Although the history of the Colombian Academy of Sciences could be traced back to Law 39 of 1913 (which refers to the La Salle Society of Natural Sciences, a precursor of the Academy) or to Law 16 of 1929 (which talks about recognizing “the opportunity and convenience of the National Academy of Sciences”), it is only on November 18, 1933, that the Academy is appointed a consultative body of the Colombian Government by Law 34, while on May 28, 1936, Decree 1218 declares “officially established the Academy of Exact, Physical and Natural Sciences of Colombia”. We will celebrate 80 years of uninterrupted contributions to the advancement of science in Colombia in May of 2016.  The legal basis for the existence of the Academy is covered by decree 1218 of 1936 and by the Statutes. A General Assembly held in September 2012 approved the current Statutes.

Objectives of the Academy include, but are not limited to, the promotion of scientific research; recognition of researchers and other individuals  who have made important contributions to science in the country; as a consultative body of the government, to have active participation in policy making at different levels of the administration in Science, Technology, Innovation and Education; to help internationalize Colombian science, and to strengthen the Academy´s own presence in the international arena. Of particular importance are programs oriented to enhance knowledge of the Colombian natural environment and its resources, and to improve science teaching at all levels of the Colombian educational system.

The Academy is an independent, non governmental, scientific organization. Government financial support to the Academy is provided by the Ministry of Finance through the Ministry of Education by means of contracts signed on a yearly basis. The support is quite limited and enables the Academy to basically maintain its day to day operation with little room to promote new programs, to invest in the diffusion of scientific knowledge, to respond quickly to pressing national issues or to expand scientific cooperation with other institutions. These financial limitations notwithstanding, the Academy is moving forward in many fronts,

Membership in the Academy is open, and is based on scientific merit. At the time of this writing there are 190 members in the Academy. Members belong to one of three categories. A) Corresponding members. New members are admitted as Corresponding members. Nominations are submitted by five members of the Academy, two of whom can be corresponding members, the other three being either full or honorary members. The CV and contributions of the candidate are studied by a Nominations Committee that submits a recommendation to the Executive Board. In case the nomination is accepted by the Board, it is then presented for a vote at a general assembly. At the time of this writing there are 125 corresponding Members. Foreign scientists who have worked in Colombia can be accepted as Corresponding members. Corresponding members have no voting rights. B) Full Members (also known as Numbered Chairs following the European tradition). After at least four years as a Corresponding member, a person can be nominated for promotion to Full membership. Nominations are submitted by five members, one of whom can be a corresponding member. A Committee of three full members, appointed by the President, studies the nomination and presents a recommendation to the Board. If accepted, the nomination is then submitted to a vote by the general assembly. At the time of this writing, there are 52 full members (or Numbered Chairs). No foreign corresponding members can be promoted to Full membership unless they work in Colombia and have become Colombian citizens. C) Honorary members. Nominations for Honorary membership are made by the Executive Board and are submitted to a vote by the general assembly. Honorary members can be either Full members who are promoted to this category or Colombian or foreign scientists who do not belong to the Academy but who have played an important role in the development of science either in Colombia or anywhere in the world. To have made contributions to the development of science in Colombia can be a consideration but is not the only one. At the time of this writing there are 13 honorary members.

While the largest groups of members belong to the areas of biology (37), physics (31), chemistry (27) and mathematics (20), many other fields of science are represented in the membership (geology, 13; engineering, 11; medicine, 8; biochemistry, 6; microbiology, 5, among others). Currently the Academy has 26 female members of the total of 190 members, which corresponds to approximately 13.7%. During the year 2014 twenty new Corresponding members were inducted, 7 Corresponding members were promoted to Full membership and 5 new Honorary members were appointed.

The statutes approved in 2012 include a number of important changes having to do, among other things, with an increased participation by Corresponding members in the running of the Academy, and the open-ended increase in the number of Full members that was, until then, limited to 40. The new statutes allow for three new Full members to be appointed every year.

An Executive Board including the president, vice-president, secretary general, director of publications, treasurer and a representative of the Corresponding Members conducts the affairs of the Academy. Full and Honorary members elect the members of the Executive Board for a three-year term, reelection being allowed for up to two more consecutive three-year periods. Throughout its history, the Academy has elected 10 presidents, five of whom were Engineers, one Geophysicist, one Biochemist, one Physicist and two Botanists.

The Colombian Academy of Sciences, in compliance with its statutes, conducts a series of regular meetings. The Executive Board meets once a month; there are ordinary meetings open to all members every month, and the formal Annual meeting takes place in August. The Nominations Committee meets three to four times a year.

In 2014 the formal Annual meeting was enriched with the organization of several activities that were carried out over a two day period. These included a seminar on the Big Bang theory and a symposium on Women in Science and Education. It is expected that this trend will continue in future annual meetings.

