National Academies

National Academies
Name	National Academies
Founded	Various dates
Founder	Various individuals and groups
Headquarters	Various locations
Membership	Scientists, engineers, scholars

Contents

National Academies

National Academies are premier scholarly bodies that advise heads of state, legislatures, and public institutions through independent studies and expert consensus. They commonly bring together members from institutions such as the Harvard University, Oxford University, National Institutes of Health, Max Planck Society and Chinese Academy of Sciences to address issues linked to policy decisions, technological assessment, and scientific priorities. Major examples influence policy in contexts involving entities like the United States Congress, European Commission, United Nations, World Health Organization and the G7.

Definition and Purpose

National Academies are organized assemblies of eminent figures from institutions including the Royal Society, Académie des Sciences, Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron, Smithsonian Institution and Academia Sinica charged with producing evidence-based guidance. Their purposes typically encompass independent review for bodies such as the U.S. National Science Foundation, European Research Council, Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, Indian Council of Medical Research and Australian Research Council. They often convene panels with experts affiliated to Princeton University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, California Institute of Technology, University of Tokyo and ETH Zurich to evaluate topics ranging from public health emergencies addressed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to energy policy debated at the International Energy Agency.

Many National Academies trace roots to Enlightenment-era institutions such as the Royal Society (1660), the Académie des Sciences (1666) and the Accademia dei Lincei (1603). Later foundations include the National Academy of Sciences (United States) (1863) during the era of Abraham Lincoln and the postwar creations aligned with reconstruction efforts involving the Marshall Plan, NATO and agencies like the Office of Scientific Research and Development. Twentieth-century developments linked to figures such as Vannevar Bush, Albert Einstein, J. Robert Oppenheimer and institutions like the Manhattan Project and Rockefeller Foundation helped formalize advisory roles reflected in bodies related to the National Research Council, Royal Society of Canada and the Brazilian Academy of Sciences.

Typical structures mirror models used by the National Academy of Engineering, Royal Society of London, Russian Academy of Sciences, Korean Academy of Science and Technology and Mexican Academy of Sciences with divisions for fields represented by scholars from Stanford University, Yale University, Columbia University, Imperial College London and Peking University. Membership categories often include fellows, associates and foreign members drawn from awardees of honors such as the Nobel Prize, Fields Medal, Turing Award, Lasker Award and Pulitzer Prize. Governance commonly features elected councils, committees and boards chaired by figures who may have backgrounds with the World Bank, International Monetary Fund, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation or national ministries like the Department of Energy and Ministry of Science and Technology.

Core activities encompass producing consensus reports for bodies like the United States Congress, European Parliament, Parliament of India, Canadian Parliament and policy forums such as the World Economic Forum. They undertake peer review for projects funded by the National Science Foundation, National Institutes of Health, Wellcome Trust, European Research Council and private foundations including the Carnegie Corporation, Ford Foundation and Rockefeller Foundation. Other functions include convening symposia with participants from NASA, European Space Agency, CERN, International Atomic Energy Agency and publishing journals and white papers used by courts, agencies and non-governmental organizations like Amnesty International and Doctors Without Borders.

Many countries maintain analogous organizations: the National Academy of Sciences (United States), Royal Society (United Kingdom), Académie des Sciences (France), Deutsche Akademie der Naturforscher Leopoldina (Germany), Russian Academy of Sciences (Russia), Academia Sinica (Taiwan), Indian National Science Academy (India), Chinese Academy of Sciences (China), Australian Academy of Science (Australia), Canadian Academy of Health Sciences (Canada) and Brazilian Academy of Sciences (Brazil). Regional groupings and networks include the InterAcademy Partnership, African Academy of Sciences, European Academies Science Advisory Council and collaborations with multilateral institutions such as the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization.

Governance models vary and often involve elected presidents, executive directors and boards with ties to universities like University of Cambridge, University of Edinburgh, University of Melbourne, Seoul National University and Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México. Funding sources include competitive grants from agencies such as the National Science Foundation, UK Research and Innovation, Japan Society for the Promotion of Science and contracts with legislatures plus philanthropic support from entities like the Gates Foundation, Wellcome Trust and corporate partners including Siemens, GlaxoSmithKline and Boeing.

Critiques have arisen over perceived conflicts of interest involving funding from corporations like ExxonMobil, Monsanto, Pfizer and Microsoft and debates about independence in cases tied to policymaking in arenas such as the Paris Agreement, Kyoto Protocol, Affordable Care Act and national security programs associated with DARPA. Other controversies involve disputes about representation of marginalized scholars, alleged conservatism in fields debated in venues such as the American Association for the Advancement of Science and contested reports that drew criticism from parties including the Trump administration, European Commission commissioners and activist organizations.

Category:Learned societies