UNESCO RECOMMENDATION ON OPEN SCIENCE ENDORSED AND MORE ANNOUNCEMENTS

International Science Council (ISC) is pleased to announce that after many months of campaigning, the Science Commission at UNESCO has unanimously passed the Recommendation on Open Science at its 41st session. It will now go to the full plenary of Member States for endorsement. ISC thank all our Members for their involvement in this journey.

Please find below additional updates from the International Science Council and the ISC community.


1. Pandemic Politics: What have we learned?

As part of the ISC’s ongoing engagement with scholars and contemporary thinkers to disclose how the pandemic is impacting on different sciences, ISC cordially invite you to their next webinar of this series.

Please consider sharing the registration link with your colleagues, members, fellows and wider networks.


2. ISC podcast “Science in Exile”

As a contribution to the Science in Exile initiative, we are delighted to present to you the Science in Exile podcast series featuring six episodes of interviews with refugee and displaced scientists who share their science, their stories of displacement, and their hopes for the future: https://council.science/current/blog/amplifying-voices-at-risk-displaced-refugee-scientists/.


3. Action for Afghan scientists and scholars

The ISC and the InterAcademy Partnership recently published a joint statement expressing concern for Afghan scholars, calling for urgent action to preserve gains made in education and research in Afghanistan in recent decades: https://council.science/current/news/action-for-afghan-scientists-and-scholars/.


4. ISC position paper released: Science as a Global Public Good

The ISC is committed to a vision of science as a global public good. It is a vision with profound implications for the ways that science is conducted, how it is used and the roles that it plays in society. These implications, the ways they influence the responsibilities of scientists, both individually and collectively, and how they apply in the different settings in which science is practiced, are elaborated in this paper: https://council.science/current/news/science-as-a-global-public-good/.


5. Reminder: ISC call for partners – scientific freedom and responsibility in science

The ISC Committee for Freedom and Responsibility in Science (CFRS) is seeking to connect and work more closely with like-minded groups (such as committees, task forces, working groups, networks, etc.) and individuals within the ISC membership who share an interest in and/or deal with issues related to scientific freedom and responsibility.

Please consider sharing with us relevant information about any such groups or individuals by completing the online form at https://council.science/members/call-for-partners-scientific-freedom-responsibility-science/.


6. Recent opportunities within the ISC community

  • Apply for the Commission expert group on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on gender equality (deadline: 25 November 2021)
  • Nominate candidates for the Lorentz Medal awarded to a distinguished theoretical physicist (deadline: 1 March 2022)
  • Submit a session proposal for the 2022 Sustainability Research and Innovation Congress (deadline: 5 February 2022)


7. Recent events within the ISC community


Please feel free to share the above opportunities and events with your networks. As always, all opportunities and updates for ISC Members can be found on the ISC Membership Notice Board: https://council.science/members/membership-notice-board/.

ISC continue to stand ready to amplify and share your events, e-learning courses or podcasts, as well as calls for nominations, vacancies and other opportunities and initiatives with the ISC community via our website and social media channels.