While the headquarters of the Academy are located in Bogotá, the capital of Colombia, the Academy has created regional chapters in the Southwest, Antioquia, Northeast and Caribbean, aiming to promote its actions nationally. Their main objective is to identify talents in those areas, stimulate the entry of new talents to the Academy and mainly to suit the projects and plans of the Academy to the regional diversity of the country. Closely related to the decentralization process, the admission of new talents in the Academy is intended to be a stimulus to the strengthening of local communities. Series of lectures by members of the Academy have been officially and successfully established at two Universities in the Caribbean region since 2014 and will continue during 2015 and hopefully into de future. These lectures are given on a monthly basis and are planned to include different areas of science and technology. More such lecture series may be organized in other regions of the country in the near future.

The journal of the Academy (Revista de la Academia Colombiana de Ciencias Exactas,Físicas y Naturales) is the official publication of the organization and has appeared  without interruption since 1936. This journal publishes original research findings in all fields covered by the Academy. The year 2014 saw many changes in the Journal, which is aiming to be indexed in the main worldwide indexing systems. Currently the Journal is indexed in Actualidad Iberoamericana, Agris, CIRS, Current Mathematical publications, Dialnet, EBSCO, Historia Mathematica, Index Kewensis, Latindex,  Mathematical Reviews, MathSciNet (on line data base), OCLC (Online Computer Library Center),PERIODICA, Publindex, Colciencias, RLG, SciELO, Zentralblatt für Mathematik, Zoological Record. Starting in 2014 with Vol. 38 Nos. 146 (March), 147 (June), 148 (September) and a supplement (December), the journal is being published electronically. Access to the articles on-line is available at http://www.raccefyn.co/index.php/raccefyn

The Academy also publishes five book collections: scientific books (Coll. Jorge Alvarez Lleras, since 1987), science text books, (Coll. Julio Carrizosa Valenzuela, since 1992), history of science (Coll. Enrique Pérez Arbeláez, since 1987), science outreach (Coll. Luis Duque Gómez, since 2003), plus meeting proceedings (Coll. Memorias, since 1994), and special editions (since 1958), with 78 titles published to date. A weekly Newsletter (Boletín Electrónico de la Academia) is being published electronically since September 2013.

The Academy created in 2014 a weekly radio program in collaboration with the radio station of the National University of Colombia (UN Radio). Members of the Academy and other scientific figures are invited to talk about issues of national and international importance from a scientific point of view but using common, every day language intended to reach the general public.

The Academy seeks to fulfill its objectives through the work of various committees, including the following: Committee on Protected Areas; Communications Committee; Group of History and Philosophy of Science; Women in Science Committee and Education Committee. A committee on Risk assessment is being organized at present. There are committees according to discipline, including Mathematics and Statistics, Physics, Chemistry, Environment and Biodiversity, and Earth science.

The Academy gives two prizes on a yearly basis: The Academy´s own Life time Achievement Award, and The World Academy of Sciences (TWAS) Award for young scientists in developing countries. The TWAS award rotates annually among the sciences of Biology, Chemistry, Mathematics and Physics.

At the national level, the Academy is a member of the Council of Colombian Academies, and works closely with several scientific and academic organizations such as the Colombian Association for the Advancement of Science (ACAC), the Colombian Observatory of Science, Technology and Innovation (OCyT), the Colombian Association of Science Faculties (ACOFACIEN), and the Colombian Network of Environmental Education. The Academy is a member of the Advisory Committee in Basic Sciences of the Administrative Department of Science, Technology and Innovation (Colciencias).

The Colombian Academy of Sciences participates in international activities through the International Council for Science (ICSU), and is a member of the Committee on Freedom and Responsibility in the conduct of Science (CFRS). It is active in several multidisciplinary programs like IGBP (the International Geosphere and Biosphere Program), and is responsible for the National Commissions of IUHPS (the International Union for the History and Philosophy of Science) and of IUCN (the International Union for the Conservation of Nature)

The Academy also works at the international level through the Global Network of Academies of Sciences (IAP); the InterAcademy Council (IAC); the InterAcademy Medical Panel (IAMP), and the World Academy of Sciences for the development of science in developing countries (TWAS). The Academy is actively involved in four programs of the Inter American Network of Academies of Sciences (IANAS): water, energy, education and women for science. The 2015 annual meeting of the Executive Committee of IANAS is being held in Bogota. The Academy is also active in regional independent programs like the Caribbean Scientific Community (Comunidad Científica del Caribe or CCC).

With the intention of becoming more engaged in international exchanges aimed at promoting cooperation between Colombian scientists and the international community, the Academy has recently (2014) signed agreements with the Hassan II Academy of Sciences of Morocco and the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS). Efforts are being made to implement similar agreements with the German Leopoldina Academy and the French Academy of Sciences.