Under the leadership of Menattallah Elserafy (Zewail City of Science and Technology, Egypt) the 53-member Selection Committee of the Global Young Academy (GYA) has finalised the selection of 41 new members to join the GYA on 6 June 2023 for a tenure of five years. The GYA’s new member cohort includes representatives from 31 individual countries, covering all GYA general disciplines, and includes 16 females, 1 non-binary and 24 males.

Each application was evaluated by at least three Selection Committee members in two successive rounds of reviews, and were scored, first and foremost, based on the excellence of their scientific research, as well as on their demonstrated societal engagement.

Among these new members is Hussam Hussein (Royal Scientific Society, Jordan). Hussam is the Executive Director of Partnerships for Development at the Royal Scientific Society (RSS) of Jordan. His research focuses on the role of discourses in shaping water policies in the Middle East, on transboundary water governance and critical hydropolitics, and on issues related to the political economy of water.

Furthermore, the GYA’s 2023 Annual General Meeting (AGM) and Conference in Kigali, Rwanda, was successfully concluded a few days ago, and included the election of new leadership. To represent and lead them through the upcoming year, GYA members elected leaders hailing from Africa, Asia, Australia and Europe – a majority of whom are women – to the Executive Committee (EC), which is comprised of eleven members of which two are Co-Chairs. We are very pleased to announce that Dr Hussam Hussein (Royal Scientific Society, Jordan) has been elected as one of the EC members.

Before joining RSS, Hussam worked as a Lecturer in International Relations at the University of Oxford, at the World Bank as a private sector development analyst, and at the European Parliament. He holds a PhD in international development from the University of East Anglia, studied Diplomacy and International Relations at the University of Trieste (Gorizia), Middle Eastern studies at SOAS – University of London, and European Interdisciplinary Studies at the College of Europe.

The GYA looks very much forward to the contributions and development of Hussam during his upcoming five-year GYA membership.

In addition to helping the GYA maintain its gender parity benchmarks, the new member cohort has increased GYA international representation by two countries. The newly added countries include Armenia and Palestine.

Among other activities, the GYA acts as a facilitator and convenor for the growing global network of National Young Academies (NYAs). The GYA is therefore delighted to see that a number of new members are also members of – or in leadership positions in – their respective country’s NYA.

Additionally, the GYA is pleased to welcome a number of Young Affiliates of The World Academy of Science (TWAS), Organization for Women in Science for the Developing World (OWSD), fellows of the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) and Alexander von Humboldt Foundation (AvH) among the 2023 new member cohort.

About the Global Young Academy (GYA)
The vision of the GYA is science for all; science for the future, and its mission is to give a voice to young scientists and researchers around the world. The GYA, founded in 2010, is an independent science academy of 200 outstanding early- to mid-career researchers from six continents who are selected from across disciplines based on their academic excellence and commitment to engage with society. GYA members serve five-year terms, and the GYA presently counts members and alumni from 100 countries. The GYA administrative Office is publicly funded and hosted at the German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina. The wide array of GYA activities is supported by a range of international public and private funders. Visit us at www.globalyoungacademy.net, subscribe to the GYA Newsletter; follow us on Twitter: @GlobalYAcademy; check out our YouTube channel.