The 28th Academia Europaea Annual Conference was held in Cardiff  from 27-30 June  supported by the Learned Society of Wales.

The  event was organised by Professor Ole Petersen, Academic Director of the new Academia Europaea Cardiff Knowledge Hub and Vice-President of Academia Europaea and Vice President of the Learned Society of Wales.

The annual meeting kicked off with a stimulating and timely debate (sponsored by the Society) on “Scientific Advice Mechanisms“. The debate which was chaired by Sir Emyr Jones Parry (President of the Learned Society of Wales and Former UK Ambassador to the United Nations, New York)  included contributions from Patrick Child (Deputy Director-General of DG-Research and Innovation, European Commission); Sierd Cloetingh [President of Academia Europaea], Professor  Colin Riordan (President and Vice-Chancellor of Cardiff University), Sir John Skehel (Biological Secretary & Vice-President of The Royal Society), Günter Stock (President of ALLEA), Sir Mark Walport (The UK Government’s Chief Scientific Adviser & Chair of the Prime Minister’s Council for Science & Technology) and Professor Julie Williams (Chief Scientific Adviser to The Welsh Government).

This was followed by the award of the  Erasmus Medal and Lecture by Lord Rees of Ludlow (recently elected Hon Fellow of the LSW).

On the Tuesday evening delegates were treated to a Gala Dinner at Cardiff City Hall, where Professor Wynn Thomas (Vice-President Arts/Humanities, Learned Society of Wales) introduced the the after dinner speaker, Ned Thomas FLSW, Founding Director of the Mercator Institute, who provided a comprehensive and entertaining  overview of Wales in Europe. The talk is available to read here.