The International Science Council (ISC) is an international non-governmental organization that unites scientific bodies at various levels across the social and natural sciences. The ISC was formed with its inaugural general assembly on 4 July 2018 by the merger of the former International Council for Science (ICSU) and the International Social Science Council (ISSC), making it one of the largest organisations of this type.[1][2][3][4]
Daya Reddy, mathematician, served (2018–2021) as the ISC's inaugural President.[5] Sir Peter Gluckman, pediatrician, biomedical scientist, and science-policy expert, was elected President in October 2021.[6] Other ISC's inaugural Officers elected for the term of 2018–2021 were Elisa Reis (Vice President),[7] Jinghai Li (Vice President),[8] Renée van Kessel (Treasurer),[9] and Alik Ismail-Zadeh (Secretary).[10] Until February 2022, Heide Hackmann served as the Council's CEO.[11] In 2023, Salvatore Aricò was elected Chief Executive Officer.[12]
The Council convenes and mobilizes the international scientific community on issues of major scientific and public importance. Activities focus on three areas of work:
The Council is involved in co-sponsorship of a number of international research programmes, networks and committees.
The Council awards the Stein Rokkan Prize for Comparative Social Science Research.[13]
The Council's present activities are guided by the Action Plan 2022-2024: Science and Society in Transition.[14] At the heart of the Action Plan is a selection of projects and programmes that are relevant to all scientific fields and all parts of the world.
The Council is governed by its Governing Board[15] and is advised by a number of advisory bodies in thematic areas such as space, polar, climatic, and data research.[16] It is headquartered in Paris with a regional office in Colombia. The Officers of the Governing Board are currently Peter Gluckman (President), Motoko Kotani (President-elect), Anne Husebekk (Vice-President for Freedom and Responsibility in Science), Salim Abdool Karim (Vice-President for Outreach and Engagement), and Sawako Shirahase (Vice-President for Finance of the Council).
The ISC's next assembly is scheduled for 2024. [17]
In 2020, the International Science Council has 135 member organizations, 40 member unions and associations, and 30 affiliated members.[18]
A subset of ISC dealing with Earth and space sciences forms the GeoUnions network:[19]
The ISC GeoUnions partially overlap with the UN-GGIM Geospatial Societies.