Agenda

MONDAY, 15 December 2025

TUESDAY, 16 December 2025

WEDNESDAY, 17 December 2025 (DAY 1)

THURSDAY, 18 December 2025 (DAY 2)

Events indicated as “closed” are on invitation only.

All day

Asia-Europe Science & Technology Diplomacy Youth Summit (CLOSED)

Organiser: Asia-Europe Foundation (ASEF)

All day

Asia-Europe Science & Technology Diplomacy Youth Summit (CLOSED)

Organiser: Asia-Europe Foundation (ASEF)

12:30 - 17:30

Side event: Joint Meeting of the Foreign Ministries Science & Technology Advice Network (FMSTAN) and the Network of Science Advisors and Science Diplomacy Coordinators in EU Ministries of Foreign Affairs (CLOSED)

Organiser: European Commission / Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs

09:00 - 12:00

Side event: Joint Meeting of the Foreign Ministries Science & Technology Advice Network (FMSTAN) and the Network of Science Advisors and Science Diplomacy Coordinators in EU Ministries of Foreign Affairs (CLOSED)

Organiser: European Commission / Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs

09:00 - 10:30

Side event: General Assembly of the EU Science Diplomacy Alliance (CLOSED)

Organiser: EU Science Diplomacy Alliance

09:00 - 11:30

Side event: Where are the Publics in Science Diplomacy? (OPEN)

Venue: The Royal Danish Academy of Sciences and Letters, H.C. Andersens Boulevard 35 DK-1553 Copenhagen

Organisers: Danish Centre for Studies in Research and Research Policy (CFA), Aarhus University and the Royal Danish Academy of Sciences and Letters

Civil society actors are often highlighted as increasingly important within public policy decision-making and prioritization, advocating for policies that enhance international cooperation, and promoting intercultural awareness. However, the role of civil society in science diplomacy activities remains largely unexplored. The support of civil societies and their trust in research can prove crucial in science-diplomacy activities to navigate geopolitical tensions, disruptive technologies, and increasing online disinformation, among other societal and global challenges. Enhanced engagement with civil society actors in science diplomacy efforts holds the potential to increase understanding and support for science-based responses to global challenges, and promote collaborative, internationally coordinated solutions.

This side event will discuss the possibilities and challenges related to the science-society-diplomacy interface and explore questions such as:

  • What is the role of civil society actors in advancing transnational relations and attaining specific goals (e.g., in relation to climate change)?
  • How can science-diplomacy dialogues and collaborations effectively include civil society?
  • How can responsible governance of science and technology address public perspectives, concerns, and preferences?
  • How can researchers and diplomats collaborate to increase public awareness and understanding of the role of science diplomacy?

Speakers:

  • Vaughan Turekian, Executive Director for International Networks, Collaboration and Security, National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine, USA
  • Louise Lund Henneberg, Chief consultant, Techplomacy, Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs
  • Casper Andersen, Professor in History of Ideas, Aarhus University / Group Leader for Science Diplomacy, Aarhus Institute for Advanced Studies, Denmark
  • Tim Flink, Manager Research and Development Policy, Association of Research-based Pharmaceutical Manufacturers (vfa), Germany
  • (tbc)
  • Ana Peršić, Programme Specialist for Science Technology and Innovation Policies and Open Science, UNESCO (tbc)

Moderator:

  • Tine Ravn, CFA

Register via: Where are the Publics in Science Diplomacy? (Side event for the 2. EU Science Diplomacy Conference) | Om arrangementet

10:30 - 12:00

Side event: From Research to Relation: International Scientific Networks, the Quiet Diplomats (OPEN)

Venue: Copenhagen Business School

Organisers: COST Association with The Guild, Marie Curie Alumni Association and Université Côte d’Azur

The session will be about how and at what level international scientific networks and the research collaboration performed there are necessary precursors to science in diplomacy and diplomacy in science. The event will invite four European-based and globally engaged initiatives to present case studies to showcase how long-standing collaborations build trust and to raise awareness of the importance of science towards global decision-making mechanisms and impact in facilitating intercontinental relations and diplomacy.

