This panel discussion will take place as part of the plenary programme of the Building Bridges 2026 conference, held in Budapest from 12–16 October 2026. Registration for Building Bridges is open to anyone interested in attending and is not limited to AE and YAE members. The full agenda, event information and registration form are available on the conference website. Early-bird registration is open until 30 September.

Science advice has rarely been asked to do so much under such pressure. Geopolitical instability, contested evidence, rapid technological change and shrinking public trust are reshaping the conditions in which researchers and policymakers work together, and testing the institutions built to connect them. Hosted by the HUN-REN Hungarian Research Network, this SAPEA–Academia Europaea panel brings together a diverse group of notable academics from different organisations, geographies and backgrounds to examine what it takes to give robust, independent advice when the ground keeps shifting: how advisory bodies stay credible amid political turbulence, how uncertainty is communicated honestly without losing usefulness, and what European science advice should be building now to be ready for the next crisis. The discussion will be  introduced by Donald Dingwell, President of SAPEA and moderated by Prof. Steve Evans of the Institute for Manufacturing at the University of Cambridge.

Please note that in-person attendance at the SAPEA Expert Panel is only possible for registered attendees of the Building Bridges conference. The SAPEA Expert Panel is the only hybrid plenary session at Building Bridges; the other plenary sessions will not be streamed and can only be attended in person.

This Panel will be livestreamed, but the session will not be recorded.