The Academy of Sciences was established by an act of the Parliament's Presidency on October 10, 1972. Its first meeting was held on January 25, 1973. Professor Aleks Buda was elected President of the Albanian Academy of Sciences.
Until the end of 1980-s, the scientific activity was heavily affected by various restrictions of ideological and political character. Especially in the field of social sciences, those limitations obstructed academic research, imposed aprioristic reasoning, impeded objective assessment for some of the contemporary scientific achievements, and created barriers for their implementation. As a consequence of the political climate and country isolation, foreign relations of Albanian scientists, their involvement in international activities, and exchanges of scientific and academic experiences were severely limited.

Scientific studies carried out by the institutes of the Academy of Science have resolved a variety of important problems regarding history, Albanian language and culture, history of the nature and of natural resources of the country, introduction of new techniques and technologies in industry and agriculture, improvement of public health, environmental protection, etc.