The First National Scientific Council in Colombia, Is Made Up of Gender Equality

Their election was grounded on participatory, territorial, and differential approaches.

The installation of the ten investigators that will make part of the National Scientific Council, took place on the 18th of June. The main objective of the new Council will be to advise the country on scientific matters, and its creation was recommended by the last Commission of Wise Men. Regarding the launch of the Council,  the former President of Colombia mentioned the appointment of the members of the Council, which was done after carefully analyzing the professional trajectory of several candidates. “The Council is therefore integrated by men and women who stand out in different areas of knowledge, to contribute to the formulation of public policy according to the financial possibilities of the country and to work along with the private sector to enhance our productivity, competitiveness and to generate wellbeing for the Colombia”, mentioned Duque.

The scientists that will make part of the Council are the following: Jesús Francisco Vargas Bonilla, who will serve in the field of convergent technologies; Blanca Liliana Suárez Puerta, for cultural and creative industries; Martha Isabel Cobo Ángel, who will lead in sustainable energy matters and Elena Stashenko, a scientist from Universidad Industrial de Santander, who will oversee the fields of biotechnology, environment, and economy. On the other hand, Andrés Fernando Osorio will oversee oceans and hydrobiological resources; Héctor Olasolo Alonso will lead in social sciences and human development; Carlos Arturo Álvarez will be head of life and health sciences; Jairo Alexis Rodríguez will be leading basic and space sciences; Dolly Montoya Castaño, Headmaster at the Universidad Nacional de Colombia, will be leading the business industrial sectors and María Fernanda Gutiérrez Fernández will be head in terms of the relations with local communities and social organizations.

The mentioned group of experts will undertake the mission of advising the top Government leaders in their fields during the current crisis and will instruct them in terms of scientific ethics to apply for future activities and projects for the country. It is important to remark that the actual installation of the Colombian National Scientific Council, will place Colombia at the level of OECD countries that have scientific advisory bodies for the development of public policy.

 It is worth mentioning that the installation of the Scientific Council, will make a difference in the country since the Government along with the Minister of Science, Technology, and Innovation will be able to support its future major decisions with relevant information and qualified scientific evidence.

The National Scientific Council will advise Colombia to take the best possible decisions to build a society based on reliable knowledge and will therefore contribute to the development of a better country.