There are two Royal Academies for Science and the Arts in Belgium, corresponding to the two main languages of the country, Dutch (Flanders) and French (Wallonia). The Academies are located in the Palace of Academies in Brussels.
L'Académie Royale des Sciences, des Lettres et des Beaux-Arts de Belgique is the older, being first so named in 1845. The Koninklijke Vlaamse Academie van België voor Wetenschappen en Kunsten was founded in 1938 by Julius Hoste Jr.. Both societies have created an umbrella organisation, The Royal Academies for Science and the Arts of Belgium (RASAB), which is responsible for coordinating the national and international activities of the Academies, such as the National Scientific Committees and the representation of Belgium in international scientific organizations such as IAP, ALLEA, ICSU and EASAC.
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The Royal Academies for Science and the Arts of Belgium association (RASAB) was founded in 2001 by the Académie royale des Sciences, des Lettres et des Beaux-Arts de Belgique, the French speaking academy of Belgium, and the Koninklijke Vlaamse Academie van België voor Wetenschappen en Kunsten, the Dutch speaking academy of Belgium.
The Royal Academies’ mission is to promote sciences and arts in Belgium. To realize this demand, the Academies organize scientific and cultural activities, they attempt to create cooperation between universities of Belgium, they ensure the Belgian representation in international organizations, they are pushing scientists to make recommendations to government, industry, research and education institutions and offer prizes to artists and researchers. For all these initiatives, the academies can rely on their members, representatives of the scientific, industrial and cultural community.
RASAB is responsible for coordinating the national and international activities of the Academies, such as the National Scientific Committees and the representation of Belgium in international scientific organizations such as IAP, ALLEA, ICSU and EASAC.
Mention must be made of the following joint initiatives of the Academies: the Royal Commission on History, the Royal Commission on Dialectology and Toponymy and the Royal Belgian Academy Council of Applied Sciences (BACAS). The Academies also publish a National Biography - each in its own language - and are members of the Union Académique internationale (UAI), which has its administrative seat at the Académie royale des Sciences, des Lettres et des Beaux-Arts de Belgique since 1919
This institution, founded in 1769 as the “Société littéraire de Bruxelles”, was transformed into an Academy - the «Académie impériale et royale des Sciences et Belles-Lettres de Bruxelles » - on 16 December 1772 by the Empress Marie-Thérèse. On 1 December 1845, King Leopold I of Belgium conferred new statutes which clearly separated the Classes of the Academy and gave the Academy its current name.
The « Académie royale des Sciences, des Lettres et des Beaux-Arts of Belgium” is composed by 4 Classes : Science, Letters and Moral and Political Sciences, Arts and Technology and Society. Each Class has 50 members and 50 associated members.
This institution was founded by the Royal Decree of 16 March 1938. New statutes and a new name were signed by His Majesty King Albert II in 1998 (Royal Decree of December 2, 1998).
The “Koninklijke Vlaamse Academie van België voor Wetenschappen en Kunsten” is composed by 4 Classes: Natural Sciences, Humanities, Arts and Technical Sciences. Each Class has 40 to 50 members.