Motoko Kotani appointed president-elect, and Sawako Shirahase appointed vice president for finances of the International Science Council

At the general meeting of the International Science Council (ISC), Motoko Kotani, Executive Vice President for Research at Tohoku University (mathematics, differential geometry, geometric analysis), was elected as president elect, and Sawako Shirahase, Senior Vice-Rector of the United Nations University (sociology), was elected as the Vice President for Finance.

ISC is the world's largest nonprofit academic organization, consisting of 246 academies and 41 academic unions. The International Council for Science (ICSU), which was oriented toward the natural sciences, merged with the International Social Science Council (ISSC) to form the International Council for Science in 2018. Within the ICSU, Seiji Kaya and Reiko Kuroda served as vice president, and Hiroyuki Yoshikawa served as president, but this is the first time since the ISC's establishment that a Japanese national has been chosen as a member of the board of governors.

Kotani said, "I am very honored, and at the same time I feel a great deal of responsibility. I have personally emphasized the importance of science for a society in which each person feels happy. I have devoted much of my efforts to science for the sake of society. However, when I heard about COVID-19 in Washington in January 2020, I was not able to fully anticipate the extent of how it would develop from a scientific standpoint. I am keenly aware of how shallow my ideas up to now were. I would like to listen to many opinions through repeated dialogue with various stakeholders, transcending academic fields and national and regional barriers. This term is what could be called three years of apprenticeship (the president-elect will serve as a board member for three years, and then assume the presidency). While consulting with President Peter Gluckman and other members of the board, I would like to consider the next action plan."

Shirahase said, "The meaning and role of science are very important during the COVID-19 pandemic, and it is also necessary to establish new scientific relationships within the global society. Ethical issues related to this are becoming more complex and important than ever before. As an executive in the social sciences field at the ISC, I would like to contribute to the development of academic institutions in the humanities and sciences."

Takaaki Kajita, President of the Science Council of Japan, said, "Their research achievements are highly regarded internationally. We are very pleased that Japanese researchers and especially female researchers are highly regarded in the world."