In January 2025, the GYA participated in the Muscat Global Knowledge Dialogue and Third General Assembly of the International Science Council, which was hosted by the Ministry of Higher Education, Research and Innovation of Oman, in Muscat, Oman. Over 400 representatives from 132 countries gathered in Oman to discuss science’s role in advancing sustainability and global development.
The GYA was represented by Co-Chair Chandra Shekhar Charma, EC member Hiba Baroud, Managing Director Beate Wagner, and Senior Project Officer Anna-Maria Gramatté. Many more GYA members and alumni attended in various roles, as ISC Fellows (Mareli Claassens, Ghada Basioni, Amal Amin, Moritz Riede, and Javier Garcia Martinez), panel speakers, or representing a National Young Academy (Priscilla Kolibea Mante, Sri Fatmawati, Veda Krishnan, Hussain Wahedi, and Aftab Ahmad).
The ISC meetings fell into two categories: the Muscat Global Knowledge Dialogue saw a number of plenary and thematic sessions, and concluded with the adoption of the Muscat Declaration, a call to action for equitable access to knowledge, transformative science systems, and strengthened international collaboration to address pressing global challenges.
During the Dialogue, GYA EC member Markus Prutsch spoke as a panellist at the pre-workshop on “Leveraging the ISC membership to strengthen science advice to policy”, where he introduced the role of the European young academies in the European Commission’s Science Advice Mechanism.
Saja Al Zoubi, co-lead of the GYA group on At-Risk Scholars, presented at a pre-workshop on “Freedom and Responsibility in Science”, while GYA members Carina Geldhauser and Éva Dékány, together with Beate, co-organised a session on “Rethinking Higher Education and Research Excellence in Africa for impact” together with the African Academy of Sciences, where they introduced the Coalition for Advancing Research Assessment (CoARA).
GYA member Luisa F. Echeverría King, who is also part of the ISC Regional Focal Point for the Latin American and Caribbean Region, spoke at the Dialogue’s closing panel about the critical balance between cooperation and competition in research internationally.
The ISC General Assembly that followed was the first in-person General Assembly since the ISC’s establishment in 2018. It heard various reports and saw discussions on, inter alia, the ISC Strategic Plan 2025–2028 and the related budget; new directions in the portfolio of freedom and responsibility in science; a renovated science agenda setting function; future directions in the ISC membership; critical issues related to the futures of science systems; the ISC regional presence and the establishment of new regional antennas; and final modifications in the revised ISC Statutes and Rules of Procedure.
The GYA introduced a short resolution to the General Assembly, proposing a stronger inclusion of early- and mid-career researchers into the ISC’s activities, events, and structures, thereby underscoring the relevance of this new member constituency to the ISC.
A number of Young Academies and young associations have become ISC members in the past 2 years and were now present at the meetings. The GYA as a facilitator for the world’s young academies, was involved in three sessions specifically for the Young Academies and Associations: a members forum for this group of ISC members, co-chaired by Hiba and by Mostafa Moonir Shawrav (Executive Director, Marie Curie Alumni Association) discussed benefits and challenges of international engagement by EMCR organisations.
An EMCR Roundtable session co-chaired by Gabriela Ivan, ISC Officer for Partnerships and Membership Development, and GYA Co-Chair Chandra, provided a welcome platform for exchange, learning, and collaboration among young scientists, ISC members and the broader EMCR community.
A third session brought together representatives from the LAC region interested to set up a young academy in their country with existing young academies in the region, representatives from senior academies, the ISC’s Regional Focal Point, as well as from the GYA Office.
On the occasion of the ISC meetings in Oman, the GYA Office has compiled an updated version of the booklet on “The World’s Young Academies“.