The Young Academy of Europe (YAE) is a pan-European initiative of outstanding young scientists wishing to create a platform for networking, scientific exchange and science policy.
Established in September 2012, the YAE was officially launched at its first Annual Meeting in Brussels, Belgium, on 7/8 December 2012. Over 70 scientists, policy makers, and representatives of European initiatives and funding agencies attended the event, which focused on “How to enhance the European Research Environment for the Next Generation of Young Scientists”.
The YAE will initially have 200–250 members selected from the pool of European Research Council (ERC) Starting Grants (StG) grantholders. Starting from January 2014, it will be opened to outstanding young scientists whose scientific excellence at the international level has been recognized, for instance, by prestigious European or national research grants or awards. The YAE will admit about 100 new members per year.
The YAE focuses on fostering interdisciplinary and international scientific exchange, collaboration, and knowledge transfer, providing active support to colleagues across Europe and future generations of leading scientists, e.g., helping them to negotiate lab spaces, teaching duties, and salaries. It wants to encourage young scientists to communicate their research to the general public and also wants to act as a voice for young researchers by actively reaching out to policy makers to try to influence science policy and contribute to the development of a European science agenda for the coming decades.
