The European Commission’s independent Group of Chief Scientific Advisors (GCSA), the European Group on Ethics in Science and New Technologies (EGE) and Peter Piot, special advisor to the President Ursula von der Leyen on the response to COVID-19, published a joint Opinion on Improving pandemic preparedness and management.

The advisors provide a set of recommendations that will help to prevent and pre-empt the emerging infectious diseases globally, enhance coordination across EU Member States and internationally and strengthen systems of preparedness and management. Additionally, the advisors look at how we can best uphold fundamental rights and social justice in times of a pandemic. Finally, they advise the Commission to address systemic issues linked to health crises, most notably in the fields of sustainability and social justice.
See the EC News here.

Commissioner Gabriel appointed three new members to the European Commission’s Group of Chief Scientific Advisors (GCSA). Additionally, Nicole Grobert and Sir Paul Nurse have been elected as the new Chair and deputy-Chair of the Group.

The three new members were nominated by Research Organisations in response to an open call for nominations and shortlisted by a high level independent Identification Committee. They have been  appointed for three years as of today.

• Maarja Kruusmaa – Professor of Biorobotics, Vice-rector for Research, Tallinn University of Technology (TalTech) and Visiting professor with Norwegian Institute of Science and Technology (NTNU)
• Alberto Melloni – Professor of History of Christianity at University of Modena/Reggio Emilia, secretary of the Foundation for Religious Studies and Chair Holder of the UNESCO Chair on Religious Pluralism and Peace at the University of Bologna
• Nebojsa Nakicenovic – Director of The World in 2050 (TWI2050), former Deputy Director General and Acting Director General of the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA) and a former tenured Professor of Energy Economics at Vienna University of Technology

With their broad, collective expertise, the renewed Group of Chief Scientific Advisors will support EU policy makers to ensure better regulation by providing first-class, independent scientific evidence. In particular, they will contribute to the on-going work on the scientific opinions on:

• Biodegradability of plastics in the open environment;
• Systemic approach to energy transition in Europe
• Joint Advice on resilience to crisis such as pandemic

Commissioner Gabriel expressed her gratitude for the excellent work done by the Chief Scientific Advisors whose mandate expired, the chair Rolf Heuer, the deputy chair Pearl Dykstra and Elvira Fortunato and praised the high quality of their contributions over the past five years.

See news at the EC Webpage

The Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences (CASBS) at Stanford University is now accepting applications for residential fellowships for the 2021–22 academic year. Online applications will be accepted at the Center’s website through November 9, 2020. See also CASBS Fellows Program Fact Sheet.

CASBS encourage applications from scholars and thinkers who are minorities broadly defined, women, and those who represent a wide variety of institutions and countries.

CASBS is particularly eager to receive applications from accomplished scholars and thinkers who engage with the significant societal challenges the Center focuses on, described here, and the research methods that support them.
For more information, guidelines, and application requirements, visit CASBS website.