The Royal Academy of Overseas Sciences is a Belgian

Belgium

Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...

 institute and part of the Belgian Federal Science Policy Office

Belgian Federal Science Policy Office

The Belgian Federal Science Policy Office or BELSPO is a Belgian government institution responsible for coordinating science policy at a federal level. It designs and implements research programmes and networks and manages the participation of Belgium in European and international organisations...

 (BELSPO). The academy was founded in 1928 in order to promote scientific knowledge in overseas regions. The elected members of the academy are high-level scientists specialized in overseas regions.

History

The academy was founded in 1928 as the Institut Royal Colonial Belge (E:Royal Belgian Colonial Institute) and inaugurated in 1929 by the Minister, Henri Jaspar

Henri Jaspar

Henri Jaspar was a Belgian Catholic Party politician.Jaspar was born in Schaerbeek and trained as a lawyer. He represented Liège as a Catholic in the Belgian Chamber of Representatives from 1919 until 1936. He helped create the Belgium-Luxembourg Economic Union in 1921, and served as the 27th...

. The activities of the academy were oriented towrds Belgian Congo

Belgian Congo

The Belgian Congo was the formal title of present-day Democratic Republic of the Congo between King Leopold II's formal relinquishment of his personal control over the state to Belgium on 15 November 1908, and Congolese independence on 30 June 1960.-Congo Free State, 1884–1908:Until the latter...

. In 1954, the institute was renamed as the Royal Academy of Colonial Sciences and in 1959 changed its name to the present Royal Academy of Overseas Sciences.

Sections

The Academy is divided into three Sections, which each hold monthly meetings for its member. Eache year in October, there is a plenary public session for all sections. The texts of the lectures are published in the Bulletin des Séances or Mededelingen der Zittingen.
The three sections are:

• Section of Moral and Political Sciences
• Section of Natural and Medical Sciences
• Section of Technical Sciences.

Commissions

In addition to the sections, the academy has several commissions:

• Administrative Commission, which is in charge of budget management
• Overseas Belgian Biography Commission
• Environnement and Development Commission
• Strategies and Development Commission
• Fontes Historiae Africanae Committee

See also

• UNESCO
  UNESCO
  The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations...
  
  
• Prince Leopold Institute of Tropical Medicine
  Prince Leopold Institute of Tropical Medicine
  The Institute of Tropical Medicine , previously known as Prince Leopold Institute of Tropical Medicine is located in Antwerp, Belgium. The ITM is one of the world's leading institutes for training and research in tropical medicine and the organisation of health care in developing countries...
  
  
• Institute of Development Policy and Management
  Institute of Development Policy and Management
  The Institute of Development Policy and Management is an independent institute of the University of Antwerp in Antwerp, Belgium. The institute is involved in academic teaching, scientific research and service to the community in the area of economic, political and social aspects of development...
  
  (University of Antwerp)

External links

• Royal Academy of Overseas Sciences