Specific aspects that will be discussed are:

  • International scientific networking: highlighting different international scientific networking practices and showing how these are forerunners and essential tools for progressing the EU SD framework;
  • Actors of connecting: different institutions and organisations with broad networks and the ability for facilitating the creation of new ones, including a university, university alliance, intergovernmental organisation, researchers’ organisation in their role as connectors between the science side, policymakers and political players involved in EU SD;
  • Platforms: the collaboration practice that prepares the ground for SD by building trust and understanding while gathering evidence and allowing for a more secure collaboration that contributes to the recognition of the relevance and potential of science and technology for the foreign and security policy of the EU;
  • Best practise: existing practice and connections that provide valuable support, complement and being part of the EU diplomatic toolbox.

Register via: From research to relation: international scientific networks, the quiet diplomats - COST

10:30 - 12:00

Side event: From Threat to Empowerment: How Science in Distress Can Drive Innovation and Strengthen Science Diplomacy (OPEN)

Venue: Copenhagen Business School

Organiser: DAAD Centre for International Academic Cooperation

In the face of the existential threat posed by Russia’s aggression, Ukraine and its scientific community have demonstrated remarkable resilience and innovative capacity since 2022. This has, for example, enabled Ukraine to emerge as a frontrunner in drone defense — a field in which it is now regarded as a model for Europe. Russia’s war of aggression has once again revealed that science and higher education are not insulated from geopolitics, but are deeply interlinked with questions of security, resilience, and sovereignty. Ukrainian researchers face the dual challenge of continuing their work under attack while contributing to the survival of both their scientific system and their civil society. The same applies to scientific communities in other countries experiencing crises, whether driven by internal or external factors.

For Europe, the war in Ukraine underscores the need to rethink science diplomacy and to add new approaches and objectives to the goals of bridge-building and mutual understanding. Our societies are confronted with the challenges of an increasingly multipolar world marked by crises, disruptions, and global power struggles. Science diplomacy can and should also serve as an effective means of strengthening the resilience of science and broadening the scope for action in both diplomacy and research by fostering knowledge, expertise, and connections with a wide range of stakeholders across the international science landscape. The situation in Ukraine has required the scientific community to develop considerable innovation and negotiation skills, demonstrating both steadfastness and flexibility.

This raises the question: can other countries also learn from researchers at risk and science in crisis in order to develop new, innovative, and effective approaches to science diplomacy? How can science diplomacy be designed and implemented as a powerful tool to advance not only the interests of science but also national, European, and global objectives? How can science safeguard its independence, and why is this independence of particular value for politics and diplomacy?

Science diplomacy can, among other things:

  • expand the scope for action through the knowledge, expertise, and networks it generates;
  • contribute through innovation to strengthening the position of a country, community, or union of states — scientifically, economically, and politically — thereby improving its international negotiating capacity.

This round table brings together Ukrainian, European, and international voices to reflect on the lessons learned from crisis for science diplomacy and to explore the paths ahead.

Register via: From Threat to Empowerment: How Science in Distress Can Drive Innovation and Strengthen Science Diplomacy (OPEN)

Start of the Conference

13:00

Welcome

Opening ceremony

Speakers:

  • Susanne Ditlevesen, President, Royal Danish Academy of Sciences and Letters
  • Peter Møllgaard, President, Copenhagen Business School
  • Ekaterina Zaharieva, European Commissioner for Startups, Research and Innovation (video message)
  • Christina Egelund, Minister for Higher Education and Science, Denmark

13:30

A message from the 1st European Science Diplomacy Conference

  • Eva Ortega-Paíno, Secretary General for Research, Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities, Spain

13:45

Keynote I

Speakers:

  • Enrico Letta, President, Jacques Delors Institute
    Introduced by Christina Egelund, Minister for Higher Education and Science, Denmark

14:15

Coffee break & group picture

14:45

Plenary session I: European Science Diplomacy in a Rapidly Changing World

Speakers:

  • Signe Ratso, Deputy Director General, DG Research and Innovation, European Commission
  • Marcus Pleyer, State Secretary, Federal Ministry of Research, Technology and Space, Germany
  • Thierry Damerval, Special Envoy for Science, Technology and Innovation, Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs / Ministry of Higher Education, Research and Space, France
  • Peter Japelj, Director General for Economic, Cultural and Science Diplomacy, Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs, Slovenia
  • Marie-Louise Nosch, Vice-President, All European Academies (ALLEA), University of Copenhagen

