The International Science Council will provide a “unified global voice of science”, said Daya Reddy, the council’s newly elected president and South African research chair in computational mechanics at the University of Cape Town. It was formed by a merger of the International Council for Science and the International Social Science Council, after a strategic review called for a stronger and more unified entity.

“The council has a unique power and ability to mobilise communities of scientists to solve major problems,” said Reddy. “It will stimulate research, communicate scientific knowledge in the public domain, and defend free practice of science.”

He believes that in order to do so, the council will need to do more to reach and work with marginalised regions affected by global problems, be it climate change, poverty or the rise in anti-science sentiments.

“Thirty per cent of the countries, mostly in the developing world, are still not represented [in the council],” he said, adding that as a concrete step to encourage more regions to participate, the council will revisit its fees structure to reduce financial barriers to membership.

To read the full report by Mico Tatalovic, please visit the SiDevNet website.