The International Science Council (ISC) is an international non-governmental organization that unites scientific bodies at various levels across the social and natural sciences. The ISC was formed with its inaugural general assembly on 4 July 2018 by the merger of the former International Council for Science (ICSU) and the International Social Science Council (ISSC), making it one of the largest organisations of this type.
Daya Reddy, a mathematician, served as the ISC's inaugural president. Sir Peter Gluckman, a pediatrician, biomedical scientist, and science-policy expert, was elected president in October 2021. Other ISC's inaugural officers elected for the term of 2018–2021 were Elisa Reis (vice president), Jinghai Li (vice president), Renée van Kessel (treasurer), and Alik Ismail-Zadeh (secretary). Until February 2022, Heide Hackmann served as the council's CEO. In 2023, Salvatore Aricò was elected chief executive officer.
Activities The council convenes and mobilizes the international scientific community on issues of major scientific and public importance. Activities focus on three areas of work:
Stimulating and supporting international scientific research and scholarship, and communicating science that is relevant to international policy issues; Promoting the ability of science to contribute to major issues; Defending the free and responsible practice of science.
The council is involved in co-sponsorship of a number of international research programmes, networks and committees.
The council awards the Stein Rokkan Prize for Comparative Social Science Research.
The council's present activities are guided by the Action Plan 2022-2024: Science and Society in Transition. At the heart of the Action Plan is a selection of projects and programmes that are relevant to all scientific fields and all parts of the world.
Structure The council is governed by a governing board and is advised by a number of advisory bodies in thematic areas such as space, polar, climatic, and data research. It is headquartered in Paris with a regional office in Colombia. The officers of the governing board are currently Peter Gluckman (president), Motoko Kotani (president-elect), Anne Husebekk (vice-president for freedom and responsibility in science), Salim Abdool Karim (vice-president for outreach and engagement), and Sawako Shirahase (vice-president for finance of the council).
The ISC's next assembly is scheduled to be held in Beijing in 2026.
Members As of 2025, the International Science Council has 131 member organizations, 43 member unions and associations, and 23 affiliated members.
Member unions and associations +AcronymNameScientific field4SSociety for Social Studies of ScienceSocial studies of science and technology (STS)CIEInternational Commission on IlluminationIlluminationIALSInternational Association of Legal ScienceLegal scienceIASSAInternational Arctic Social Sciences AssociationSocial science relevant to the ArcticIAUInternational Astronomical UnionAstronomyICAInternational Cartographic AssociationCartographyICIAMInternational Council for Industrial and Applied MathematicsMathematicsICOInternational Commission for OpticsOpticsIFSMInternational Federation of Societies for MicroscopyMicroscopyIGUInternational Geographical UnionGeographyIMUInternational Mathematical UnionMathematicsINQUAInternational Union for Quaternary ResearchQuaternary PeriodIPRAInternational Peace Research AssociationPeace ResearchIPSAInternational Political Science AssociationPolitical ScienceISAInternational Sociological AssociationSociologyISPRSInternational Society for Photogrammetry and Remote SensingPhotogrammetry and Remote SensingIUBSInternational Union of Biological SciencesBiologyIUCrInternational Union of CrystallographyCrystallographyIUFoSTInternational Union of Food Science and TechnologyFood science and Food TechnologyIUFROInternational Union of Forest Research OrganizationsForestryIUGGInternational Union of Geodesy and GeophysicsGeodesy and GeophysicsIUGSInternational Union of Geological SciencesGeologyIUHPSTInternational Union of History and Philosophy of ScienceHistory of Science and Philosophy of ScienceIUISInternational Union of Immunological SocietiesImmunologyIUMRSInternational Union of Materials Research SocietiesMaterials scienceIUMSInternational Union of Microbiological SocietiesMicrobiologyIUNSInternational Union of Nutritional SciencesNutritionIUPABInternational Union for Pure and Applied BiophysicsBiophysicsIUPACInternational Union of Pure and Applied ChemistryChemistryIUPAPInternational Union of Pure and Applied PhysicsPhysicsIUPESMInternational Union for Physical and Engineering Sciences in MedicineMedical physicsIUPHARInternational Union of Basic and Clinical PharmacologyPharmacologyIUPSInternational Union of Physiological SciencesPhysiologyIUPsySInternational Union of Psychological SciencePsychologyIUSSInternational Union of Soil SciencesSoil scienceIUSSPInternational Union for the Scientific Study of PopulationDemographyIUTAMInternational Union of Theoretical and Applied MechanicsMechanicsIUTOXInternational Union of ToxicologyToxicologyUISInternational Union of SpeleologySpeleologyURSIInternational Union of Radio ScienceRadio scienceWAPORWorld Association for Public Opinion ResearchPublic opinion researchWAUWorld Anthropological UnionAnthropology
