Visit the committee websites: USNC/IUBS USNC/IUBMB USNC/IUMS USNC/IUPS USNC/IUPAB
Welcome to the Homepage of the U.S. National Committees for the International Unions in the Biological Sciences
International Union of Biological Sciences (IUBS)	International Union of Physiological Sciences (IUPS)	The National Academies; JD Talasek
International Union of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (IUBMB)	International Union of Pure and Applied Biophysics (IUPAB)
International Union of Microbiological Societies (IUMS)
Download an informational flier on the five unions

Mission

The biological sciences are a diverse and dynamic field. The U.S. committees support the growth of biology by: Serving as neutral venues where representatives of U.S. professional societies, government agencies, and other important stakeholders can meet to discuss trends in their disciplines Acting as a communication bridge between the U.S. and international scientific communities Initiating and facilitating activities on important disciplinary and trans-disciplinary issues Collaborating with other national and international organizations interested in the advancement of the biological sciences

In carrying out these roles, the committees also interact closely with many of the American scientific societies in the biological sciences.

Committee Membership

The National Academies currently convenes five U.S. National Committees in the biological sciences, one committee for each union to which it adheres. Members of the committees are scientists from academe, government and industry who represent the U.S. research community and who have a strong interest in international science. Members generally serve for 3-year terms and are eligible for re-appointment to a second 3-year term. Members of the Executive Boards of the biology unions who reside in the U.S. serve as ex-officio members and are also invited to be actively involved with the committees. Nominations for new members are sought from a variety of sources, including the members and other Boards within the National Academies, scientific societies, and the scientific community at large.

Recent Committee and Union Highlights
	Microbial Commons Conference An international conference on building an integrated infrastructure in microbial research dealing with issues such as bioinformatics, intellectual property rights, material transfer agreements, text mining, and integration with genomics databases June 12 – 13, 2008 Ghent, Belgium
More than 80 people from 31 countries participated in the Forum and discussed challenges and opportunities for the scientific community in fostering policies that promote both scientific progress and security.	Second International Forum on Biosecurity March 30 – April 2, 2008 Budapest, Hungary
	Biological Sciences for the 21st Century: Meeting the Challenges of Sustainable Development in an Era of Global Change A symposium sponsored by the U.S. National Committee to the International Union of Biological Sciences as a component of the 29th IUBS General Assembly May 10 – 12, 2007 Washington, DC

Contact Us	Sponsors	Visa Information
The National Academies Board on International Scientific Organizations 500 Fifth Street, NW Washington, DC 20001 TEL +1 202-334-2807 FAX +1 202-334-2231	Support for these five U.S. National Committees in the biological sciences is provided by the Directorate for Biological Sciences of the National Science Foundation	Scientists, researchers, and students traveling to the United States for professional activities can obtain information from the International Visitors Office, a program operated by BISO.
Katherine Bowman, Program Officer kbowman@nas.edu
Pam Gamble, Administrative Assistant pgamble@nas.edu