Trisha Shetty (Editor)

The Science Academy Society of Turkey

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The Science Academy Society (Bilim Akademisi Derneği) is an independent self-governing organization founded on November 25, 2011 in Istanbul, Turkey.

Contents

The Association, referred to from here on as the Science Academy, is an independent institution that aims to bring together Turkish scientists, guided by the principles of scientific merit, freedom and integrity.

The Science Academy aims to raise public awareness about issues related to science practices, policies, education and ethics by organizing and overseeing conferences, meetings and publications by experts. Its main objective is to inform the general public and the institutions at large on the impact as well as the societal implications of scientific and scholarly research.

The Science Academy is also a member of All European Academies (ALLEA) since 2014.

Foundation

The Science Academy Association was founded when the Turkish Academy of Sciences (Türkiye Bilimler Akademisi, TÜBA) lost its autonomous status following executive decrees on August 27, 2011, and Nov. 3, 2011, which stipulated the appointment of TÜBA members by government agencies. The majority of the regular, honorary and associate members of TÜBA then resigned on the grounds that TÜBA had lost the quality of being an independent academy of science. Seventeen of these resigned TÜBA members founded the Science Academy on November 25, 2011, joined shortly after by most of the other resigned members. The Science Academy has since proceeded to elect new members based solely on merit.

Members

The Science Academy has presently a total of 144 full members (86 from the fields of natural sciences, mathematics and engineering, 35 from social sciences and humanities, 23 from medical sciences) and 26 honorary members, two of whom are Nobel Laureates (Philip W. Anderson, Physics 1977; Peter A. Diamond, Economics 2010).

Activities

The Science Academy engages in the following activities:

  • Organization of monthly public conferences in Istanbul and Ankara. The presentations and video recordings of these conferences are openly shared on the web page of the association.
  • Investigative reports, prepared by members of the Science Academy and addressing events concerning current economic and scientific developments, are regularly published on the website of the Academy.
  • In cooperation with Bogazici University, the Science Academy also organizes the Feza Gürsey Summer Schools on topics ranging from cosmology to mathematics.
  • The Science Academy Young Scientists Program (BAGEP) [4] provides grants to financially support the research of promising young scientists and scholars. The program is entirely funded by donations from many individuals and private foundations, and as such, it is the first of its kind in Turkey.
  • References

    The Science Academy Society of Turkey Wikipedia