This year, from the 15th to the 17th of October, the YAE organised its AGM and took part in Academia Europaea’s parallel Building Bridges conference, in lovely Barcelona. While the meetings were somewhat disrupted by strikes – and Autumn colds – we brought together an enthusiastic group, with over 50 members joining physically or online for the sessions on Wednesday.
Board members Zohreh Hosseinzadeh, Niki Liguori, Anna Kuppuswamy and Scott Bremer
As detailed in the programme, Wednesday afternoon, the 15th, the AGM attended to its formal procedures, with a report from the Chair and Treasurer, followed by elections of board members. Votes were tallied up while three YAE members Klass-Jan Tielrooij, Carme Font Paz and Joeri Tijdink presented their on-going research, before the results of the election were presented, and the meeting closed.
Thursday morning, the 16th, was a rich programme of events. It started with Vice-Chair Mona Simion kicking off the YAE’s new ‘Inquiry Lectures’ series, with the inaugural lecture by YAE member Emma Gordon and colleague Adam Carter at the University of Glasgow. Following this, we had a session on ERC Synergy Grants, from Prof. Eystein Jensen – Vice-President of the ERC – and ERC advisor Giuliano Scalzi, with tips on how to put together this form of grant. the AGM finished with a trip to the CRAI Biblioteca de Fons Antic, where we took a tour through some of old texts they have their, including some of the first volumes on anatomy published.
Touring the CRAI Biblioteca de Fons Antic
On Friday the 17th, the YAE co-organised two sessions on the Building Bridges programme. The day opened with Outgoing Chair Scott Bremer and Chair Anna Kuppuswamy presenting the André Mischke YAE Science Policy Prize to Agnieszka Wykowska, and her lecture on ‘Human-Robot Interaction’. Later in the afternoon, the YAE organised a panel discussion on ‘Public Trust in Science and Navigating Political Tensions, with panelists Anna Kuppuswamy, Ruth Rodriguez-Martinez and Emilian Mihailov. This panel sparked lively discussion with the audience, and proved to be a highly interactive session. The aim was to not simply throw up our arms as scientists, and bemoan political interference, but to accept that there has always been politics in science, and learn to adapt as the relation between science and politics shifts.
Presenting the André Mischke prize to Agnieszka Wykowska