Sciences Po: AI And Science Diplomacy

Echoing our contributions to the UNESCO Science Report and EU-related science and technology frameworks, we joined a session on AI and science diplomacy, organized by Sciences Po. The session brought together students and policymakers to examine how generative AI is reshaping decision-making and governance across climate, technology, and space diplomacy.

Related

• UNESCO: Science Report 8th Edition (2026)

• UN Global Digital Compact (GDC): AI Governance and Digital Infrastructure

• Contributing to the SAPEA: AI in Science and Research

SciencePo: AI Science Diplomacy

Sciences Po's Center for International Studies (CERI), directed by Professor Stéphanie Balme, has developed a sustained focus on science diplomacy as a distinct field bridging research, technology, and foreign policy, engaging students through joint programming with bodies including the International Science Council (ISC). This orientation sits within a broader moment of expansion in EU research diplomacy: South Korea became the first Asian country to formally sign a Horizon Europe association agreement in July 2025, following negotiations concluded in 2024, and Japan reached an agreement in principle with the European Commission in December 2025, with formal signature expected in 2026, joining Switzerland, Egypt, Canada, the UK, and New Zealand among Horizon Europe's associated countries under the programme's Pillar II. These developments reflect a widening pool of non-European partners now able to lead and fund collaborative research projects with EU institutions on equal footing with European counterparts.

Held on 24 April 2024 at the Sciences Po Paris campus, the joint graduate seminar with the ISC's Centre for Science Futures, titled "Science Diplomacy: Exploring New Frontiers of Science in Climate, Technology, and Space," was organized around three panels: geoengineering and science diplomacy, generative AI and the diplomats of tomorrow, and collaboration in the new space sector. Our contribution came in the second panel, "Generative AI and the Diplomats of Tomorrow: Governance Opportunities and Challenges of Augmented Decision-Making," addressing the opportunities and limitations governments face in embracing human-centered algorithms, the governance challenges of ensuring fairness, reliability, and transparency in AI-supported policymaking, and the path toward responsible AI as a decision-support tool for public servants and diplomats. The panel opened with research findings on how AI agents can support diplomacy, followed by panelist presentations and a moderated Q&A with students training for careers across multilateral institutions, foreign ministries, and EU bodies.

References

¹ Sciences Po, Center for International Studies (CERI). "Science Diplomacy: Exploring New Frontiers of Science in Climate, Technology, and Space." Graduate Seminar. Paris. April 24, 2024.

² International Science Council. "Centre for Science Futures." ISC. 2024.

³ European Commission. "EU and Japan Conclude Negotiations on Japan's Association to Horizon Europe." Brussels. December 22, 2025.

⁴ Korea-EU Research Centre. "South Korea Signs Horizon Europe Association Agreement with the EU." July 2025.