The statement highlights open science as vital for research, for connecting science with policy and society, and for tackling global inequality, while warning that its benefits are at risk as barriers to international collaboration grow. The SAB urged the global community to actively advance open science for the benefit of all.
The Secretary-General’s Scientific Advisory Board (SAB) and its associated global network of scientific institutions are an essential forum for offering UN officials unbiased, fact-based counsel on cutting-edge scientific and technological developments.
The SAB aims to ensure that scientific developments are used to meet today’s global and complex issues. It provides the UN Secretary-General, as well as the UN System more broadly, with the needed evidence and insights to effectively navigate a world that is changing quickly by addressing issues at the intersection of science, technology, ethics, governance, and sustainability.
As part of the SAB’s global network of scientific institutions, the International Science Council (ISC) contributes to the Board’s work by offering scientific insights, resources, and advice drawn from the ISC’s diverse global Membership.
The ISC provides input to the SAB through both formal and informal channels. It has shared key ISC publications; facilitated horizon scanning exercises to help identify emerging future trends; recommended expert contributors to roundtables and briefs; provided advice on effective science-policy mechanisms and modalities; and championed the work and priorities of the ISC Membership. Additionally, the ISC has supported collaboration between the SAB and the UN Group of Friends on Science for Action, for which the ISC serves as a Secretariat alongside UNESCO. Through these efforts, the ISC contributes to strengthening the link between science and policy across the UN system.
On 11-12 September 2025, the SAB hosted its second retreat, bringing together Board members and its network of scientific institutions for a valuable in-person platform of open dialogue and collaboration. The retreat harnessed momentum generated through publication and issuance of SAB Science Briefs and related activities. It represented an important milestone in cementing collaboration between science bodies, the UN Secretary-General, and the UN system to ensure that scientific evidence can be directly translated into policy action. The ISC was represented at the retreat by President-Elect Robbert Dijkgraaf, supported by the ISC Senior Representative to the UN System, Morgan Seag.
At this year’s retreat, the Board adopted a landmark statement on open science. The ISC had the honor to lead the preparation of this statement, drawing on the ISC’s extensive work on open science to convene key messages, insights, and calls to action from SAB Members and network institutions.
In this statement, the SAB stressed that open science offers crucial benefits to the vitality of research, to connecting science to policy-makers and society, and to addressing global inequality – but that open science and its benefits are threatened as worldwide barriers to scientific collaboration rise amidst fast changing geopolitical and economic contexts.
The SAB called upon the global community to actively advance open science for the benefit of all, leaving no one behind.
Throughout the retreat, including discussions with UN Secretary-General António Guterres as well as Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed and Under Secretary-General Guy Ryder, Prof. Dijkgraaf also conveyed key points from the ISC to further enhance the relationship between science and decision-making.
Prof. Dijkgraaf noted that while providing evidence is essential, it is equally important to present it in a way that is understandable and actionable for policymakers. The ISC stressed the need for scientific brokerage to bridge this gap effectively, with inputs that are both supply- and demand-driven.
Prof. Dijkgraaf also emphasized the need for science-policy interfaces to integrate a wide range of knowledge perspectives from across all scientific disciplines, including social sciences, as well as transdisciplinary perspectives to support localization of science. This ensures that a variety of voices, particularly from underrepresented regions, are heard, and contributes to more effective decision-making and implementable solutions.
At the retreat, the ISC also called for strengthened engagement of the global scientific community to enhance evidence-informed decision-making amidst urgent environmental, technological, and geopolitical challenges.
A highlight of the SAB retreat was an evening reception co-hosted by the Permanent Missions of Singapore and South Africa to the United Nations. The reception brought together SAB members, leaders of global scientific institutions, and Member State representatives. Prof. Dijkgraaf spoke on the event’s opening high-level panel, which examined the impact of misinformation and disinformation on science and science diplomacy.
Through its partnership with the SAB and its network, the ISC is committed to ensuring that science plays a central role in shaping policies for a more resilient and equitable future. The ISC looks forward to providing continued support to the SAB, leveraging and amplifying the work of the ISC Membership to support evidence-informed decision-making and advance science as a global public good.
Picture by Maarten Deckers on Unsplash
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