Its purpose is to raise public awareness of the global challenges caused by human activities and help to shape a more responsible world by supporting educational projects and concrete actions that encourage a more conscious and sustainable way of life.ĭr Jean-Marc Rickli, Head of Polymath Initiativeĭr Jean-Marc Rickli is the head of global and emerging risk at the Geneva Centre for Security Policy (GCSP) in Geneva, Switzerland. The Didier et Martine Primat Foundation is a Swiss-based registered charity.
The Polymath initiative is generously supported by the Didier and Martine Primat Foundation. Successful candidates should have deep technical expertise in synthetic biology, artificial intelligence or neuroscience and a desire to learn more about the governance and ethical and security implications of emerging technologies and the willingness to share their insights with non-specialists. Throughout their fellowship, fellows will have access to the GCSP’s wide network of experts and alumni. In their second year, the fellows will then have the opportunity to contribute to GCSP publications on these topics, in addition. The fellowship programme will last two years and will be conducted under the auspices of the Global and Emerging Risks cluster and the Global Fellowship Initiative (GFI). In their first year, the fellows will be given the opportunity to attend and contribute to GCSP workshops, events, courses in order to familiarise themselves with the issues related to global governance, ethics and international peace and security. Fostering “polymath thinking” is the key strategy this programme is adopting to overcome silo thinking and help deal with the ethical, security and governance challenges stemming from emerging technologies. Therefore, there is a need for “translators”, individuals able to talk to both the scientific and the policy communities and bridge this gap. Too often do we see technology developments that are not concerned with policy, and policies that are out of touch with technology.
However, thinking about the societal implications of these technologies remains siloed. Emerging technologies, as artificial intelligence, synthetic biology, and neurotechnology, are increasingly having deep economic, ethical, social, political and security impacts. The Global and Emerging Risks cluster is deeply involved in understanding and raising awareness about the security and strategic implications of emerging technologies for international peace and security. Why is the GCSP launching this initiative? It is expected that the selected scholars will then become influencers in their own scientific communities and they will also be equipped to advocate for “polymath thinking” in the field of emerging technologies and be able to bridge the gap between the tech and science communities and the world of policy and decision-makers. To this effect, three professionals, each specialising in an emerging technology (artificial intelligence, synthetic biology and neuroscience) are offered a 2-year fellowship programme at the GCSP, thanks to the support of the Didier & Martine Primat Foundation. By promoting a “polymath thinking” approach, the GCSP hopes to create a community of scholars on emerging technologies that are conscious of the ethical, security and governance implications. This initiative aims to reduce gaps in understanding and communication between the scientific community and the policymaking world. It seeks to address the “silo thinking” which can lead to policy and governance failures when anticipating the consequences of emerging technologies on societies. The Polymath Initiative is a project that was launched by the GCSP in May 2021.