!!!President's page
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!!Letter to AE and YAE members and guests from the President Sierd Cloetingh
!March 2020
!Dear AE member, member of the Young Academy and guest readers,
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As you will all know, this is my final year as the President of the Academia Europaea. But, there will be many opportunities for me to say farewell. So for now, I am pleased to continue to update you on how our Academy is going from strength to strength.
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As I write: our Barcelona Hub is rolling out a fantastic programme of events for [International Women’s Week|http://barcelona.acadeuro.org/womens-week-2/womens-week-2020]  and the call for nominations for the [second AE-Barcelona City HYPATIA prize|Acad_Main/Barcelona_Knowledge_Hub_Events/Barcelona Hypatia European Science Prize] is still open. This new, prize (with a 30,000 Euro award) is covering the Life Sciences. Please put forward some excellent candidates. See this link:
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The [HERCuLES|Acad_Main/Activities/HERCulES] group (chaired by Lars Engwall (Uppsala), will hold an [international  symposium|Acad_Main/Activities/HERCulES/Events/Internationalization of Higher Education Institutions] at Uppsala in May – all welcome. This event is supported by the  Åke Wiberg Foundation. There are no registration fees. The topic is: “__The Internationalization of Higher Education Institutions__“.
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The 2020 Annual conference “BUILDING BRIDGES III”, and 32nd annual Business meeting of members will take place [20 - 23rd of October|Acad_Main/Plenary_Conferences/Academia Europaea 32nd Annual Conference 2021], at the Barcelona Biomedical Research Park. The programme is almost complete, and we are honoured this year to be able to give an __[ERASMUS MEDAL|Acad_Main/Activities/Awards_and_Prizes/Erasmus_Medal/Erasmus_Award]__ for sustained international scholarship to __[ROGER PENROSE|Member/Penrose_Roger]__, the distinguished Oxford mathematician. Roger will also deliver the 2020 Heinz-Nixdorf ERASMUS Lecture.  We are also looking forward to the 2020 Young Academy 'Andre Mischke' prize and lecture and an exciting YAE panel debate on “Redefining Rewards & Recognitions for European Scholars”.  I am pleased once again, to announce that the conference will be followed up with a whole-day (optional) geo-culture-wine and food 'field trip' on 23rd October.
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Please also remember that the call for your [nominations for the 2021 Erasmus Medal|Acad_Main/News_Archive/CALL FOR NOMINATIONS FOR THE 2021 ERASMUS MEDAL] __IS STILL OPEN__.  I am grateful to __Balazs Gulyas__ for his continuing coordination of this prestigious prize.
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On June 18th, we will hold a launch event for our __fifth AE Regional Knowledge Hub__ – to be located in MUNICH. The Academic Director of the Hub will be __[Prof. Don Dingwell|Member/Dingwell_Donald]__ (Class B chair – Exact Sciences). Look out for the event announcement and details about the new Hub in due course.
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Our Wroclaw Knowledge Hub is once again organising  a very strong international activity programme. There is an [open call for papers|Acad_Main/Past_Events/2011-present/ICONOCLASM] for a major symposium (in October) on ICONOCLASM. The organiser – __[Nikita Harwich|Member/Harwich_Nikita]__ (Chair of the History section) is keen to have more offers of papers. The event is sponsored by the Riksbankens Jubileumsfond  and we are, as ever, grateful to them.
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Now for an important message: __The CLOSING DATE for nominations as candidates for membership of the Academia Europaea is fast approaching (31st March).__   The __[nominations form|Acad_Main/Nominations]__ is online. I would make a strong appeal to all members – please look around at your colleagues – including from different disciplines - any you think are deserving of membership, then nominate them. If every member nominated one candidate, we would rapidly start to reflect better the diverse and dynamic community of excellence that European scholarship contains. Please remember, that the Academia Europaea is NOT the Academy of the EU – it is the Academy of Europe in its truest and widest sense and it is our role to represent and link with scholars in all parts of our European continent.
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So, as this brief extract of our programme demonstrates, 2020 will be a busy final year for me, but an exciting one.  I hope you will play your part in continuing to build on our legacy and continue to strengthen the role of the AE in forging an open, unrestricted European community of scholars.
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Sierd Cloetingh\\
Utrecht, 4 March 2020

!Below there  two important announcements. Please look at these and please do respond with enthusiasm.
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!!LAST CALL for NOMINATIONS of CANDIDATES FOR ELECTION TO THE ACADEMIA EUROPAEA IN 2020, WILL CLOSE ON 31st MARCH

The online forms and full instructions and information about the nomination and election process can be found through the ae-info [website|Acad_Main/Nominations].

__NOTE:__

*ONLY nominations __on fully completed forms__ will be considered.
*Nominators should seek permission of a candidate first, before submitting a nomination.
*Members can nominate candidates to any section and class and are not limited to scholars from their own fields.
*There are no limits to the number of candidates any member can submit.
*Citizenship and nationality are irrelevant for membership. 
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__IF YOU NEED ANY ASSISTANCE PLEASE CONTACT __[office@AE-Info.org|mailto:office@AE-Info.org].
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!!SAVE THE DATE
!32nd ANNUAL MEMBERS CONFERENCE OF ACADEMIA EUROPAEA
!!"BUILDING BRIDGES III"\\and the 32nd Annual Business Meeting of AE members
!20-23 October 2020, Barcelona, Spain
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!Speakers include;

*__2020 ERASMUS MEDAL__ and Lecture: [Professor Roger PENROSE|https://penroseinstitute.com/about/roger-penrose]
*[Professor Eva KONDOROSI|Member/Kondorosi_Éva] (Balzan Prize 2018 - Chemical Ecology)
*[Professor Quentin SKINNER|Member/Skinner_Quentin] (Balzan Prize 2006 - Political Thought, History and Theory)
*__2020 Andre Mischke Young Academy Prize__ (To be announced)
*__AE GOLD AWARD__ to [Professor Ole PETERSEN|Member/Petersen_Ole] 
*PLUS Speakers from the four AE classes and dedicated new member sessions and posters (to be confirmed)
*__Distinguished  lecture__ by [Mara Dierssen|Member/Dierssen_Mara], Barcelona
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The full programme and event website __will be launched in early MAY 2020__.