12th Annual Meeting of the Global Research Council

Dr Tandon was invited to speak in the opening plenary of GRC 12th Annual Meeting held in Interlaken May 29-30, 2024.

Global Research Council (GRC), set up in 2012, now has nearly 100 National Science Councils as members, in addition to EU, IDRC, ISC and some networks like Belmont Forum.

The theme of the conference was ‘sustainability research’, as two themes of ‘research for sustainable development’ and ‘sustainability of research’ were merged. Dr Tandon was to provide ‘Perspectives from Global South’, where DECODE principles were highlighted, co-construction, decolonisation and community knowledge partnerships.

First Plenary speaker, Prof Peter Messerli, made a very thoughtful presentation, emphasising ‘no science without sustainability, and no sustainability without science’. Decode message just added ‘inclusive and democratised’ science to that call.

During the meeting, participating organisations of the GRC adopted a Statement of Principles in Interlaken—a policy document outlining agreed-upon recommendations for promoting sustainable research practices. As one of the leading international research funding bodies, the SNSF reaffirmed its commitment to advancing sustainable research within the GRC framework. The 2024 annual meeting was jointly organised with FONSTI, reflecting a strengthened collaboration between the two agencies, following a Declaration of Intent signed in 2023 to deepen their partnership.