
The Council convenes and mobilizes the international scientific community on issues of major scientific and public importance. Activities focus on three areas of work:
- Stimulating and supporting international scientific research and scholarship, and communicating science that is relevant to international policy issues;
- Promoting the ability of science to contribute to major issues;
- Defending the free and responsible practice of science.
The Council is involved in co-sponsorship of a number of international research programmes, networks and committees.
The Council awards the prestigious Stein Rokkan Prize for Comparative Social Science Research.[7]
The Council’s present activities are guided by the Action Plan 2019-2021: Advancing Science as a Global Public Good.[8] At the heart of the Action Plan is a selection of projects and programmes that are relevant to all scientific fields and all parts of the world.
Structure
The Council is governed by a Governing Board,[9] and is advised by a number of Advisory Bodies. The Council's headquarters are located in Paris, France. The members of the Governing Board are currently Geoffrey Boulton, Melody Burkins, Saths Cooper, Anna Davies, Pearl Dykstra, Sirimali Fernando, Ruth Fincher, Sir Peter Gluckman (President Elect), Alik Ismail-Zadeh (Secretary), Li Jinghai (Vice President), James C. Liao, Daya Reddy (President), Elisa Reis (Vice President), Natalia Tarasova, Renée van Kessel (Treasurer), Martin Visbeck.
It has regional offices in South Africa (for Africa) and Malaysia (for Asia and the Pacific). A General Assembly of all Members is convened every three years.
The next General Assembly meeting is planned for 10-14 October 2021 in Muscat, Sultanat of Oman (exact dates are subject to change).[10]
Members
In 2020, the International Science Council has 135 member organizations, 40 member unions and associations, and 30 affiliated members.[11]
Member unions and associations
National members
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Transnational members
- Arab Council for the Social Sciences (ACSS)
- Association of Asian Social Science Research Councils (AASSREC)
- Caribbean Academy of Sciences
- Consejo Latinoamericano de Ciencias Sociales (CLACSO)
- Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa (CODESRIA)
- Latin American Faculty of Social Sciences (FLACSO)
- Union Académique Internationale (UAI)
- Organization for Social Science Research in Eastern and Southern Africa (OSSREA)
- University of the South Pacific
Affiliated members
- Academy of Social Sciences (ACSS)
- African Academy of Sciences (AAS)
- Association of Academies and Societies of Sciences in Asia (AASSA)
- Association of Science-Technology Centers (ASTC)
- European Association of Development and Training Institutes (EADI)
- European Consortium for Political Research (ECPR)
- Fédération Internationale des Géomètres (FIG)
- Global Young Academy (GYA)
- International Arctic Science Committee (IASC)
- International Association for Hydro-Environment Engineering and Research (IAHR)
- International Association of Applied Psychology (IAAP)
- International Commission for Acoustics (ICA)
- International Commission for Optics (ICO)
- International Commission on Illumination (CIE)
- International Council for Industrial and Applied Mathematics (ICIAM)
- International Council for Laboratory Animal Science (ICLAS)
- International Council for Scientific and Technical Information (ICSTI)
- International Federation for Information Processing (IFIP)
- International Federation of Data Organizations for Social Science (IFDO)
- International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA)
- International Foundation for Science (IFS)
- International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA)
- International Society for Digital Earth (ISDE)
- International Studies Association (ISA)
- International Union for Vacuum Science, Technique and Applications (IUVSTA)
- International Union of Speleology (UIS)
- International Water Association (IWA)
- Pacific Science Association (PSA)
- Social Science Research Council (SSRC)
- The World Academy of Sciences (TWAS)
- Transnational Institute (TNI)
GeoUnions
A subset of ISC dealing with Earth and space sciences forms the GeoUnions network:[12]
- International Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing
- International Astronomical Union
- International Cartographic Association
- International Geographical Union
- International Union of Quaternary Research
- International Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing
- International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics
- International Union of Geological Sciences
- International Union of Soil Sciences
- International Union of Radio Sciences
The ISC GeoUnions partially overlap with the UN-GGIM Geospatial Societies.
References
- "Two main Science Councils merge to address complex global challenges". UNESCO. Retrieved 2018-10-21.
- "About us". International Science Council. Retrieved 2018-10-20.
- McBean, Gordon; Martinelli, Alberto (2017-11-24). "Blurring disciplinary boundaries". Science. 358 (6366): 975. doi:10.1126/science.aar4320. ISSN 0036-8075. PMID 29170207.
- "International Science Council established | 06.07.2018 | News | Sciences Switzerland". naturalsciences.ch. Retrieved 2019-08-10.
- "Paris launches the International Science Council with aims to rebuild trust in science". The Ecologist. Retrieved 2018-10-21.
- "About us". International Science Council. Retrieved 2018-10-21.
- "Call for nominations: Stein Rokkan Prize for Comparative Social Science Research". International Science Council. Retrieved 2019-08-16.
- "ISC Action Plan 2019-2021".
- "Governing Board of the ISC".
- "General Assembly 2021, Muscat, Oman".
- "Membership Online Directory". International Science Council. Retrieved 2021-01-03.
- "About ICSU GeoUnions". ICSU GeoUnions. Retrieved 2021-01-13.