Call for nominations for: an international Working Group, one Working Group Vice-Chair, independent reviewers, position of scientific writer, and a published report#

The European Scientific Advice Mechanism (SAM) provides independent and transparent scientific advice to the European Commission, working with a European Commission Group of Chief Scientific Advisors (GCSA) and the European Academies (SAPEA).

SAPEA (Science Advice for Policy by European Academies) comprises the five European Academy Net-works: Academia Europaea, ALLEA, EASAC, Euro-CASE and FEAM – representing over 100 Academies in over 40 European countries, and spanning the disciplines of engineering, humanities, science and social sciences. The SAPEA project runs over four years and is funded through a grant from the EU’s Horizon 2020 programme (see Annex 5).

On 9 March 2018, Commissioner for Research, Science and Innovation, Carlos Moedas, sent a letter to the college of Commissioners informing them of the intention of the European Commission Group of Chief Scientific Advisors to take up this topic and inviting their comments to the scoping paper. The Scoping Paper was prepared by SAPEA experts and staff, with input from the Commission services and SAM Sec-retariat between July 2017 and February 2018 and has been endorsed by the SAPEA board and the GCSA at the end of February 2018.

The Scoping Paper (see Annex 6) sets out the following context and priorities:

The European population is ageing rapidly: its median age is the highest in the world. The extent of the challenges and opportunities that arise from extra years of life will be heavily dependent on several key factors, the most important of which are health, functioning, and opportunities to contribute. Several areas of interest to consider have been identified:

1. The prevention of age-related disability and maintaining ‘functional ability’ within one’s own surroundings until the end of life are central aspects of healthy ageing;
2. Healthcare and long-term care systems risk becoming unsustainable, with a shrinking labour force no longer able to provide for the care needs of the growing number of older people;
3. Europe will be facing a shortage of healthcare workers both in short and long-term. By 2020 in the EU, a deficit of up to 2 million health workers in the EU is expected. When considering the future challenge, it is important to also acknowledge current reliance on unpaid workers, and the impact of a possible decrease in their numbers in the future;
4. New and innovative ways of care-giving, favouring functional aspects of care and care decisions will have to be explored, including ambulatory care (or ‘age in home’)
5. ICT, eHealth, innovation in robotics, artificial intelligence and other assistive technologies need to be considered. They can play a crucial role in empowering people of every age to better manage their health and quality of life, in any place. Moreover, they could be cost efficient and impact upon the social aspects of ageing;

Considering the currently ongoing international and European policy responses and actions and the available scientific evidence and advice, the work to be delivered on the present topic will aim to provide multidisciplinary scientific advice for policy addressing the following question:

Principal question#

What policies at the EU level could support the Member States in achieving inclusive, fair and sustaina-ble systems of health and social care and to promote the taking up of innovation for ageing societies?

To address the topic, SAPEA and SAM/GCSA are setting up an international Working Group consisting of a Chair, a Vice-Chair, and 16 to 20 experts who will provide their scientific input and be prepared to meet up to four times between July and December 2018, either in person (preferred option) or remotely. The experts will be further involved in responding to comments from an Expert Workshop and Peer-review process. The lead for the activity will be the Federation of the European Academies of Medicine (FEAM), working closely with other European Academy Networks in SAPEA.

SAPEA offers the opportunity to raise the profile of your Academy’s work and expertise on a European Level, and we ask as a first step for the contribution and support of your Academy by:

• Nominating Academy Fellows or external experts for the Working Group, in accordance with the ex-pertise indicated in Annex 3].
• Nominating an Academy Fellow that will act as the Vice-Chair of the Working Group, addressing mainly technological or humanities or sociological aspects.
• Nominating Academy Fellows with broad expertise in the overall topic for peer review.
• Suggesting a Science Writer able to assist in conveying the complex scientific evidence in an accessible way ((s)he will be remunerated).
• Submitting Academy reports or other published material that covers any of the topics listed in Annex 3.

Please address your response to Esther Dorado-Ladera doradoladerae@cardiff.ac.uk by 10 May 2018.

Nominations of experts and/or scientific writer should be accompanied by a short curriculum vitae (please not more than 2 pages), together with a short explanation on how the nominee’s experience meets the areas of expertise needed as listed in Annex 3.

Travel costs for attendance at face-to-face Working Group meetings will be reimbursed by SAPEA. Further details are provided in the annexes to this letter, including terms and conditions on the selection of candidates. A SAPEA Selection Committee will be responsible for the composition of the Working Group (criteria detailed in Annex 4).

Please contact Esther Dorado-Ladera doradoladerae@cardiff.ac.uk if you have questions or would like further information.

Yours sincerely

Professor Bernard Charpentier, Chair of the SAPEA Consortium and Professor Jean-Pierre Michel, Chair of the Working Group

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Annex 1
Annex 2
Annex 3
Annex 4
Annex 5
Annex 6

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