Addressing the world’s challenges requires international collaboration. We use the expertise of the Fellows and Foreign Members to advise decision makers on global issues.
Recognising excellence in science
The Society recognises and supports excellent scientists around the world through its many schemes which are open to UK and international scientists.
International Exchanges
Newton International Fellowships
Newton Advanced Fellowships
Newton Mobility Grants
JSPS Postdoctoral Fellowships
Global Challenges Research Fund Grants
Royal Society-DfiD Capacity Building Initiative
The Royal Society is also a Delivery Partner for the UK government's Newton Fund.
Read a summary of the Royal Society and other UK organisations' work complementing the UK government’s Science and Innovation Strategy in Science and Innovation in the UK.
Advice for policy makers
The Royal Society is a member of the International Science Council and the Interacademy Partnership (IAP), which are both global networks of scientific academies and organisations.
The latest report from the InterAcademy Partnership (IAP) is designed to help strengthen the science-policy interface in Africa to accelerate the implementation of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the African Union’s (AU) STI Strategy for Africa (STISA -2024). Representing some of the best scientific minds in their countries, national merit-based academies are an important source of knowledge and have an opportunity to effect positive change. The report is the culmination of a three-year project, Harnessing Science, Engineering, and Medicine (SEM) to Address Africa's Challenges 2024. (Launched July 2019). IAP also produces shorter communiques, such as the recent ones on the Covid-19 pandemic (issued March 2020), Green Recovery (issued July 2020) and Development and Distribution of Vaccines against COVID-19, (issued September 2020).
In partnership with other academies, the Society provides authoritative scientific advice to the United Nations and its agencies, the G7/G8/G-Science Academies meetings, and other influential global decision-making bodies.
Human rights
The Royal Society is a member of the UK Academies Human Rights Committee (UKHRC), a collaboration with the Royal Academy of Engineering, Academy of Medical Science, British Academy and Royal Society of Edinburgh.
The UKHRC allows the five member academies to address alerts issued by the International Human Rights Network of Academies and Scholarly Societies, a network which identifies incidents where scientists, engineers or health professionals worldwide are subjected to repression. The Society’s practice is to act only in cases where there is evidence that the human rights of an individual scientist have been violated or denied because of their scientific work. Read the Society’s position on blanket academic boycotts.