Workshop on neutrality and European Academies of Sciences during the Cold War

For a few years now, a number of institutions have been collaborating on the role of European scientific academies during the second half of the 20th century. The initiative was taken by the German Federal Academy Leopoldina in Halle, other participating academies are the Royal Society in London, Académie des sciences in Paris, Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei in Rome, Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften in Vienna, Akademie věd České republiky in Prague and the Swedish Academy of Sciences through its Center for the History of Science.

The purpose is to examine the paths of the various academies during this period, which were characterized by major changes for higher education and research, as well as the role that the Cold War played for academies between, and on each side of the Iron Curtain. A first research status inventory workshop was arranged by Accademia Lincei online in the spring of 2021 and now the workshop will be organised by the Swedish Academy of Sciences.

This workshop will mainly examine the neutrality in this context. The workshop takes place at the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences on the afternoon of Thursday 16 June 2022.

Research exchange with Soviet Union 1965

Program Thursday June 16, 2022

Linnaeus Hall, Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences

14:15 Welcome, introduction KARL GRANDIN KVA & RAINER GODEL Leopoldina

14:30 ALICE OATES Scott Polar Research Institute, University of Cambridge
The Royal Society, the International Geophysical Year (1957–58), and neutral science in Antarctica

15:10 JOHANNES FEICHTINGER Austrian Academy of Sciences
De-Provincializing Research in Austria: The Academy of Sciences, the State’s Neutrality Policy and Cold War

15:50 Coffee break

16:10 NILS HANSSON Heinrich-Heine University, Düsseldorf
Science Academies during the Cold War: Researchers from Sweden and the German Democratic Republic between science exchange and science diplomacy

16:50 JENNY BECKMAN Uppsala University
Neutrality, Nobel, and non-colonialism: Redefining the roles of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences c. 1970

17:30 Summary/discussion