The European Academies Science Advisory Council (EASAC), which brings together the national science academies of the EU Member States, is marking its 10th anniversary tonight. The celebrations will be held at the Palais des Académies in Brussels. Official speeches will be given by Professor Annette Schavan, German Federal Minister of Education and Research, and Lord May of Oxford, former Chief Scientific Adviser to the British Government and former President of the Royal Society. During the event, EASAC will present its latest statement on concentrating solar power. Read more

The three-day Annual Assembly of the National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina entitled “What is life?” has started at the Kongress und Kulturzentrum in Halle (Saale). Fridays’s focus was on “The Origin of Life” and “Elementary Life Processes – Synthetic Life”. Outstanding scientists were honoured during the morning session. Chancellor Dr. Angela Merkel and Minister-President of Saxony-Anhalt Dr. Reiner Haseloff spoke in the afternoon. Read more

The German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina has submitted an ad-hoc statement on energy research to Prof. Annette Schavan, the German Federal Minister of Education and Research. Against the backdrop of the events in Fukushima, the statement contains twelve key declarations that mainly address research-policy issues connected to the restructuring of Germany’s energy system. Read more

The city of Halle bestowed its Cup of Honour on Prof. Dr. Volker ter Meulen in recognition of his dedication and commitment during the time he served as Leopoldina President from 2003 to 2010, which contributed substantially to raising Halle’s profile as the seat of Germany’s National Academy of Sciences, both nationally and internationally. In his laudation, Leopoldina Vice President Prof. Dr. Gunnar Berg described Professor ter Meulen as an indefatigable and indispensable champion of the Academy’s interests who succeeded in “consolidating the Leopoldina’s position so that it could not be disregarded in the decision to found a German Academy of Sciences”. Read more

Germany and Russia have steadily expanded the scope of their collaboration in science and research over the past two decades. To consolidate these ties, the Federal Minister of Education and Research, Prof. Dr. Annette Schavan, and her Russian counterpart, Andrei Fursenko, recently inaugurated the “German-Russian Year of Education, Science and Innovation 2011/2012”. In accordance with the motto “Partnership of Ideas”, leading science and research organisations, universities and companies in Germany and Russia are holding joint events, conferences, symposia and workshops on important issues of the future. The Leopoldina is among the organisations actively involved in the bilateral year of science, which was launched in an official ceremony in Moscow on 23 May 2011. Read more

Together with the national science academies of the other G8 states, the German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina has prepared two statements for the G8 states in the run-up to the G8 Summit of Heads of State and Government. The recommendations contained in these statements were now presented to the participating governments for the negotiations in Deauville, France on 26 and 27 May. In a statement on the topic of “Education for a Science-Based Global Development”, the academies urge governments to target investment to establish an infrastructure for a globalization of knowledge in science and technology. A further statement on the topic of “Water and Health” urgently recommends improving the world’s population access to clean drinking water and sanitation to protect people against serious disease and epidemics. Read more

Refurbishment work on the distinguished building on the Jägerberg is due to be completed by the end of this year. Work on the Leopoldina’s new main building in Halle is progressing at an impressive pace. The German National Academy of Sciences celebrated the topping-out ceremony on 18 May, which was attended by numerous representatives from the spheres of politics, science and society. Welcome addresses were given by Cornelia Quennet-Thielen, State Secretary at the Federal Ministry of Education and Research; Dr. Andreas Scheuer, Parliamentary State Secretary at the Federal Ministry of Transport, Building and Urban Development; and Marco Tullner, State Secretary at the Ministry of Science and Economy for the State of Saxony-Anhalt. Read more

The importance of transgenic agricultural plants for the world’s food supply and for the production of biomass was the topic of a workshop in Hanover on 4 and 5 April 2011, which marked the official end of the German-Brazilian Year of Science, Technology and Innovation. The bilateral workshop was organized by the Leopoldina in collaboration with the German Research Foundation (DFG) and the Brazilian Federal Agency for the Support and Evaluation of Graduate Education (CAPES). Read more

