International Relations

The projects in the Academies' Programme are internationally connected and are part of cooperations with over 60 nations worldwide.

The Union of Academies and its member academies build numerous interconnections between their international partners, scientific organisations and academies of sciences and humanities. On the level of scholarship, one also finds a lively, cross-border exchange between researchers from far reaching nations through practices such as the international exchange of publications. Research findings are produced in international teams, and there are exchange and fellowship programmes especially for up-and-coming scholars.

The Union of Academies also represents its member academies in international assemblies of academies and scholarly organisations. The umbrella organisation takes part in the development of solution strategies for the most urgent global problems for the future of humanity, and it develops independent recommendations for the political sphere and social policy.

The Union of Academies is represented on the following boards of academies:

All European Academies

Further information

All European Academies (ALLEA) is the European federation of over 50 academies of sciences and humanities. Since its foundation in 1994, ALLEA represents its member academies on the European stage and seeks to promote science as a global public good. Solving challenges in an ever more complex world requires comprehensive, interdisciplinary and international cooperation from beginning to end. ALLEA’s main objective is to actively create optimal conditions for science and research in Europe while remaining independent from political, commercial and ideological interests with the aim of establishing the ideal environment for scientific progress and innovation.

InterAcademy Partnership

The InterAcademy Partnership (IAP) was founded in South Africa in March 2016 and unites established networks of academies of sciences, medicine and engineering under one roof.

Over 140 national and regional member academies worldwide work together within the InterAcademy Partnership, in order to strengthen the role of science and to find solutions for the most urgent global problems. This means that the new IAP has access to the expertise of brilliant minds from science, medicine and engineering across the globe, and is able to offer independent, science-based socio-political consultancy, promote excellence in scientific education, improve public health bodies globally, and achieve other vital global goals. Prof. Dr. Dr. Otmar Schober (Member of the AWK NRW) is the representative of the Union of Academies at the IAP.

Union Académique Internationale

The Union Académique Internationale (UAI) is a global federation of many academies of sciences from over 60 nations and has a social sciences and humanities focus. The UAI is a promoter and supporter of the humanities and social sciences, which play an increasingly important role in an everchanging world. The UAI initiates, evaluates and increases the visibility of long-term international foundational research projects in the humanities and social sciences.

At present, the UAI coordinates 76 projects, nine of which are carried out by member academies of the Union of Academies within the framework of its collective research programme, the Academies Programme. The UAI is financed by membership fees, as well as by private and public funds.

Prof. Dr. Jens-Uwe Hartmann (Member of the BAdW) und Prof. Dr. Klaus Herbers (Non-resident member of the AdW in Göttingen) are the representatives of the Union of Academies in the UAI.