The Global Young Academy’s Annual General Meeting in Bremen, Germany, concluded on a high note, sparking new interdisciplinary collaborations, welcoming 33 new members, setting the organization’s strategic course, and electing new leadership.
This year, GYA members elected a diverse Executive Committee (EC) to guide the organization forward. The EC, consisting of 11 members hailing from 5 continents, will be Co-Chaired by Francesco Maurelli (Constructor University, Germany) and Natisha Dukhi (Human Sciences Research Council, South Africa). Both Natisha and Francesco served as EC members last year, and Natisha is the former Co-Chair of the South African Young Academy.
Further newly-elected EC members are as follows:
- Antonia Morita Iswari Saktiawati (Universitas Gadjah Mada, Indonesia)
- Carina Geldhauser Telitsin (ETH Zurich, Switzerland)
- Daniel Schwab (U.S. Department of Energy, United States)
- Erick Komolo (Egerton University, Kenya)
- Mujtaba Ali Isani (Quaid-e-Azam University, Pakistan)
- Praveen Kumar (Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science, Kolkata, India)
- Reem Abou Assi (Al-Kitab University, Iraq)
- Oscar Xavier Guerrero Gutiérrez (Centro de Investigación y de Estudios Avanzados del I.P.N., Mexico)
- Wilson Alavia Medina (Disruptive Sustainable Technologies for Positive Change SpA, Chile)
Carina, Morita, Reem and Wilson served as EC members last year.
Natisha Dukhi is a seasoned public health scientist whose interdisciplinary research bridges science, leadership, advocacy, and sustainable development. She holds a PhD in Public Health and brings over a decade of experience as a medical scientist, lecturer, and researcher, with a strong track record of addressing complex health challenges across Africa and globally. Her core expertise lies in nutrition, child and adolescent health, and non-communicable diseases (NCDs), with a special interest in mobile health (mHealth) and science diplomacy -critical areas in advancing health equity, sustainability, and resilience. As a Senior Research Specialist at the Human Sciences Research Council, Dr Dukhi has contributed to several large-scale, multi-stakeholder projects, serving as Principal Investigator, co-PI, and Project Director. Her work is grounded in evidence-based approaches that inform public health policy and practice, particularly in underserved communities. A prolific scientist and mentor, her leadership extends to science diplomacy and advocacy, evidenced by her roles as a member of the South African Young Academy of Science, the Global Young Academy, and the International Science Council’s (ISC) Global Roster of Experts.
Francesco Maurelli is a Professor in Marine Systems and Robotics at Constructor University, in Bremen (Germany, EU), where he also serves as Program Chair for the Robotics and Intelligent Systems Program. He obtained his PhD at the Oceans Sytems Lab, Heriot-Watt University (Edinburgh, Scotland) with a thesis on intelligent AUV localisation. He has been Scientific Manager at Technical University of Munich (Germany) where he led European-wide initiatives to support moving robotics technology from the lab to the market. After a research stay at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Cambridge, MA, USA), as a Marie Curie Fellow, he has accepted a faculty position in Jacobs University Bremen, currently Constructor University. Francesco’s research interests are focused on persistent autonomy for marine robotics, perception, autonomous navigation, intelligent decision making, sensor data processing and fault management. When not busy with robots or students, he likes to speak the international language Esperanto and play the piano.
This year’s in-person AGM and International Conference of Young Scientists was held in Bremen, Germany,, hosted by Constructor University.