Disruptive voice:

  • Vitalij Suprun, Researcher, Vasyl Stefanyk Precarpathian National University, Ukraine

Moderator:

  • Mette Birkedal Bruun, Vice Chair, Professor, The Danish Council for Research and Innovation Policy, University of Copenhagen

16:00

Fireside chat: We went as scientists and came back as science diplomats - Experiences from working with North Korea

Speakers:

  • James Hammond, Professor of Geophysics, Director Mount Paektu Research Centre, Birkbeck, University of London, UK

16:15

Keynote II

Speakers:

  • Macharia Kamau, Principal Secretary to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Kenya
    Introduced by Mogens Lykketoft, former Danish Foreign Minister and former President of the UN General Assembly

16:45

Short break, splitting into group sessions

17:00

Parallel Sessions

Parallel Session 1: Ocean Diplomacy
Coordinator: University of Bergen

Speakers:

  • Kieran Coleman, Policy Officer, Ocean, Seas and Waters Unit, DG Research and Innovation, European Commission
  • Andrei Polejack, Director of Research and Innovation, INPO - National Institute for Ocean Research, Brazil
  • Angelique Poupounneau, Lead Ocean Negotiator, Alliance of Small Island States, Seychelles
  • Edvard Hviding, Professor of Social Anthropology, University of Bergen, Norway
  • Alice Vadrot, Professor for International Relations and Environment, University of Vienna, Austria

Moderator:

  • Sverre Ole Drønen, UNAI SDG14 Hub Chair Lead, University of Bergen, Norway

Parallel Session 2: Polar Diplomacy
Coordinator: The Royal Danish Academy of Sciences and Letters / UiT - The Arctic University of Norway

Speakers:

  • Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson, Chairman, Arctic Circle, President of Iceland 1996-2016
  • Sara Olsvig, Chair, Inuit Circumpolar Council
  • Beixi Deng, Head of International Relations, Polar Research Institute of China
  • Peter Sköld, Chair of the European Polar Board, Professor of History, Sami Culture and Society Development , Umeå University, Sweden
  • Monika Szkarłat, Assistant Professor, Maria Curie-Skłodowska University, Lublin, Poland
  • Francesca Tolve, Head of Sector for Science Diplomacy and International Cooperation - International Relations Office, National Research Council of Italy

Moderator:

  • Rasmus Gjedssø Bertelsen, Professor of Northern Studies, Barents Chair in Politics, UiT - The Arctic University of Norway

Parallel Session 3: Space Diplomacy
Coordinator: European Space Policy Institute (ESPI)

Moderator:

  • Hermann Ludwig Moeller, Director, European Space Policy Institute

18:30

Networking reception

Speaker:

  • Christian Joas, Niels Bohr Archive, University of Copenhagen

20:00

High-level dinner (CLOSED)

9:00

Plenary session II: Securitization of Science and its Impact on Science Diplomacy

Speakers:

  • Yoichiro Matsumoto, Science & Technology Advisor, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Japan
  • Sir Mark Walport, Foreign Secretary and Vice-President, The Royal Society, UK
  • Stéphanie Balme, Director, Centre for International Studies, SciencesPo, France
  • Muriel Attané, Secretary General, European Association of Research and Technology Organisations (EARTO)
  • Casper Andersen, Professor in History of Ideas, Aarhus University / Group Leader for Science Diplomacy, Aarhus Institute for Advanced Studies

Disruptive voice:

  • Angela Liberatore, Science Diplomacy Fellow, European University Institute

Moderator:

  • Anne Marie Engtoft Meldgaard, Danish Tech Ambassador

10:20

Keynote III

10:50

Coffee break

11:15

Parallel Sessions

Parallel Session 4: Concrete Steps to Boost European Competitiveness Through Science & Tech Diplomacy
Coordinator: Danish Council for Research and Innovation Policy

Speakers:

  • Jean-François van Boxmeer, Chairman, Vodafone Group PLC, Chair, European Round Table for Industry
  • Sylvia Schwaag Serger, CEO, Royal Academy of Engineering, Sweden
  • Jens Nielsen, CEO, BioInnovation Institute, Denmark
  • Claudia Reinprecht, Deputy Director, Federal Ministry of European and International Affairs, Austria

