After preliminary discussions and meetings, some in collaboration with the US National Academy of Sciences, the Royal Society appointed an ad hoc group to provide a forum for the discussion of key scientific issues in international security and to establish contact with Western European scientists. The conferences organised by the Accademia dei Lincei (often referred to as the 'Amaldi Conferences' after the first organiser Edoardo Amaldi) were regularly attended by Peierls (see Section J) who was a member of the SAIS group from its inception.