Trustees report and financial statements 2020

STRATEGIC REPORT GOVERNANCE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS OTHER INFORMATION THE ROYAL SOCIETY TRUSTEES’ REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 26 SCIENCE SHAPING THE WORLD WE LIVE IN 27 Above: FLAIR Fellows at the start of their two-year Fellowships. The Royal Society has partnered with the African Academy of Sciences (AAS) to launch the Future Leaders – African Independent Research (FLAIR) Fellowships. The fellowships are for talented African early career researchers who have the potential to become leaders in their field. Fellowships were available to support up to 30 talented early career researchers to undertake cutting-edge scientific research that will address the global challenges facing developing countries. It will also support them in establishing independent careers in African institutions and, ultimately, their own research groups. African scientists drawn from across the continent gathered in Naivasha, Kenya, in April 2019 to celebrate the start of the two-year fellowships. The 2019 FLAIR-funded scientists were selected from a competitive pool of more than 700 applicants. Their research is diverse, ranging from providing renewable energy solutions and addressing climate change to tackling food security and targeting health and environmental problems that are most acute for people living in African countries. Future Leaders – African Independent Research (FLAIR) Fellowships Thanks to the FLAIR scheme, some scientists are returning to African countries from the UK and USA to continue their careers in African institutions. This is an important part of the programme – attracting scientists back from countries where they have completed their postdoctoral training so that they can play a part in building the research infrastructure across the continent. To keep improving their scientific output, African countries need to grow and retain scientific talent and FLAIR is one of a number of initiatives to support African early career researchers to establish their careers in Africa. FLAIR continues the Royal Society’s support of science in Africa. Our programmes are synonymous with excellence in science and our grants programmes play an important role in developing future scientific leaders. Strategy in action continued Aims of the programme: • Developing Africa’s next generation of research leaders • Supporting excellence in research that addresses areas of global significance • Enhancing research environments through capacity strengthening • Fostering collaboration and impact between African fellows and UK researchers Dr Raphael Tshimanga Université de Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo Developing a framework of catchments classification for hydrological predictions and water resources management in an ungauged basin of the Congo River. The catchments of the Congo are of great importance, providing hydro-power, water supply, fisheries and more. Dr Tshimanga is a hydrologist who is developing a catchment classification system to enable healthy and sustainable resource planning for the Congo Basin. Dr Oluwaseyi Shorinola International Livestock Research Institute, Kenya Rapid mining and mobilisation of beneficial gene alleles to improve wheat production in East Africa. Dr Shorinola is a crop geneticist. In less than 40 years Africa will have an additional 1.3 billion people to feed, of whom half will be living in urban areas where demands for wheat will only increase. This research focuses on using genetics to improve the yield and quality of wheat production in East Africa. Dr Sarah Fawcett University of Cape Town, South Africa The role of marine ecosystems in improving water quality in rapidly urbanising coastal regions. Coastal regions that are home to large human populations are subject to significant pressures such as pollution, habitat destruction, resource depletion and climate change. This project aims to identify and track the sources of pollution to rapidly urbanising coastal regions, focusing on the complex relationships between biogeochemical fluxes and primary production in marine systems.