The International Academy of Sciences San Marino (, AIS) was a scientific association. It was established in 1983 and had its first convention, SUS 1, around New Year 1984 in the

City of San Marino The City of San Marino (), also known simply as San Marino and locally as Città, is the capital city of the Republic of San Marino and one of its nine . It has a population of 4,061. It is on the western slopes of San Marino's highest point, ...

. After the Sammarinese skeleton law on higher education had been passed the academy was officially founded on 13 September 1985, in the presence of the Captains-Regent. Its name uses the constructed

international auxiliary language An international auxiliary language (sometimes acronymized as IAL or contracted as auxlang) is a language meant for communication between people from different nations, who do not share a common first language. An auxiliary language is primarily a ...

Esperanto Esperanto (, ) is the world's most widely spoken Constructed language, constructed international auxiliary language. Created by L. L. Zamenhof in 1887 to be 'the International Language' (), it is intended to be a universal second language for ...

. Although the juristical association was officially dissolved at the end of 2020, the AIS is still active.

History

The AIS was founded on an initiative of scientists from various countries, such as Helmar Frank, Humphrey Tonkin, and

Reinhard Selten Reinhard Justus Reginald Selten (; 5 October 1930 – 23 August 2016) was a German economics, economist, who won the 1994 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences (shared with John Harsanyi and John Forbes Nash, John Nash). He is also well ...

. The

Sammarinese Sammarinese () are citizens and people of the Republic of San Marino. Language San Marino recognizes Italian as the official language. The indigenous Sammarinese language is a variety of Romagnol spoken by approximately 83 percent of the populati ...

government at first gave the academy broad moral support. When, however, the ''università degli studi'' was founded at San Marino in 1988, it gained priority over the AIS, which then concentrated on working abroad from San Marino. Conventions and

summer school Summer school (or summer university) is a school, or a program generally sponsored by a school or a school district, or provided by a private company, that provides lessons and activities during the summer vacation. Participation in summer school ...

s were held in

Bulgaria Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...

Korea Korea is a peninsular region in East Asia consisting of the Korean Peninsula, Jeju Island, and smaller islands. Since the end of World War II in 1945, it has been politically Division of Korea, divided at or near the 38th parallel north, 3 ...

, the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

Slovakia Slovakia, officially the Slovak Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the west, and the Czech Republic to the northwest. Slovakia's m ...

and

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

Structure

The AIS was divided into the following four sectors: *Scientific Sector (SciS) *Technological Sector (TeS) *Artistic Sector (ArS) *Supporting Sector (SubS) The Scientific Sector consisted of six faculties. Its structure followed a strictly philosophical system, based on two criteria: * The basic approach used by a scientific discipline, either ''idiographic'' (descriptive) or ''nomothetic'' (predictive), as proposed by

Wilhelm Windelband Wilhelm Windelband (; ; 11 May 1848 – 22 October 1915) was a German philosopher of the Baden School. Biography Windelband was born the son of a Prussian official in Potsdam. He studied at Jena, Berlin, and Göttingen. Philosophical work Win ...

; * The position of the object of scientific research in

Karl Popper Sir Karl Raimund Popper (28 July 1902 – 17 September 1994) was an Austrian–British philosopher, academic and social commentator. One of the 20th century's most influential philosophers of science, Popper is known for his rejection of the ...

's " three worlds": the outer world as perceived sensually, the mental world and the world of abstractions. This led to a division into six sections: Each faculty was headed by a dean and is also further divided into three or four departments, each with their own head. Within the Scientific Sector there was a hierarchy of contributors.

Principles

The AIS was based on three principles that its members see insufficiently supported in other universities: # The absence of any cultural and linguistic

bias Bias is a disproportionate weight ''in favor of'' or ''against'' an idea or thing, usually in a way that is inaccurate, closed-minded, prejudicial, or unfair. Biases can be innate or learned. People may develop biases for or against an individ ...

not only in scientific content but also in the teaching of this content. In order to achieve this goal as far as possible the AIS held its conventions and summer schools in a neutral language; in its case,

. Students would write their

thesis A thesis (: theses), or dissertation (abbreviated diss.), is a document submitted in support of candidature for an academic degree or professional qualification presenting the author's research and findings.International Standard ISO 7144: D ...

in two parallel languages: Esperanto and a second language of their choice (usually their

native language A first language (L1), native language, native tongue, or mother tongue is the first language a person has been exposed to from birth or within the critical period hypothesis, critical period. In some countries, the term ''native language'' ...

). Research papers, too, were often written in two languages to reduce influence of language on the paper's logic. # Studying in several places. Students were encouraged to spend part of their studies abroad, or at least at an AIS summer school, so as to get in contact with other cultures. #

Interdisciplinarity Interdisciplinarity or interdisciplinary studies involves the combination of multiple academic disciplines into one activity (e.g., a research project). It draws knowledge from several fields such as sociology, anthropology, psychology, economi ...

, intense contact and scientific exchange between the faculties and scientific branches. To achieve this, other faculties were required to be represented in examination committees, and students got maximum freedom in choosing their minor.

Members

In 2006 the AIS consisted of about 250 scientists, among them a little fewer than 50 full members, including co-founder

. Some 300 scientists contributed to the AIS as members of the "International Scientific College" (''Internacia Scienca Kolegio'', ISK).AIS and ISK member list, http://www.ais-sanmarino.org/isd/html They were not active in teaching for the AIS but were available for opinions on theses and similar tasks. Knowledge of Esperanto was a precondition for membership in the ISK (as well as the AIS). A notable rector was Fabrizio Angelo Pennacchietti, an Italian orientalist who graduated from La Sapienza.

References

External links

* *Federico Gobbo and Reinhard Fössmeier,
A University Mainly in Esperanto
' {{DEFAULTSORT:Akademio Internacia De La Sciencoj San Marino 1983 establishments in San Marino Educational institutions established in 1983 Educational organizations based in San Marino Organizations based in the City of San Marino Esperanto education National academies of sciences Universities in San Marino 2020 disestablishments in Europe