The Cyprus Academy of Sciences, Letters and Arts was founded in 2017 and launched by the President of Cyprus Nicos Anastasiades in 2018. Its aim is to enhance the scientific and cultural achievements of Cyprus by promoting and rewarding excellence in Science, Letters, and Arts, and cultivating interactions between the Sciences, Letters, Humanities, and the Arts in the Republic of Cyprus. It is an independent and autonomous institution consisting Natural Sciences, Letters, and Arts (Humanities), Ethical Sciences, Economic and Political Sciences.
The Cyprus Academy has been admitted in several European and international bodies including All European Academies (ALLEA), the European Federation of Academies of Sciences and Humanities and the European Academies Science Advisory Council (EASAC).
The main aims of the Academy are:
The idea to establish an Academy began to take shape at the beginning of 2015 and was implemented in April 2016, in a historic meeting in Athens between the then Minister of Education and Culture of the Republic of Cyprus, Dr. Kostas Kadis, with Professor Loukas G. Christoforou, Member of the Academy of Athens.
In this meeting, it was emphasized that Cyprus should take its rightful place in the European and international scene with its representation in international Academies organizations. In the European Union, for example, and more specifically in the European Academies’ Science Advisory Council (EASAC), all member states of the European Union are represented, except for Cyprus, Malta and Luxembourg, since these countries they don’t have their own Academy.
A memorandum was given to the then Minister of Education and Culture, in which documented reasoning was presented regarding the need to establish an Academy in Cyprus, as well as its aims, work, structure, operation and offer in Cyprus, the wider Eastern Mediterranean region, of Europe but also internationally.
This memorandum was submitted as a Proposal to the Council of Ministers of the Republic of Cyprus, on April 6, 2016, by the then Minister of Education and Culture. With Decision No. 80825, dated 13.6.2016, the Council of Ministers decided to approve in principle the establishment of the Cyprus Academy of Sciences, Letters and Arts and to appoint for this purpose a Four-member Founding Committee, consisting of Mr. . Louka Christoforou, Christoforo Pissarides, Kyriakos Nikolaou and Vasos Karagiorgis, scientists of Cypriot origin and members of Academies of other countries.
The task of the Founding Committee, according to the above Decision of the Council of Ministers, was to define the mission and activities of the Academy, the form and status of its operation, the resources required for its operation at the various stages of its development, the benefit that Cyprus is expected to have since its creation and the timetable for the implementation of this study.
For the Foundation, Organization and Operation of the Academy, the Founding Committee moved on two main axes: (1) The writing of the Founding Law of the Academy. (2) The writing of the Academy’s Operating Regulations. In November 2017, the Plenary of the House of Representatives voted unanimously “The Cyprus Academy of Sciences, Letters and Arts Law of 2017”. In accordance with the Law, an Academy is established under the name “Cyprus Academy of Sciences, Letters and Arts” as a Legal Entity under Public Law, with headquarters in Nicosia. The Law stipulates that the Academy is independent and fully autonomous in terms of its purposes and work and constitutes the Supreme Intellectual Institution of Cyprus in the Sciences, Letters and Arts.
On April 5, 2019, the House of Representatives of the Republic of Cyprus, unanimously again, approved “The 2019 Regulations on the Operation of the Cyprus Academy of Sciences, Letters and Arts”.
The election of the twelve Founding Members, on April 10, 2019, was the fundamental act of the Founding Committee that marked the start of the Academy’s operation and the simultaneous completion of its mission. According to the Founding Law the Members of the Founding Committee are renamed as Transitional Regular Members of the Academy.
The next milestone for the operation of the Academy was the election of the Transitional Administration during the Transitional Period.
This was achieved during the inaugural session of the Members, on May 10, 2019. Loukas G. Christoforou was elected as President of the Academy, Efrosyny Rizopoulou-Igoumenidou as Vice President, Achilleus K. Emilianidis as Secretary General and Marios Polykarpou and Stavros as Members. A. Zenios.
