SCOR launches science foundation

Reinsurance company SCOR announced the launch of the SCOR Corporate Foundation for Science this week, a new initiative to support various scientific projects.

“The SCOR Corporate Foundation for Science will lend its support to various different kinds of project, within the framework of its orientations and means, but in principle with no limitations in terms of geographical location, academic discipline or formalities,” it noted in its announcement.

That support could involve financing university chairs or specific research projects, launching calls for projects, being involved in conferences and publications and sponsoring scientific awards, according to SCOR. 

The foundation will receive annual financial support from SCOR to support new projects, and will take responsibility for some of the SCOR’s existing scientific research operations. In total, the foundation will be responsible for a range of annual commitments amounting to about one million euros, according to SCOR. 

“The creation of the SCOR Corporate Foundation for Science marks a new phase in SCOR’s commitment to scientific disciplines, and beyond this to its contribution to society as a whole,” Denis Kessler, SCOR’s chairman and CEO noted in a statement. “By the nature of its business, and given the strong scientific culture of its teams, SCOR has always been an active partner to the world of research and university-level teaching. We wanted to push this even further by implementing, outside of the Group, a foundation dedicated to science.”

The foundation was registered in the Official Journal of Associations and Foundations of July 28, 2012 and it is chaired by André Lévy-Lang.

Its board of directiors will ensure that it functions properly and will present comprehensive public reports on its activities. The foundation will also be supported by a very high-level interdisciplinary and international scientific board, which will help it to define its strategic priorities and to select projects to support.

The members of the scientific board inlclude:

• Laurent Abel (Inserm)
• Thibault Damour (Institut des Hautes Etudes Scientifiques)
• Georges Dionne (HEC Montreal)
• Pierre-Louis Lions (Collège de France)
• Erwann Michel-Kerjan (Wharton Business School)
• Nikolai Shapiro (Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris)
• Didier Sornette (ETH Zurich)
• Jean Tirole (Toulouse School of Economics)
• James W. Vaupel (Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research)

“I am very happy that SCOR has chosen to extend its support for scientific research and teaching through the creation of this Corporate Foundation,” Lévy-Lang commented. “With the assistance of a remarkable international scientific board, the Foundation is in an ideal position to undertake a consistent, ambitious and fully-deserved programme of support for scientific teams and projects.”