“I was delighted to meet my counterparts from the G7 science academies in Ottawa,” says Bettina Rockenbach, who took up her role as President in March and has now participated in her first advisory process as part of the G7 academies. Led by the academy of the country hosting the G7 summit – in this case the Royal Society of Canada – the academies spent the previous months drafting joint statements on scientific topics that are linked to the agenda and require a multilateral approach. The core topics of this year’s S7 process were advanced technologies and data security, climate change and health, as well as migration.
As part of an official conference, the academies presented the topics they had worked on to the Science 7 Summit and to the government of the G7 host country. President Rockenbach was responsible for the topic of advanced technologies and data security: “On the ‘Advanced Technologies and Data Security’ panel, I and the partner academies discussed ways to manage and regulate AI applications, as well as the responsible handling of data.”
Participation in the Science 7 Summit represented Bettina Rockenbach’s first foreign trip as Leopoldina President. During her stay in Canada, she met Canadian science policy representatives, as well as the German ambassador to Canada, Matthias Lüttenberg. She also met the President of the University of Ottawa, Professor Dr Jacques Frémont, to discuss the current situation at Canadian universities and the impact of political developments in the USA.
The G7 summit for heads of state and government takes place in Kananaskis in the Canadian province of Alberta from 15 to 17 June 2025.