Events from National Academies

Beyond the Pandemic: Addressing Attacks on Researchers and Health Professionals

April 11, 2023

The Committee on Human Rights of the U.S. National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, will gather experts to explore practical steps that scientists, researchers, and health professionals are taking to protect themselves and their colleagues from targeting—including violence, harassment, and other attacks.

This event marks the launch of Proceedings—in Brief from the CHR’s fall 2022 webcast series, Silencing Scientists and Health Workers during the Pandemic, which examined threats and attacks against science and health researchers and practitioners connected to their work to combat the spread of COVID-19, as well as related implications for internationally-protected human rights.

Register for the webcast.

IHRN-Related Events

Human Rights & COVID-19: Virtual Public Event

December 2020

The IHRN, together with the Academy of Science of South Africa (ASSAf), launched a virtual public event highlighting key rights-related challenges associated with the COVID-19 pandemic.

The event, containing pre-recorded presentations and webinars, addressed topics such as the disproportionate impact of the pandemic on communities of color in the United States; the consequences of COVID-19 response measures in South Africa for socio-economic human rights; and the broader implications of COVID-19 for the right to health and social justice.

Human Rights and Scientific Education: A Symposium of European National Academies

September 11, 2019

A symposium on the topic of the right to education, hosted by the French Academy of Sciences and co-organized with the German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina - both active participants of the IHRN - sought to demonstrate the importance of human rights education for a wide audience, including secondary and post-secondary students, to fight against discrimination of all kinds. Held in Paris, France, it was the eighth in a series of symposia managed by the Leopoldina devoted to the theme of human rights and science.

Dr. Rebecca Everly, Executive Director of IHRN, joined a round table discussion during the symposium.  She shared ways in the IHRN has sought to address violations of the right to education, including through public statements and private appeals urging equal access and an end to discriminatory practices at higher education institutions.

Beginning in 2010 in Berlin, the Leopoldina’s Human Rights Committee has organized regular symposia, in cooperation with national academies, that include representatives of European academies and the wider European scientific community.  These events provide an opportunity to debate topical human rights and ethics-related questions related to the work of national academies, and to discuss cases of scientists and scholars subjected to human rights abuse.

For more information on the symposium, please visit the French Academy of Sciences’ website.

Research and Human Rights​: An International Conference Hosted by the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters

September 26, 2019

The Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters - an active participant of the IHRN - hosted an international conference, Research and Human Rights, to address situations in which academic freedom is under attack. The conference brought together scholars from across disciplines to speak on various topics within this context. Dr. Rebecca Everly, Executive Director of the IHRN, presented on the topic of national academy engagement in human rights activities. Other topics included the relationship between human rights and human rights law and how scholarship can defend the human in an era of New nationalism. The event also featured testimonies from individuals who have suffered human rights abuses in connection with their peaceful scholarly pursuits. In addition, it highlighted the importance of incorporating a human rights perspective into academic research, in order to enhance research results and enable more responsible solutions to pressing societal challenges. A book, Research and Human Rights, featuring essays from the conference speakers on the topic of research and human rights, was released in September 2020.

The conference was organized by Professor Jakob Lothe, Professor in English Literature at the University of Oslo and Leader of the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters' Committee for Human Rights.

To view the conference program and speakers’ bios, please visit the event website.

Engaging with Human Rights in the National Academy Context

October 2018

The IHRN held a webinar to discuss key themes addressed in its resource guide, Engaging with Human Rights in the National Academy Context.  The guide highlights the creative, and varying, ways in which national academies around the world are integrating human rights activities into their work. Speakers from several national academies participating in the IHRN shared their views on the importance of human rights for them personally and for their academies.

IHRN biennial meetings provide an opportunity for academy members to explore and share information on science and human rights concerns. Meetings frequently include public symposia and special sessions for students or early career scholars in host countries.

15th Biennial Meeting

The IHRN’s next biennial meeting will be hosted by the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters in Oslo, Norway, TBD, 2025. More information will be posted as it becomes available.