The Union Académique Internationale (IUA – International Union of Academies) is the oldest and largest federation of Academies having a national character and created for international cooperation. Founded in 1919, the aim of the IUA is to encourage cooperation in the advancement of studies through collaborative research and publications in those branches of learning promoted by the Academies and institutions represented in the IUA - philology, archeology, history, the moral, political and social sciences.. It has hundreds of member organizations from 39 different countries, and is organized under Belgian law as an international association having the pursuit of knowledge/learning as its aim.

Current activities

As an international organization of learned societies and academies, the IUA has a disproportionate influence compared to its relatively small budget. Its approval of a project can bring in funding from other international organizations and it routinely works with UNESCO and CIPSH (an organization which it helped to found in 1949). The IUA can fund projects either through its member organizations (some of which are themselves very large, such as the American Council of Learned Societies

American Council of Learned Societies

The American Council of Learned Societies , founded in 1919, is a private nonprofit federation of seventy scholarly organizations.ACLS is best known as a funder of humanities research through fellowships and grants awards. ACLS Fellowships are designed to permit scholars holding the Ph.D...

 in the United States) or through the action of its Bureau (see officers and staff below). The organization currently supports 51 different projects.

Projects can fall into one of the following categories:

• Category A. Projects directly depending on a member Academy. Nevertheless, they are to be approved by the General Assembly of the UAI in order to obtain its patronage. The member Academy nominates a director, who is assisted by an international committee (approved by the UAI). An annual report is submitted to the General Assembly. The finances are assured by the member Academy, while the UAI has only scholarly responsibility. In justified cases it may also support the project by financial aid according to its capabilities.

• Category B. Projects directly depending on the UAI, which assumes scholarly and financial direction, designates the director, and approves the international committee. An annual report is submitted to the General Assembly of the UAI. The research and ensuing publications are financed by the UAI according to its capabilities.

• Category C. Projects only patronized by the UAI. They are proposed by one or several member Academies. The UAI accords its patronage (endorsement) without any financial commitment. The member Academy designates the director, organizes the work and assures the finances. An annual report is submitted to the General Assembly of the UAI.

In addition, the member Academies, participating in projects in any of these catogeries, finance their own research work and provide the costs of their own publications in the framework of the project.

2007 General Assembly

The 81st General Assembly of the UAI was held in Oslo at the seat of the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters

Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters

The Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters is a learned society based in Oslo, Norway.-History:The University of Oslo was established in 1811. The idea of a learned society in Christiania surfaced for the first time in 1841. The city of Throndhjem had no university, but had a learned...

, from 1 to 6 June 2007.

In keeping with the decision of the Lisbon (2003) General Assembly, a one quarter of active UAI projects will be intensively reviewed by a panel of outside experts and reported on to the General Assembly. For 2007, those projects are:

• Corpus Philosophorum Medii Aevi (Averroes Latinus ; Averroes Arabicus ; Averroes Hebraicus);
• Moravia magna;
• Encyclopaedia Iranica;
• Corpus Fontium Manichaeorum;
• Norse-Icelandic Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages;
• Scytho-Sarmat World and Greek-Roman Civilisation;
• Compendium Auctorum Latinorum Medii Aevi;
• Spanish Dictionary of International Literary Terms;
• Middle Persian Dictionary;
• Corpus Epistularum Ioannis Dantisci;
• Compared History of Literature of European Languages.

Current officers and principal staff

The UAI is organized under a delegate and general assembly structure, with a bureau that is invested with the primary executive and administrative functions. The current officers and keys staff members are:

President: Miklós MARÓTH (Hungary) 2007-2010. Magyar Tudományos Akadémia

Vice-Presidents:

• Janusz Kozłowski (Poland) 2007-2010. Polska Akademia Umiejetnosci
• Lise Hannestad (Denmark) 2007-2010. Det Kongelige Danske Videnskabernes Selskab

Also

President: Agostino PARAVICINI BAGLIANI

Agostino Paravicini Bagliani

Agostino Paravicini Bagliani is a prominent Italian historian, with interests in the history of the papacy, in cultural anthropology, in the history of the body and the relationship between nature and society during the Middle Ages.-Biography:He received his Ph.D...

(Switzerland) 2004-2007
Académie suisse des Sciences Humaines et sociales (Swiss Academy of Humanities and Social Sciences)

Vice-Presidents:

• Pasquale SMIRAGLIA (Italy) 2004-2007 (Unione Accademica Nazionale)
• Miklós MARÓTH (Hungary) 2006-2009 (Magyar Tudományos Akadémia)

Members:

• Lise HANNESTAD (Denmark) 2005-2008 (Det Kongelige Danske Videnskabernes Selskab)
• Gregory BONGARD-LEVIN (Russia) 2005-2008 (Academy des Sciences de Russie)
• Driss KHALIL (Morocco) 2004-2007 (Académie du Royaume du Maroc)
• Richard LARIVIERE (USA) 2004-2007 (American Council of Learned Societies)
• José REMESAL RODRIGUEZ (Spain) 2006-2009 (Real Academia de la Historia)
• Nicholas SIMS-WILLIAMS (United Kingdom) 2006-2009 (British Academy)

Secretary general: Léo HOUZIAUX (Académie royale de Belgique)

Deputy Secretary general: Jean-Luc DE PAEPE (Académie royale de Belgique)

External links

• Official IUA website