Royal Society

This article is about the national academy of science in the United Kingdom. For other uses, see Royal Society (disambiguation).

The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge
Formation28 November 1660; 363 years ago (1660-11-28)
HeadquartersLondon, SW1
United Kingdom
Coordinates51°30′21″N 0°07′56″W / 51.50583°N 0.13222°W / 51.50583; -0.13222
Membership
  • ~1,600 Fellows
  • ~225 Foreign Members
  • 4 Royal Fellows
Patron
Charles III
President
Sir Adrian Smith
Foreign Secretary
Mark Walport and Alison Noble (jointly)
Treasurer
Jonathan Keating
Main organ
Council
Staff~225
Websiteroyalsociety.org Edit this at Wikidata
RemarksMotto: Nullius in verba
("Take nobody's word for it")
Entrance to the Royal Society at 6–9 Carlton House Terrace, London

The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences.[1] The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, recognising excellence in science, supporting outstanding science, providing scientific advice for policy, education and public engagement and fostering international and global co-operation. Founded on 28 November 1660, it was granted a royal charter by King Charles II and is the oldest continuously existing scientific academy in the world.[2]

The society is governed by its Council, which is chaired by the society's president, according to a set of statutes and standing orders. The members of Council and the president are elected from and by its Fellows, the basic members of the society, who are themselves elected by existing Fellows. As of 2020, there are about 1,700 fellows, allowed to use the postnominal title FRS (Fellow of the Royal Society), with up to 73 new fellows appointed each year from a pool of around 800 candidates.[3] There are also royal fellows, honorary fellows and foreign members. Up to 24 new foreign members are appointed each year (from the same pool of 800) and they are allowed to use the postnominal title ForMemRS (Foreign Member of the Royal Society). The Royal Society president is Adrian Smith, who took up the post and started his five-year term on 30 November 2020,[3] replacing the previous president, Venki Ramakrishnan.

Since 1967, the society has been based at 6–9 Carlton House Terrace, a Grade I listed building in central London which was previously used by the Embassy of Germany, London.

  1. ^ "The formal title as adopted in the royal charter" (PDF). Royal Society. Archived from the original (PDF) on 10 April 2016. Retrieved 14 November 2014.
  2. ^ Ellis Rubinstein, "Science Academies in the 21st Century: Can they address the world's challenges in novel ways?" Treballs de la SCB. Vol. 63, 2012, pp. 390. doi:10.2436/20.1501.02.130. Archived 5 February 2023 at the Wayback Machine.
  3. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference fellow was invoked but never defined (see the help page).