The United Nations has put together a scientific advisory board to provide advice to world leaders on science policy, the Nature News blog reports. The board, set up by Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon, consists of 26 scientists who will serve two-year terms.
“It brings together scientists of international stature, and will serve as a global reference point to improve links between science and public policies," UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova says in a statement.
Among those chosen for the board include Susan Avery from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Ke Gong, who is the president of Nankai University in China, Reiko Kuroda from Tokyo University of Science, Ada Yonath at the Weizmann Institute of Sciences and chemistry Nobel Laureate, and Ahmed Zewail at the California Institute of Technology and another chemistry Nobel Laureate.