California Council on Science and Technology

The California Council on Science and Technology (CCST) is an independent, not-for-profit 501(c)(3) organization designed to offer expert advice to the California state government and to recommend solutions to science and technology-related policy issues. CCST is modeled after the National Academies - the official scholarly body serving the United States of America - to provide the State of California with a parallel network of institutional and individual advisors.

CCST was founded during a period of heightened concern about California's future following the loss of several national competitions for important research facilities. It was established via Assembly Concurrent Resolution (ACR 162) in 1988 by a unanimous vote of the California Legislature, charged to "report to [university] presidents... and respond to the Governor, the Legislature, and other entities on public policy issues related to science and technology." The first CCST meetings took place in 1989.

Core support was initially provided by five institutions of higher education specified in the ACR (the University of California, California State University, Stanford University, Caltech, and the University of Southern California). In 1994, the California Community College System joined as a sustaining institution. In 2005, six of the largest federal funded laboratories in California joined as affiliate members Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Sandia National Laboratories/California, Stanford Linear Accelerator Center, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and the NASA Ames Research Center).

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