Criteria for candidates
According to the Society's statutes, candidates for election to the
Fellowship must have made "a substantial contribution to the improvement of
natural knowledge, including mathematics, engineering science and medical
science".
Unusually for a national academy, the Royal Society does not restrict its
Fellowship to British nationals. The pool includes candidates who hold any
Commonwealth nationality or Irish nationality as well as non-Commonwealth
nationals resident in Commonwealth countries.
Individuals who are eminent for their scientific discoveries and attainments,
but who are ineligible for election to the Fellowship, may be eligible as
candidates for the Foreign Membership.