Scientific advice is only as strong as the diversity of expertise, perspectives and voices that shape it. We are committed to ensuring that equality, diversity and inclusion are not peripheral considerations but systematically embedded across all aspects of our scientific advisory work – from expert nomination and selection to evidence synthesis, deliberation, communications and outreach.
Diversity within the Advisors
The Chief Scientific Advisors are selected and appointed by the European Commission, following a selection process overseen by an Identification Committee. The group shall comprise up to seven, but no fewer than five, members with an outstanding level of expertise, collectively covering a wide range of scientific fields. They shall have experience in engaging with policymaking processes or science-policy interfaces at the national, European or international level, experience in areas such as the public communication of science, and excellent teamwork skills. In addition to these core criteria, the selection process takes into account gender balance, broad geographical representation, and the inclusion of early- and mid-career researchers.
Diversity within SAPEA
SAPEA has its own Strategy of on Equality, Diversity and Inclusion, which is built on five interconnected objectives:
- Building diverse and inclusive expertise. SAPEA commits to widen the pool of nominated experts and to select experts through clear, structured and transparent criteria, reducing the risk of bias.
- Making participation truly inclusive. SAPEA commits to applying the set of shared principles of engagement and practical facilitation guidance to ensure that diverse expertise translate into meaningful contributions.
- Achieving diverse, accessible and inclusive communications and outreach. SAPEA commits to diversify the voices it amplifies and to make the content accessible and understandable to a broad audience.
- Strengthening EDI awareness and capacity across the advisory ecosystem. SAPEA commits to support the academies and academy networks in their work on EDI and strengthen pathways for early- and mid-career researchers into science advice.
- Building a robust monitoring and learning framework. SAPEA commits to track not only who is in the room, but who participates and whose contributions shape the final outcome.
Ten principles of engagement
At the heart of the strategy are ten shared principles of engagement that apply across all our working groups, expert workshops, events and outreach activities. Effective scientific advice can only reflect the full range of expertise in the room when everyone is able to contribute meaningfully. These principles therefore establish the standard for how experts engage with one another and how we engage with them:
- respect all participants;
- respect dissenting views;
- critique ideas, not individuals;
- listen attentively;
- create the conditions for inclusive participation;
- be open to revision;
- respect confidentiality;
- acknowledge contributions;
- address issues constructively;
- and focus on shared inquiry.
This strategy builds on the genuine progress since SAPEA’s inception in 2016. Between 2016 and 2026, we drew on the scientific expertise of:
- 257 working group members
- 75 peer reviewers
- 359 expert workshop participants
Members of select working group members for their scientific excellence and the relevance of their expertise to the topic under consideration, which are the primary criteria throughout the selection process.
Academic discipline
We ensure that each working group includes the full range of interdisciplinary expertise necessary to address the scope of the topic under consideration. Depending on the topic, this may include experts from the natural sciences, engineering and technology, medical and health sciences, agricultural and veterinary sciences, the social sciences, and the humanities and the arts.
Gender representation
We have set a target of no more than 60% representation by any one gender across our working groups. We have met this target: women account for 40.5% of working group members, drawn from a pool of nominations in which 32.4% were women.
The data we use on the gender identity of our working group members is based on publicly available information. We recognise and respect gender diversity, and provide working group members with the opportunity to self-identify their gender.
Early- and mid-career researchers
We prioritise the inclusion of early- and mid-career researchers (EMCRs) in our working groups.
We define these categories as follows:
- early-career researcher (ECRs): completed their first doctoral degree (PhD or equivalent) no more than 7 years ago
- mid-career researcher (MCRs): completed their first doctoral degree (PhD or equivalent) between 7 and 19 years ago
- late-career researcher (LCRs): completed their first doctoral degree (PhD or equivalent) more than 19 years ago
In 2024, we set a target for each working group to include:
- at least 10% early-career researchers
- at least 30% mid-career researchers
- therefore, at least 40% overall early- and mid-career researchers
Participation of MCRs in working groups stands at 33.9%, exceeding the 30% target, while
participation of ECRs stands at 6.6 %. Combined participation of EMCRs is 40.5%, meeting the target of 40%.
Further information is available in our Report on challenges for early- and mid-career researchers in the provision of science advice.
Geographical representation
Our experts are drawn almost entirely from Europe. Between 2016 to 2026, 97% of working group members worked in Europe. (‘Europe’ here refers to the 46 member states of the Council of Europe.)
We received nominations for experts working in 41 European countries and 12 outside Europe. As a result, our working groups included members working in 33 European countries and 6 countries beyond Europe.
We monitor the representation of European countries in our working groups. Where we identify significant under- or overrepresentation of a particular country, we take targeted measures to address this, such as providing additional guidance to selection committees or engaging directly with individual academies to support them in the nomination process.
We are particularly committed to ensuring balanced representation of researchers from ‘Widening’ countries, particularly from EU Member States. As defined by the European Commission, Widening countries are those eligible for targeted support under the Horizon Europe programme due to their lower research and innovation performance. Between 2016 and 2024, 22,4% of our experts based in EU Member States worked in Widening countries.
The accompanying graphs provide two other data points, for context: the share of European researchers working in Widening countries (26%), and the share of Horizon research funding taken up by Widening countries (9% under Horizon 2020 and 14% during the first two years of Horizon Europe).
These figures partly refer to the period when the UK was an EU country. For this reason, the figures for non-Widening countries include the UK.
Working group members who are not fellows of academies
We seek to select the best independent experts to our working groups. For this reason, the responsibility for nominating experts lies with our academies and Academy Networks.
However, experts are nominated solely on the basis of their expertise and not on the basis of academy membership. Consequently, experts do not need to be fellows or members of an academy to participate in our working groups.