Call for Experts - Technical Advisory Group on the responsible use of the life sciences and dual-use research

This call builds on WHO’s efforts in the field of the responsible use of the life sciences and the governance of dual-use research and follows the 2022 WHO publication Global guidance framework for the responsible use of the life sciences: mitigating biorisks and governing dual-use research.

The WHO is now seeking to establish a Technical Advisory Group on the responsible use of the life sciences and dual-use research to support and provide technical advice on activities implemented by the WHO Secretariat to support Members States and other stakeholders on the responsible use of the life sciences, biorisk mitigation and the governance of dual-use research.

WHO welcomes expressions of interest from professionals with expertise in a diverse set of fields related to the oversight of dual-use research and dual-use of concern (DURC):

• knowledge, information, methods, products or technologies;
• biorisk mitigation and management, biosafety and biosecurity;
• emerging areas of research and technologies in biology and the life sciences (for example, but not limited to, synthetic biology, genome editing, virology, infectious diseases, bioinformatics, neurosciences) and associated disciplines (for example, but not limited to, chemistry, artificial intelligence, nanotechnologies);
• governance of emerging technologies;
• risk communication, disinformation;
• ethics, international law, policy and governance and other relevant social science domains, related to the responsible use of the life sciences and dual-use research and pandemic prevention, preparedness and response;
• foresight;
• monitoring and evaluation related to global health security; and
• One Health approach to the responsible use of the life sciences and dual-use research.

Deadline: 1 September 2023, 23h59 Central European Summer Time (UTC + 2 hours)

If you are interested in this call, please review the information on the webpage of the group and the webpage of the project. For more information about the selection process and conditions of appointment read here.

Please feel free to share this call for experts within your relevant networks.