!!Press release
!1 January 2022
!!Academia Europaea appoints first female President

The __Academia Europaea__ has appointed [Marja Makarow|Member/Makarow_Marja] as its new President. She will be the seventh President since AE was established over 30 years ago, and the Academy’s first-ever female leader. 
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Makarow is Professor Emerita of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and former Vice-President for Research at the [University of Helsinki|https://www.helsinki.fi/en]. She has served as Chief Executive of the [European Science Foundation|https://www.esf.org] (2008-2011), Vice-President of the Finnish Research Council - [Academy of Finland|https://www.aka.fi/en] ( 2012-2016) and Director of [Biocenter Finland|https://www.biocenter.fi] (2016-2021). She is Board member of the [European Innovation Council|https://eic.ec.europa.eu/index_en] (EIC) and former Governing Board member of the [European Institute for Innovation and Technology|https://eit.europa.eu] (EIT). 
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On becoming AE’s new President, Makarow said, “''It is a great pleasure and responsibility to lead Academia Europaea into its fourth decade. The opportunity to develop and strengthen our academy in the coming years is an exciting challenge.''”
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The __Academia Europaea__ was set up in 1988, in recogition that a greater sense of community between Europe’s scientists and scholars would enhance the effectiveness of its research. __Academia Europaea__ began as a small group of 100 founding members, and now has a thriving membership of almost 5,000 world-leading researchers, mainly from across Europe but also worldwide. Amongst them are 80 Nobel laureates. __Academia Europaea__ operates through a network of hubs in Barcelona, Bergen, Budapest, Cardiff, Munich, Tbilisi and Wroclaw. An essential part of AE’s mission is to support policymaking in Europe, through its role in [SAPEA|https://www.sapea.info] (Science Advice for Policy by European Academies), which is part of the European Commission’s Scientific Advice Mechanism. 
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In her [first interview|Acad_Main/Members_in_Spotlight/Interview with Professor Marja Makarow] since becoming President of __Academia Europaea__, Professor Marja Makarow sets out her priorities for __Academia Europaea__.
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[{Image src='Makarow_Marja_029_small.jpg' caption='President of Academia Europaea, Professor Marja Makarow' height='400' alt='President of Academia Europaea, Professor Marja Makarow' align='center'}]