Leaders of some 50 national, publicly funded science agencies are meeting in Arlington, Virginia, USA, to establish the Global Research Council.
The council, which will work virtually, is designed to foster discussion on how the principles and aspirations of science might be unified across the globe.
The council's first product is a set of common principles for the peer review of project proposals that will ensure that the most worthy research projects are selected.
Among the people attending the meeting are Thirumalachari Ramasami (TWAS Fellow 2000) of the Indian Department of Science and Technology (DST); Glaucius Oliva (TWAS Fellow 2011), president of the Brazilian research council CNPq; and Jörg Schneider, head of the division of International Affairs of the German research foundation DFG.