About ILSI Europe

Founded in 1978, the International Life Sciences Institute (ILSI) is a non-profit, worldwide organisation whose mission is to provide science that improves human health and well-being and safeguards the environment. The European Branch of ILSI (ILSI Europe) was created in 1986 and fosters collaboration among the best scientists from industry, academia and the public sector to provide evidence-based scientific solutions and to pave the way forward in nutrition, food safety, consumer trust and sustainability. To deliver science of the highest quality and integrity, scientists collaborate and share their unique expertise in expert groups, workshops, symposia and resulting publications.

ILSI Europe is funded primarily by its industry members. It also enjoys the support of the European Commission when participating as a partner in EU-funded projects. Academic experts involved in our activities contribute through their voluntary work. ILSI Europe’s membership is open to all companies active in the food or food-related sector, as well as companies engaged in the manufacture of medicinal products and products for human consumption and producers of ingredients used in the food supply chain

Vision

We strive for sustainable, safe and nutritious food solutions for a healthier world through a multi-stakeholder and science-based approach.

Mission

• We foster collaboration between relevant stakeholders;
• We identify existing and emerging challenges in food, nutrition and health, and we facilitate proactive practical solutions;
• We deliver science of the highest quality and integrity;
• We communicate and disseminate our scientific output widely.

Core values

ILSI Europe is committed to act according to the following four values:

Integrity: ILSI Europe embodies the basic stance of our relationship with society and our stakeholders. We commit to honesty and compliance with applicable laws and ILSI Europe principles, policies and highest ethical standards.

Excellence: ILSI Europe constantly strives to excellence in our scientific impact by positioning ourselves at the forefront of scientific knowledge and working with state of the art methods. We support a sustainable food system that embraces innovation as a key factor to maintain and improve safe food for all.

Transparency: ILSI Europe strives for the highest transparency regarding our activities and in our relations to internal and external stakeholders.

Inclusiveness: ILSI Europe embraces diversity and fairness by fostering collaboration and aiming for open and fact-based dialogue by promoting a tripartite approach.

Organisational Structure

*Chair, Vice-Chair, President, Vice-President, Treasurer

About ILSI

Founded in 1978, the International Life Sciences Institute (ILSI) is a non-profit, worldwide foundation that seeks to improve the well-being of the general public through the advancement of science. Its goal is to further the understanding of scientific issues relating to nutrition, food safety, toxicology, risk assessment, and the environment. ILSI is recognised around the world for the quality of the research it supports, the global conferences and workshops it sponsors, the educational projects it initiates, and the publications it produces. ILSI’s headquarters are in Washington, DC.

ILSI branches include Argentina, Brazil, Europe, Focal Point in China, India, Japan, Korea, Mesoamerica, Mexico, Middle East, North America, North Andean, South Africa, South Andean, Southeast Asia Region and Taiwan. The ILSI family also includes the Research Foundation (RF). Each branch is independent and is funded primarily by its industry members.

General Assembly

The General Assembly of Members (GA) is the ultimate decision making body where each member company is legally represented by one Official Representative appointed by the member company. The GA convenes once a year in March. It approves the annual accounts, takes decisions relating to budget and programme of activities and elects the members of the Board of Directors.

46 Member Companies (as of June 2020)

Nomination Committee

The Nomination Committee recommends BoD nominees for election by the GA. It is composed of the President, the Chairman, the Past-President, two non-director industry members and two scientists of international renown nominated by the GA and representing different geographical regions of Europe. The Committee is chaired by the President.

Members of the Nomination Committee

*Officers

Board of Directors

The Board of Directors (BoD) is the managing body of ILSI Europe. It defines the mission and vision of the Institute, they prepare the annual accounts and budget for the forthcoming year and decide on the strategies for the development of the Institute, the scientific priorities following advice of the Scientific Advisory Committee. Their decisions and suggestions are submitted for approval to the GA.

The BoD is composed of a maximum of 10 member company representatives and at least an equal or greater number of scientists from academic and public institutions. Each year 1/3 of the members retires but is eligible for re-election.