National members +CountryMember organization Academy of Sciences (ASA) Foundation of Science and Development National Scientific and Technical Research Council (CONICET) Armenian National Academy of Sciences (NAS RA) Australian Academy of Science Austrian Academy of Sciences Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences (ANAS) Bangladesh Academy of Sciences (BAS) National Academy of Sciences of Belarus (NASB) Royal Academies for Science and the Arts of Belgium (RASAB) National Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters (ANSALB) Academia Nacional de Ciencias de Bolivia (ANCB) Academy of Sciences and Arts of Bosnia and Herzegovina (ANUBiH) Academy of Sciences and Arts of the Republika Srpska (ANURS) Ministry of Infrastructure Science and Technology Brazilian Academy of Sciences (ABC) Association Nacional de Pos-Graduacao e Pesquisa em Ciencias Sociais (ANPOCS) Bulgarian Academy of Sciences (BAS) Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique et Technologique (CNRST) Cameroon Academy of Sciences (CAS) National Research Council (Canada) (NRC) Academia Chilena de Ciencias China Association for Science and Technology (CAST) Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS) Academia Colombiana de Ciencias Exactas, Fisicas y Naturales Academia Nacional de Ciencias (Costa Rica) Académie des sciences, des arts, des cultures d'Afrique et des diasporas africaines (ASCAD) Cuban Academy of Sciences Royal Danish Academy of Sciences and Letters Academy of Sciences of the Dominican Republic Academy of Scientific Research and Technology (ASRT) Viceministerio de Ciencia y Tecnología de El Salvador Estonian Academy of Sciences National Research Council (Eswatini) Ethiopian Science and Technology Agency Council of Finnish Academies French Academy of Sciences Georgian National Academy of Sciences German Research Foundation (DFG) Ghana Academy of Arts and Sciences Academy of Athens Academia de Ciencias Médicas Fisicas y Naturales de Guatemala National Academy of Sciences of Honduras Hungarian Academy of Sciences Indian Council of Social Science Research (ICSSR) Indian National Science Academy (INSA) National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN) University of Tehran Ministry of Science and Technology Royal Irish Academy Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities National Research Council Scientific Research Council Science Council of Japan Royal Scientific Society Kazakhstan Academy of Sciences Kenya National Academy of Sciences Lao National Science Council Latvian Academy of Sciences Lebanese Academy National Council for Scientific Research Department of Science and Technology Lithuanian Academy of Sciences Luxembourg National Research Fund Ministère de l'Enseignement Supérieur et de la Recherche Scientifique National Commission for Science and Technology Academy of Sciences Malaysia Mauritius Academy of Science (MAST) Mexican Academy of Sciences Consejo Mexicano de Ciencias Sociales (COMECSO) Academy of Sciences of Moldova Centre Scientifique de Monaco Mongolian Academy of Sciences Montenegrin Academy of Sciences and Arts Hassan II Academy for Science and Technology Scientific Research Association of Mozambique (AICIMO) National Commission on Research, Science and Technology (NCRST) Nepal Academy of Science and Technology (NAST) Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences Royal Society Te Apārangi Nigerian Academy of Science Academy of Sciences of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea Macedonian Academy of Sciences and Arts Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters University of Bergen Research Council of Oman Pakistan Association for the Advancement of Science University of Panama Academia Nacional de Ciencias National Research Council Philippine Social Science Council (PSSC) Polish Academy of Sciences Lisbon Academy of Sciences Romanian Academy Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS) College of Science and Technology (Rwanda) (KIST) King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology (KACST) Senegal Academy of Science and Technology (ANSTS) Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts Seychelles National Parks Authority Singapore National Academy of Science Slovak Academy of Sciences (SAS) Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts Human Sciences Research Council of South Africa (HSRC) National Research Foundation (NRF) Korean Social Science Research Council (KOSSREC) National Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Korea Korean Academy of Science and Technology (KAST) Ministry for Science and Innovation (MCIN) National Science Foundation of Sri Lanka (NSF) National Centre for Research (NCR) Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences Swiss Academy of Humanities and Social Sciences (SAHS) Swiss Academies of Arts and Sciences Academia Sinica Tajik Academy of Sciences Tanzania Commission for Science and Technology National Research Council of Thailand Chancellerie des Universités du Togo Tunis El Manar University The Science Academy Society of Turkey Turkish Academy of Sciences (TÜBA) Uganda National Council for Science and Technology (UNCST) National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine (NAS) British Academy Royal Society National Academy of Sciences (NAS) Comisión Consejo Nacional de Innovacion Ciencia y Tecnologia (CONICYT) Uzbekistan Academy of Sciences (UzAS) Pontifical Academy of Sciences Fondo Nacional de Ciencia, Tecnología e Innovación (CONICIT) Vietnam Union of Science and Technology Associations (VUSTA) Zambia Academy of Sciences Research Council of Zimbabwe (RCZ)
Transnational members Arab Council for the Social Sciences (ACSS) Association of Asian Social Science Research Councils (AASSREC) Caribbean Academy of Sciences Consejo Latinoamericano de Ciencias Sociales (CLACSO) Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa (CODESRIA) Latin American Faculty of Social Sciences (FLACSO) Union Académique Internationale (UAI) Organization for Social Science Research in Eastern and Southern Africa (OSSREA) University of the South Pacific
Affiliated members Academy of Social Sciences (ACSS) African Academy of Sciences (AAS) Association of Academies and Societies of Sciences in Asia (AASSA) European Association of Development and Training Institutes (EADI) European Consortium for Political Research (ECPR) (FIG) Global Young Academy (GYA) International Arctic Science Committee (IASC) International Association of Applied Psychology (IAAP) International Commission for Acoustics (ICA) International Council for Laboratory Animal Science (ICLAS) International Council for Scientific and Technical Information (ICSTI) International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA) International Foundation for Science (IFS)