Trustees report and financial statements 2020

Strategy in action continued STRATEGIC REPORT GOVERNANCE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS OTHER INFORMATION THE ROYAL SOCIETY TRUSTEES’ REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 22 SCIENCE SHAPING THE WORLD WE LIVE IN 23 Supporting international scientific collaboration Priorities: 1 Proactive engagement in major issues. 2 Address global challenges. 3 Partner with leading scientific nations on new technologies. 4 Implement Commonwealth programmes. 5 Convene leading international meetings to advance science. Above: The Royal Society team, FAPESP team, UK delegates and Brazilian delegates at the 3rd UK-Brazil Frontiers of Science held in São Paulo state, March 2020. Proactive engagement in major issues The Society has worked with all political parties to try to achieve the best outcome for research and innovation throughout the Brexit negotiations and the general election to ensure that highly skilled scientists from around the world are still able to work in the UK. We aim to continue to support and build relationships across Europe, and beyond, by reinforcing the importance of science in developing partnerships between nations and emphasising science’s role in culture and society. We have also continued to warn of the dangers of a no-deal Brexit and the damage this could cause to UK science. In October 2019, we published new data highlighting the negative impact that uncertainty over the UK’s future relationship with the EU was having on science. The data showed that the UK was a less attractive destination for top international science talent and the UK’s annual share of EU research funding had fallen by almost a third since 2015. There was a drop of almost 40% in UK applications to Horizon 2020, with 35% fewer scientists coming to the UK through key schemes. This intervention secured strong media coverage and political attention and was mentioned in Parliament and used by the Chair of the Science and Technology Committee to question the Science Minister. We have since continued to advocate for association with Horizon Europe, highlighting the advantages of association, urging ministers and special advisers to make public commitments to securing association and successfully encouraging opposition members to raise this with the government in both the Commons and the Lords. The Society also hosted heads of academies and universities from across the Western Balkans in Carlton House Terrace as part of the Berlin Process. In May 2019, the Society hosted the 5th Joint Science Conference of the Western Balkans Process, bringing together stakeholders from education, research and innovation. Working closely with the German National Academy of Sciences, the Leopoldina, and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, the event gave an opportunity to consider fresh expectations for research and education across Europe, to encourage collaboration across the European Research Area. The conclusions featured in a political summit in Poland later in the year. Priorities 1 The Society’s aim is to reinforce the importance of science to build partnerships between nations and to promote international relations and science’s role in culture and society. Above: (left to right) Andrej Zhernovski, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Republic of North Macedonia; Julie Maxton, Executive Director, The Royal Society; Carole Mundell, Chief Scientific Adviser, Foreign and Commonwealth Office and Wiesław Tarka, Coordinator of the Poznań Western Balkans Summit, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Republic of Poland, during the 5th Joint Science Conference of the Western Balkans Process.