The President of the Leopoldina, Jörg Hacker, is pleased with the developments of the German National Academy of Sciences after his first year in office. “The Leopoldina contributes actively and independently to political decision-making processes. Recommendations, such as the Statement on preimplantation genetic diagnosis issued at the beginning of the year, demonstrate how socially-relevant topics are able to be taken up, studied in an interdisciplinary manner and introduced into public discussion,” explains Hacker. In order to strengthen the Academy’s position in giving advice to society and policy makers, the Leopoldina has established seven standing committees in which high-ranking scientists study socially-relevant topics for the future. Read more

On 18 January 2011 the Leopoldina publically issued and published an ad-hoc
statement on preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD). This was done in
conjunction with acatech – the German Academy of Science and Engineering,
the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Science and Humanities (BBAW) and by
the majority of the academies belonging to the Union of German Academies of
Science. The underlying message of the statement: PGD is to be placed on an
equal footing with prenatal diagnosis (PD) by lawmakers and access should
be given in Germany under certain conditions to those women affected.
This prevents having to terminate pregnancies where the embryo is severely
affected by hereditary disease. Read more

Annette Schavan, minister of education and research and the initiative “Wissenschaft im Dialog” (Science in Dialogue) have proclaimed 2011 to be the Year of “Research into our Health”. This year of health research is to direct attention
towards people and to open up social and interdisciplinary debate on the
goals, challenges and the current fields of activity of health research. It will also demonstrate how important effective health research is for good, quality medical care in the future. Read more

The Academy honoured Ernst-Ludwig Winnacker, its former Vice-President
and the long-time President of the German research foundation Deutsche
Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG), with the Leopoldina’s Medal of Merit.
Winnacker was presented the award by Leopoldina’s President Jörg Hacker on
14 December in the assembly hall at the University of Halle. Read more

Ten years ago, the German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina and the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and Humanities recognized that nurturing young scientists would be the key to rebuilding a strong and competitive scientific environment. They created Die Junge Akademie (the Young Academy), an organization intended to harness the resources of both academies in ways that would fertilize research fields with new ideas and bolster career pathways, as well as invigorate older academies by involving the young scientific community in critical policy-related work. Read more

The high burden of mental illness has been relatively neglected in EU policy. The current practice of psychiatry is undermined by insufficient biological understanding of mental health disorders, under-recognition, stigmatisation, a lack of effective therapeutic interventions and of access to care delivery. The present report draws on discussion from a Prague meeting organised in 2009 by FEAM (Federation of European Academies of Medicine) to review some of the critical issues in contemporary psychiatry. Read More

Certain actions to cut greenhouse gas emissions and thus reduce climate change can also directly improve human health, according to a statement from the Inter-Academy Medical Panel (IAMP), a global network of the world's medical academies. These health benefits could partly offset the costs of tackling climate change and challenge the belief that policies to tackle climate change will invariably be socially and economically demanding. IAMP urges global political leaders around the world to take account of the health benefits of such mitigation strategies ahead of their meeting in Cancun, Mexico. Read more

The early recognition of treatable diseases is playing an increasingly important role in modern medicine. Most diseases involve hereditary dispositions. For this reason, in the future, diagnostics at the DNA level will be an important part in personalised medicine. The statement of Leopoldina – Nationale Akademie der Wissenschaften, acatech – Deutsche Akademie der Technikwissenschaften and the Berlin-Brandenburgische Akademie der Wissenschaften (for the Union der deutschen Akademien der Wissenschaften – Union of German Academies of Sciences and Humanities) serves to inform the public and politics and extensively highlights the broad field of predictive genetic diagnostics from various perspectives. According to the latest knowledge, opportunities and constraints are considered, as well as the medical, ethical, economic and legal dimensions of predictive genetic diagnostics. Read more

The laying of the foundation stone for the future main building of the Academy took place on 9 November in Halle – Federal Minister of Education and Research Annette Schavan paid tribute to the role of the National Academy. Read more

The former President was given honorary membership on the occasion of the honorary symposium “New developments in infectious diseases”, held as a tribute to Prof. Volker ter Meulen ML in the assembly hall of the “Löwengebäude”, the main building of the University of Halle, on 27 October. He received the highest tribute paid by the Leopoldina from the hands of his successor in office, Prof. Jörg Hacker ML, who emphasized Prof. ter Meulen’s strong commitment to the Academy: “By awarding him honorary membership, the Leopoldina is paying tribute to Volker ter Meulen as one of its great Presidents.”