The Society's foundation is its Fellowship, which is made up of the most eminent scientists, engineers and technologists from the UK and the Commonwealth. Each year, the Fellows elect 44 new Fellows and eight new Foreign Members, chosen for their scientific achievements.
The Fellowship of the Royal Society is composed over 1300 of the most distinguished scientists from the United Kingdom, other Commonwealth countries and the Republic of Ireland. Fellows of the Royal Society are elected for life and designate themselves through the use of the letters FRS after their names.
In 2009, 44 new Fellows were elected through a peer review process that culminated in a vote by existing Fellows. The main criterion for election as a Fellow is scientific excellence.
Current Fellows include Jocelyn Bell Burnell, Richard Dawkins, Stephen Hawking, Harry Kroto, Tim Berners Lee, Paul Nurse and John Sulston. There are currently twenty five Nobel prize winners among the Fellows and many other holders of other equally prestigious awards. Previous Fellows include Isaac Newton, Christopher Wren, Michael Faraday, Charles Darwin, Ernest Rutherford and Dorothy Hodgkin.
In addition, the Royal Society has 137 Foreign Members who are eminent for their 
scientific discoveries and attainments. Foreign members are also elected for life and designate themselves through the use of the letters ForMemRS after their names. Each year, up to eight Foreign Members are elected through a peer review process that also culminates in a vote by existing Fellows. There are currently forty nine Nobel prize winners among the Foreign Members.
The election process for Fellows and Foreign Members is extremely rigorous and is based upon the established practice of peer review. Although the identities of the candidates for election remain confidential, the identities of all members of committees involved in the election process, together with the full regulations governing the process, are published annually in the Year Book of the Royal Society, copies of which are available for purchase.
Fellows are called upon to fulfil a wide range of tasks for, and on behalf of, the Royal Society. Many Fellows invest significant time and effort, voluntarily, to carry out these tasks in the cause of science and the Royal Society.
On the 11 December 2009, there were 1342 Fellows and 137 Foreign Members of the Royal Society.
More information about the history of the Fellowship can be found on the History pages.