Nicole Grobert, Chair of the European Commission’s Chief Scientific Advisors, was recently interviewed by Research Professional.

In the interview she expresses her belief that politicians now more than ever recognise the need for evidence-based scientific advice. The Group of Chief Scientific Advisors, alongside a network of learned academies, advises the Commission as part of the Scientific Advice Mechanism (SAM) and has published advice on a range subjects, including plastic breakdown and crisis resilience, and could soon be put to work on cancer screening and 5G communications.

According to Grobert, countries without a formal science advisor are looking at the SAM as a possible template. She says that whatever system is adopted, advisors must be open about their limits: “It is absolutely crucial to be able to say, ‘This is what we know, this is what we do not know’. The uncertainty that lingers around many answers needs to be communicated very clearly.” 

The full interview can be read on the Research Professional website.

Image: World Economic Forum[CC BY-NC-SA 2.0], via Flickr