Global Young Academy

The Global Young Academy is an international society of young scientists.

Organization and membership

The academy is modeled after the German Junge Akademie and similar organizations in the Netherlands and Sudan. It has working groups on science education, science and society, early career development, and interdisciplinary issues.

The typical age of members is approximately 35 years old; members are expected to be several years past their doctoral studies. The number of members is capped at 200, and each scientist is limited to a four-year term of membership. Memberships are offered based on scientific excellence, after a process of nominations from senior scientists, national societies, and self-nominations, together with peer review by members and senior scientists. As of March 2011 there were nearly 150 members.

History

The Global Young Academy was founded in 2010 in Berlin, Germany, after a preliminary organizational meeting in 2008 sponsored by the InterAcademy Panel on International Issues and the World Economic Forum and a second organizational meeting in 2009 in Dalian, China. Its founding co-chairs are Gregory Weiss, a chemist from the University of California, Irvine, USA, and Nitsara Karoonuthaisiri from the National Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology in Thailand.

Goals

The academy aims to bring together young scientists to solve global problems and policy issues that require interdisciplinary expertise, to encourage young people to enter scientific careers, to promote a scientific culture in which excellence in research is more highly valued than seniority, and to improve the foundations of science worldwide by providing encouragement and recognition to researchers in countries with underdeveloped national scientific programs. In support of these goals, it has also helped to establish several national young academies.