On 21 April 2020, the International Science Council (ISC) officially welcomed the GYA to its ranks as an Affiliate Member. The GYA now stands together with over 170 international scientific unions and associations, as well as national and regional scientific organizations, including academies and research councils, forming the only international NGO that brings together the natural and social sciences. As global science organisations, both the GYA and the ISC seek to advance science as a global public good.
GYA Co-Chair Koen Vermeir (CNRS, France) notes that “The GYA and the ISC are natural partners. We have worked together from the founding of the ISC, and before, with the International Council for Science (ICSU) and the International Social Science Council (ISSC). Right now, the GYA and the ISC are the only international civil society organisations that have a truly global scope and bring together the natural and social sciences. The GYA and the ISC also complement each other: the GYA’s mission is to give a voice to young scientists worldwide, while the ISC’s mission is to act as the global voice for science. We are thus looking forward to work together more closely with the ISC and its member organizations. By becoming an affiliated member, the GYA will bring a new, young perspective to the ISC, full of new ideas and energy.”
GYA Managing Director Beate Wagner adds that “The GYA in its early years had only a considerably small group of researchers from the social sciences and the humanities in its ranks. This has luckily changed and interdisciplinary work, not only between neighbouring disciplines, is a well-established practice for many of our members. Linking up with ISC will help our members to strengthen cooperation across disciplines within the GYA and may add young voices to those of our esteemed partner organisations already working with International Science Council.”
More information on the ISC itself, as well as a COVID-19 portal, and a link to a UNESCO Open Science survey are available on their website here.