Moderator:

  • Jes Broeng, Director, DTU Entrepreneurship, Denmark

Parallel Session 5: The Role of Non-State Actors in Science Diplomacy
Coordinator: EU Science Diplomacy Alliance

Speakers:

  • Cardinal Peter Turkson, Chancellor of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences, The Vatican
  • Marga Gual Soler, Head of Science Diplomacy Capacity Building, Geneva Science and Diplomacy Anticipator (GESDA), Switzerland
  • Gloria Benedikt, Research Artist and Stage Director, Independent, Austria

Moderator:

  • Mostafa Moonir Shawrav, Executive Director, Marie Curie Alumni Association (MCAA)

Parallel Session 6: Equitable Science Diplomacy Partnerships between North and South
Coordinator: European Commission and International Science Council

Speakers:

  • Joan Borrell Mayeur, Deputy Secretary-General, Head of Higher Education & Research Division, Union for the Mediterranean
  • Zakri Bin Abdul Hamid, Director, International Institute of Science Diplomacy and Sustainability, Malaysia
  • Appolinaire Djikeng, Director General, CGIAR International Lifestock Research Institute
  • Maria Estelí Jarquín, Governing Board Member, International Science Council (ISC) / International Relations Manager, UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology
  • Sakine Weikert, Head of the Centre for International Academic Cooperation (KIWi), German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD)

Moderator:

  • Nienke Buisman, Head of Unit, International Cooperation: Asia, Pacific, Africa & the Middle East, European Commission

12:45

Lunch break

SciDip Talks by Science Diplomacy Researchers

14:00

Plenary Session III: Values and Ethics of Science Diplomacy

Speakers:

  • Lidia Brito, Assistant Secretary-General for Natural Sciences, UNESCO
  • Cardinal Peter Turkson, Chancellor of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences, The Vatican
  • József Pálinkás, Former President of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences
  • Vaughan Turekian, Executive Director for International Networks, Collaboration and Security, National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine, USA

Disruptive voice:

  • Helen Eenmaa, Associate Professor of Governance and Legal Policy, University of Tartu, Estonia

Moderator:

  • Maria Rentetzi, Professor of Science, Technology and Gender Studies, Friedrich Alexander University Erlangen-Nürnberg, Germany

15:20

Coffee break

15:45

Plenary Session IV: Next steps for a European Framework for Science Diplomacy

Speakers:

  • Jan Marco Müller, Team Leader Global Approach, Multilateral Dialogue and Science Diplomacy, DG Research and Innovation, European Commission
  • Alessandro Lombardo, Chair of the EU Science Diplomacy Alliance / Senior Executive Officer, Central European Initiative
  • Andrei Luca, Chair of the EU Network of Science Advisors and Science Diplomacy Coordinators in Ministries of Foreign Affairs / Director for Education, Culture and Science Diplomacy, Ministry of Foreign Affairs Romania
  • Izaskun Lacunza, Director-General, Spanish Foundation for Science and Technology (FECYT)
  • Martina Hartl, Deputy Head, Department of International Cooperation and Science Diplomacy, Federal Ministry of Women, Science and Research, Austria

Disruptive voice:

  • Tim Flink, Research Policy Manager, Association of Research-based Pharmaceutical Manufacturers (vfa), Germany

Moderator:

  • Dame Anne Glover, former Chief Scientific Adviser to the President of the European Commission, Professor Emeritus, University of Strathclyde, UK

17:00

Closing Ceremony incl. Reading out of Conference Statement and of Youth Summit Declaration

Speakers:

  • Delegates of the Science & Tech Diplomacy Youth Summit
  • Thomas Trøst Hansen, Ministry of Higher Education and Science, Denmark
  • Jan Marco Müller, Team Leader Global Approach, Multilateral Dialogue and Science Diplomacy, DG Research and Innovation, European Commission
  • Konstantinos Kleovoulou, Director, Deputy Ministry of Research, Innovation and Digital Policy, Republic of Cyprus

Moderator:

  • Frede Blaabjerg, Chair, Danish Council for Research and Innovation Policy

18:00

End

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