2012 Cliquez pour modifier les styles du texte du masque Deuxième niveau Presentation of the French Académie des sciences

The Académie française ( Richelieu) The Académie des inscriptions et belles-lettres ( Colbert) The Académie des beaux-arts founded in 1816 by the union of the Académie de peinture et sculpture (1648) and the Académie d’architecture (1671) The Académie des sciences morales et politiques (1795) The Académie des sciences, founded by Colbert in 1666, is one of the five Academies of the Institut de France with: The Institut de France has been located in the ancient Collège des Quatre-Nations since 1805.

Cardinal Mazarin, Prime Minister under King Louis the XIV th, founded the Collège des Quatre- Nations, for the instruction of young men from four recently conquered provinces. Facing the Louvre, it included a chapel, a college and a library. Collège des Quatre-Nations Palais de l’Institut de France

Mazarin decided that this library should be open to the public: this is why its magnificent treasures and precious books were not destroyed during the French Revolution. Palais de l’Institut de France Mazarine Library

The chapel (architect: Le Vau), initially planned for the tomb of Mazarin, was transformed and is now used for the séances solennelles of each Académie. Palais de l’Institut de France The Chapel

During the XVII th century, scientists circled around a scholar or a patron. It is in this context that Colbert, Prime Minister under Louis the XIV th, officially founded the Académie des sciences. Thirty years later, in 1699, King Louis the XIV th gave it the name of Académie royale des sciences and established its first administrative rules. History (1)

Just after the French Revolution, the Académies were suppressed. In 1795 they were reborn but were gathered in the Institut national des sciences et des lettres. In 1816, the Académie des sciences regained its autonomy within the Institut de France. History (2)

The administrative rules of the Académie des sciences have varied through the centuries. The last decree is dated January 2003: it increases the number of Members and especially of those less than 55 years old. In 2011, the Académie des sciences includes:  250 Members  100 Corresponding Members  140 Foreign Associates Today (1)

Division 1: Mathematical and physical sciences and their applications (‘Mathematics’, ‘Physics’, ‘Mechanics and Informatics’, ‘Sciences of the Universe’); Division 2: Chemical, natural, biological and medical sciences and their applications (‘Chemistry’, ‘Molecular and Cellular Biology, Genomics’, ‘Integrative Biology’, ‘Human Biology and Medical Sciences’); An inter-section, ‘Applied sciences’, brings together Academicians directly concerned with scientific applications. Today (2) The Académie des sciences comprises 2 divisions, each subdivided into 4 sections:

Statutory bodies General Assembly (all Members) Executive CommitteeAdministrative Commission3 Delegations (Departments) Foreign Affairs Scientific Information and Communication Education Board President: A. Carpentier Vice-President: P. Taquet Permanent Secretaries: J.-F. Bach et C. Bréchignac General Assembly (All Members)

Adoption of recommendations Awarding of prizes Organization of public conferences and colloquia Publications Teaching science at school Defense of scientists who are victims of violations of human rights The missions The Académie des sciences contributes to the progress of sciences and their applications

The missions (1) Publications: Recommendations The Académie, upon governmental referral or on its own initiative, has published recommendations on various subjects (research on stem cells, problems of the environment and sustainable development, European space policy, Structure of French research, Science teaching…). The latest recommendations deal on the proper use of bibliometrics to evaluate individual researchers (January 2011), the training of professors teaching science at primary school, secondary school, and high school (November 2010), and the Reform of the secondary school (November 2010). The Académie has been one of the signatories of the G8 statements since 2005.

The missions (2) Publications: Comptes rendus The Comptes rendus (Proceedings), created in 1835 by Arago, are a bilingual journal. There are 7 series: Mathematique, Physique, Mecanique, Chimie, Geoscience, Palevol and Biologies. The articles can be viewed on the sciencedirect website.

The missions (3) Publications: Reports The latest reports are:  "Demography, climate and world food«  "Metallurgy"  "Climate Change"  Interim Report by ad hoc working party of the Académie des sciences Solidarity Japan

The missions (4) La Lettre de l’Académie des sciences La Lettre: a thematic quarterly journal, which comprises reviews written mostly by Academicians. Many of the themes are related to recently published reports or colloquia organized by the Académie. Among the topics: Stem cells and cellular therapy, Crystals, The greenhouse effect, Plants, The brain, The paleontology, History and philosophy of sciences, The earth, Infectious diseases, Science and the Third World, The informatic tool, Regenerative cell therapy, Climate changes, Ocean-Continent transition.

The missions (5) Conferences Public conferences are organised each Tuesday. Some conferences are organised with other Academies (medicine, agriculture, technology, foreign Academies). A cycle of conferences “Scientific challenges of the XXI st century” was introduced in to 6 international colloquia are organized each year.

The missions (6) Awards Encouraging scientists has been an important activity of the Académie since the XVIII th century. Each year, the prizes are distributed during an Award Ceremony under the Coupole. The most prestigious prize is the Grande Médaille d’or (in 2011, awarded to Avelino Corma; in 2010, awarded to Michael F. Atiyah; in 2009, to Robert Weinberg; in 2008, to Susan Solomon; in 2007 to Tomas Hökfelt...). The Académie is involved in international Awards, such as the Lounsbery Award or the Descartes-Huygens Prize.

The missions (7) Foreign affairs The Department of foreign affairs (DRI) was created in Guy Laval has been the Head since January The DRI implements agreements with foreign Academies and similar institutions and organizes joint meetings. 43 high-level agreements on scientific cooperation have been signed with Academies of sciences around the globe. The DRI maintains a close relationship with several multilateral interacademy organisations.

The missions (8) Foreign affairs Exchange of lecturers with other Academies  Royal Society (London)  Humphry Davy and Claude Bernard lectures  Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei (Roma)  Enrico Fermi and Louis de Broglie lectures  Indian National Science Academy (New Delhi)  Srinivasa Ramanujan and Étienne Wolff lectures

The missions (9) Education The Department of Education (DEF) was created in 2005 to fulfill the mission of the Académie of ensuring the quality of science teaching. Christian Amatore is the Head of the DEF. The DEF runs actions at the level of primary school (“La main à la pâte”) and junior high school (since 2006) up to the university level. The DEF interacts with public authorities and works with various national and international partners. The DEF organizes symposia and workshops with the active participation of Members of the Académie.

The missions (10) Archives The archives department of the Académie keeps and enriches the memory of science:  recording of the session minutes and documents,  storing of sealed documents to provide proof of the anteriority of a discovery,  collecting Academicians’ personal archives. This department is open to researchers and is often sollicited for loans to exhibitions.

The department for scientific information and communication (DISC) was created in Bernard Meunier is the present Head. Among the various actions of DISC:  Pairing of Members of the Académie (including young scientists from their group) with Members of the French Parliament  Communication towards the media, the public and the Members  Conception and enrichment of the website The missions (11) Scientific Information and Communication

Department of Scientific Information and Communication Académie des sciences 23, quai de Conti Paris – France Tél.: 33 (0) Fax: 33 (0) courriel : Copyright: Institut de France – Académie des sciences