Programme

An Open World? The Contemporary Relevance of Niels Bohr's Open Letter to the United Nations of 1950

19-21 November 2025. The Black Diamond, The Royal Library, Copenhagen DK.

This year, on the 75th anniversary of Bohr's open letter to the United Nations, we present the Open World Conference 2025, An Open World? The Contemporary Relevance of Niels Bohr's Open Letter to the United Nations of 1950.

See the full programme below.

 

Time Activity
11:00 - 12:00 Registration & Refreshments

Welcome
12:00 - 12:20 John Renner Hansen
Former Director of Niels Bohr Institute

Opening
12:20 - 12:50 David Dreyer Lassen
Rector, University of Copenhagen

Speech by government representative

Setting the Scene
12:50 - 13:20

Frank von Hippel
Senior Research Physicist, Professor of Public and International Affairs Emeritus with Princeton’s Program on Science & Global Security
How Evgeny Velikhov’s Nuclear Glasnost Facilitated the End of the Cold War Nuclear Arms Race

Matilde Kimer
Journalist and Foreign Correspondent, Danmarks Radio (DR)
13:20 - 13:50 Break

Session 1: The Legacy of Bohr’s Open Letter

Chairperson: Kirsten Busch Nielsen
13:50 - 14:25 Sir Peter Gluckman
Distinguished Professor at the Liggins Institute, University of Auckland
The science-policy nexus: the emergent challenges and opportunities for science diplomacy
14:25 - 14:40 Tomas Bohr
Professor Emeritus, Technical University of Denmark (DTU)
14:40 - 14:55 Christian Joas
Director, Niels Bohr Archive, University of Copenhagen
14:55 - 15:20 Ole Wæver
Professor of International Relations, Department of Political Science, University of Copenhagen
15:20 - 16:00 Klaus Mølmer
Professor of Quantum Optics and Photonics, Niels Bohr Institute, University of Copenhagen
16:00 - 16:30 Break

Session 2: Legitimate Limits of Openness Today

Moderated by Janus Juul Eriksen
16:30 - 17:00 Rebecca Slayton
Associate Professor, Department of Science and Technology Studies, Cornell University
17:00 - 17:30 Michela Massimi
Professor of Philosophy of Science in the Dept. of Philosophy, University of Edinburgh
Science and the ideal of an open world: Philosophical reflections on Bohr’s letter to the UN
17:30 - 18:00 Sabina Leonelli
Professor of Philosophy and History of Science and Technology, Technical University of Munich
Science for an Open Society: The Rational and the Humane
18:00 - 18:30 Discussion

 

 

Time Activity
08:30 - 09:00 Refreshments

Session 3: Data and Artificial Intelligence

Moderated by Stine Lomborg
09:00 - 09:30 Serge Belongie
Professor of Computer Science at the University of Copenhagen and Head of the Pioneer Centre for AI
09:30 - 10:00 Isabelle Augenstein
Professor at Department of Computer Science, University of Copenhagen
10:00 - 10:30

Margrethe Vestager 
Executive Vice President of the European Commission for A Europe Fit for the Digital Age
10:30 - 11:00 Discussion
11:00 - 11:30 Break

Session 4: Nuclear Threat

Moderated by Ole Wæver
11:30 - 12:00 Tong Zhao
Senior Fellow, Nuclear Policy Program and Carnegie China, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
How Can Openness Prevent Nuclear Catastrophe?
12:00 - 12:30 Hans Kristensen 
Director Nuclear Information Project, Federation of American Scientists
12:30 - 13:00 Pavel Podvig
Senior Researcher, WMD, United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research (UNIDIR)
Are nuclear weapons obsolete? Nuclear policy lessons from the Russian war against Ukraine
13:00 - 13:30 Discussion
13:30 - 14:45 Lunch

Session 5: Being a Young, Hopeful, and Open-Minded Scientist

Moderated by Casper Andersen
14:45 - 15:15 Casper Andersen
Professor, School of Culture and Society, Aarhus University
15:15 - 16:30

Panel Debate with:

Birgitte Pristed
Associate Professor, School of Culture and Society - Russian and Balkan Studies, Aarhus University

Kristina Bakkær Simonsen
Associate Professor, Department of Political Science, Aarhus University

Janus Juul Eriksen
Associate Professor, Department of Chemistry, Technical University of Denmark (DTU)

Morten Kjærgaard
Associate Professor, Niels Bohr Institute, University of Copenhagen
17:00 - 20:00 Conference Reception

 

 

Time Activity
08:30 - 09:00 Refreshments

Session 6: Science and Openness

Moderated by Helle Porsdam
09:00 - 09:30 Hans Kluge
World Health Organization, Regional Director for Europe
09:30 - 10:00 Ana María Cetto
Professor of Theoretical Physics, Instituto de Físca UNAM
Pushing the Boundary Between Openness of Science and Political Closure
10:00 - 10:30 Elena Aronova
Associate Professor of History of Science, Department of History, UC Santa Barbara
10:30 - 11:00 Break
11:00 - 11:30 Zuoyue Wang
Professor of History, College of Letters, Arts, and Social Sciences, Cal Poly Pomona
Reflections on US-China Scientific Exchanges from the Cold War to the Contemporary World
11:30 - 12:00 Jahnavi Phalkey
Founding Director, Science Gallery Bengaluru
12:00 - 12:30 Discussion
12:30 - 13:00 Closing words