Dear Fellows of the Academy of Science,
This is the first message I have the pleasure of writing since I officially began my presidency of the Academy on November 17th 2025, immediately after COEE2025 in Montreal. COEE2025 was highly interesting. I learned many new things by attending several of the conferences, and it was great to connect with new people
Let me take this moment to thank Professor Michel L. Tremblay, outgoing President of this Academy, and recognize his work and leadership during the past three years. He was very helpful and welcoming to me and made sure the transition from the end of his term to the beginning of mine was smooth. This is something I have much appreciated.
My sincere thanks also to the current Division Directors for their service and commitment, listed below in alphabetical order:
- Pierre Berini (ASE - Applied Science & Engineering), University of Ottawa
- Jillian Buriak (MPS - Mathematical & Physical Sciences), University of Alberta
- Alfonso Mucci (EOAS - Earth, Ocean & Atmospheric Sciences), McGill University
- Marla Sokolowski (BIOS - Biological Sciences), University of Toronto
- Rui Wang (MEDS - Medical Sciences), York University
Professor Sokolowski will end her 2nd and final term in November 2026, which means that this year we will begin looking for candidates who are interested in succeeding her as the next Director of the BIOS Division. More information about this will be sent to you in the coming months.
I want to also thank all those serving on the Academy's five New Fellow Selection Committees. I myself completed two consecutive terms on one of those committees and I know from experience how difficult it can be sometimes to decide, among the many excellent nominations we receive every year, which candidates to select.
The selection process is not an easy one, but we are committed to continually improving it based on the feedback we receive from those selection committees.
In addition to my elected position as President of the Academy of Science, the RSC has designated me for two other responsibilities:
- RSC Vice President, with responsibility to act in place of President Françoise Baylis if required;
- Chair of the Governance and Ethics Committee, which focuses on legal, ethical, and functional responsibilities in support of policy development and operations.
Furthermore, the President of the RSC Academy of Science is a member of the Board of Directors of the A.G. Huntsman Foundation, which awards the annual Huntsman Award for Excellence in the Marine Sciences. The Huntsman Foundation is located at the Bedford Institute of Oceanography in Dartmouth (Halifax), Nova Scotia.
I am looking forward to contributing to this great program.
The work of the RSC Board of Directors is made easier thanks to the support we have from the wonderful staff at Walter House. Darren, Linda, Russ, Nicolas, Paige, Sarah and Amelia...you are a great team!
During my year as President-Elect of the Academy of Science (2024-2025), I had several opportunities to get involved and contribute to the RSC:
In March 2025, I virtually attended the ceremonies marking the 50th anniversary of the Biological Weapons Convention and the 100th anniversary of the Geneva Protocol. This event was organized by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine (Washington, D.C.). There were many high-profile guests from politics and science, and I can testify the presence of the RSC was noticed and appreciated.
In April and May 2025, I was invited by the World Health Organization (United Nations) to participate in two virtual workshops to discuss with international scientists about One Health, an interdisciplinary and unifying concept in which human, animal, and environmental health are interconnected and interdependent, each having an impact of the two others. The scientific community acknowledges that emerging technologies play, increasingly, a significant role in promoting overall global health. However, they can also represent a risk, specifically for those technologies with Dual-Use Research (DUR) potential. DUR is defined as “research that is conducted for peaceful and beneficial purposes that has the potential to produce knowledge, information, methods, products or technologies that could also be intentionally misused to endanger the health of humans, nonhuman animals, plants and agriculture, and the environment.” Our discussions were about how to mitigate the risks associated with an intentional misuse of new technologies in the health sector.
In September 2025, I participated in another virtual workshop. This one was organized by Policy Horizons Canada and the theme was "Disruptions on the Horizon". The objective was to explore recent world disruptions (COVID-19 pandemic, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the Israel and Hamas conflict, extreme climate disasters, the surging cost of living, global supply chain interruptions), their societal impacts, and anticipate potential future scenarios to help the Government of Canada navigate in these uncertainties.
I’m also working as Guest Editor for an upcoming scientific report to be released by the RSC in the next weeks or months. This report is about sustainable mining development, and the revision has been recently completed by European and Canadian experts of this topic.
And finally, with my three colleagues who are Presidents of the two other Academies and of the College, we contributed to the preparation of the two mini-symposiums that were presented during COEE2025 in Montreal.
As I begin this 3-year mandate, please allow me to again share with you my Vision Statement that was published for the RSC presidential elections in 2024:
"Despite the remarkable advances of recent decades in science, technology and engineering, there are no shortage of challenges. In particular: health, clean energy and the environment are three sensitive sectors that will have a significant impact, in the short and medium terms, on the destiny of humanity. The entire scientific family is called upon to make its contribution to ensure that we can leave to future generations a planet Earth in better condition and a better quality of life.
Whether your research is in electronics/photonics, chemistry, basic or applied physics, medicine, biology, mathematics, geology, space exploration, or for new materials, each contribution that can help improve directly or indirectly one of the three sensitive sectors mentioned above, and therefore our existence, represents a piece of this giant puzzle.
All sectors of the scientific community must work together (national and international collaboration, interdisciplinary research, university-industry partnerships) in the hope of achieving this ultimate goal."
Yours truly,
Robert Boily, C.Q., Ph.D., FRSC
President, RSC Academy of Science
Vice President, Royal Society of Canada
Chair, RSC Governance and Ethics Committee