U.S. Engagement in IAU, IUPAC, IUCr, IMU, ICO, IUPAP, and URSI

National Academy Of Sciences, Washington DC

Investigators

Abstract

This award supports the U.S. National Committees (USNCs) within the Board on International Scientific Organizations of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. The primary goal is to support effective U.S. participation and strong leadership in international science. The U.S. mathematical and physical sciences communities are represented by USNCs in seven international scientific organizations: the International Astronomical Union (IAU), the International Union of Pure and Applied Physics (IUPAP), the International Commission for Optics (ICO), the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC), the International Union of Crystallography (IUCr), the International Mathematical Union (IMU), and the International Union for Radio Science (URSI). This three-year award will provide dues payments to the seven international scientific unions (one year only for IUCr) and provide support for the management of the USNCs at the National Academies. USNC staff will coordinate U.S. activity within the unions; coordinate committee preparations for union meetings; work with the committees to identify research topics, issues, and programs of interest to their specific disciplines; and identify and support U.S. scientists to participate in union activities. The intellectual merit of this project is demonstrated through activities related to the utilization of knowledge for the achievement of social goals, establishing nomenclature and standards, participating in the governance of the seven international unions, and advancing knowledge and understanding across the research community. Union activities encourage cooperative research and education efforts that reach across international boundaries and are designed to further develop and enhance each discipline nationally and internationally. The broader impacts of this project manifest themselves through union activities that promote teaching, training, and learning, that promote the growth of and diversity in the national and international workforce, and that help shape the international dialogue in the respective disciplinary areas.