Members of the Board of Directors (as of April 2020)

*Officers

Scientific Advisory Committee

The Scientific Advisory Committee (SAC) guarantees the scientific integrity and excellence of the Institute’s scientific programme. It is composed of a maximum of 20 experts with more than 50% coming from the non-industry sector. It is chaired by the President of ILSI Europe and vice-chaired by the Vice-President. The members of the SAC review and endorse the overall scientific programme of ILSI Europe, including the new activities, with respect to their scientific validity, coherence within ILSI Europe’s programme, feasibility and urgency of the issues.

Members of the Scientific Advisory Committee (as of February 2020)

Task Forces

Task forces initiate, develop and manage all projects. They reach their goals and address their issues through expert groups, partnerships in European Union-funded projects, workshops, webinars and conferences.

Task forces comprise interested company representatives and non-industry experts acting as scientific advisors. Each task force appoints a Chair, a Vice-Chair and an academic Co-Chair who will perform their duties in close collaboration with the ILSI Europe office.

The main roles of the Chair are:

• To take the lead in defining the scientific programme of the task force and ensuring its application;
• To ensure good budget management;
• To closely follow the progress of all expert groups;
• To ensure the active participation of the task force members in the various activities, such as the long-term planning of the scientific programme and the

The main roles of the Vice-Chair are:

• To assist the task force Chair in the preparation and follow-up of meetings;
• To replace the task force Chair in meetings / conference calls when needed.

In principle, ILSI Europe foresees a rotation from the Vice-Chair to the Chair position after three years, with the possibility to extend the mandate of the Chair and Vice-Chair once (maximum two terms) if required.

Task force Co-Chairs must come from academia. Their main roles are:

• To act as scientific advisors of the task force;
• To ensure that the scientific work programme of the given task force and its expert groups is aligned with ILSI Europe’s vision and mission;
• To ensure the scientific integrity of the task force members and expert groups;
• To actively contribute to the development and follow-up of new activity proposals.

In principle, ILSI Europe foresees that the Co-Chair rotates when the task force work programme changes focus.

A new task force is created when a new activity proposal is approved by the Board of Directors, after review by the Scientific Advisory Committee and external academic reviewers, provided it does not fall within the remit of an existing task force and provided it receives the support of at least 5 member companies.

A task force is funded by its supporting member companies and is disbanded when its programme is completed or in case company support is below the required minimum of 5 supporting member companies.

Expert Goups

Once a task force has identified a new topic of interest, it develops a new activity proposal that is first submitted to the Scientific Advisory Committee as well as to independent external academic reviewers for their scientific review. Then, the proposal is submitted to the Board of Directors for their review and approval. When a new activity is approved by the Scientific Advisory Committee and the Board of Directors, the task force members nominate the experts identified in the activity proposal. Expert groups comprise at least 50% scientists from academia and the public sector and up to 50% industry scientists, representing on average 10 members in total.

The expert group carries out the work outlined by the task force, e.g. collecting/analysing data/information and writing scientific papers. The output of their work is published primarily in peer-reviewed scientific journals and disseminated at relevant events. Each activity has to result in a peer-reviewed publication. A Concise Monograph or Black & White Report (ILSI Europe Report Series) may also be produced at a later stage, subject to approval by the Board of Directors.

Each expert group includes a Chair from academia and a Vice-Chair from industry. The main roles of an expert group Chair are:

• To ensure the scientific quality of the work performed by the expert group is of a high standard, e.g. unbiased discussions and outputs resulting in a peer-reviewed publication;
• To ensure the scientific coordination of the expert group, which implies taking into account the area of expertise of each expert group member;
• To take the lead in refining new activity proposals;
• To be responsible for the publication of the scientific output (primarily in a peer-reviewed journal).

The role of an expert group Vice-Chair is to replace the expert group Chair in meetings or conference calls when needed.

Secretariat

ILSI Europe’s international team is the body responsible for the coordination, development and execution of the strategy and the associated plans agreed by the General Assembly, which includes the activities of the committees, task forces and expert groups.

Staff Assignments and Project Responsibilities

Careers

Careers that Advance Science in Nutrition and Food Safety
At ILSI Europe we look for talented, dynamic and passionate professionals with a proven capacity to work in teams and generate results, and a deep understanding of and strong commitment to improve the well-being of the general public through the advancement of science. Each staff member contributes to making ILSI Europe a good place to work with a strong team spirit. We also offer internships opportunities.

Current jobs opportunities:
Membership Development Manager – The recruitment and selection process will be postponed until further notice. We apologise for the inconvenience.