Trustees report and financial statements 2020

STRATEGIC REPORT GOVERNANCE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS OTHER INFORMATION THE ROYAL SOCIETY TRUSTEES’ REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 6 SCIENCE SHAPING THE WORLD WE LIVE IN 7 Over the past year we have increased our investment in outstanding scientists from £84.7 million to £102.5 million. President’s foreword The world in April 2019 was very different from the world in March 2020. The global COVID-19 pandemic has impacted everyone, with millions of confirmed cases and hundreds of thousands of recorded deaths. Societies, including the UK, have spent months in lockdown with people separated from their families and businesses unable to operate. Science has been central to the handling of the pandemic and the Royal Society has been to the fore. Our Fellows and people who we fund are contributing to the global effort to tackle COVID-19. A long- term investment in science has allowed us to rapidly develop our understanding of this virus and make progress on developing treatments and potential vaccines. In addition to individual Fellows contributing directly to advice within and to government, the Society convened three groups to support the understanding of the science of the virus and help inform the policy decisions that the government was taking. The Society brought: modelling expertise from a diverse range of disciplines to support the pandemic modelling community; multi-disciplinary expertise to support a data-driven approach to learning from different approaches to managing the pandemic; and the expertise of our Fellows to provide rapid science advice on topics relevant to tackling the pandemic. These groups, while independent of the government, have also been providing their expertise to government advisory groups such as the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE). As a scientific publisher, the Society also made all COVID-19 data and research findings immediately and freely available. We have also done what we can to help support young people when schools were closed, drawing together our resources that could be used to support home learning in science, technology, engineering and maths.  Read more on pages 20 – 21. The pandemic arrived towards the end of the 2019/20 financial year and will no doubt dominate thinking when looking back on this period. However, much went before it. Avoiding potential damage to science from a bad Brexit and the general election and what a new government would mean for science were also high on the Royal Society’s agenda. We continued to make the case for the best possible outcome for science as we leave the European Union. The outward-facing, international nature of UK science has never been more important in tackling global challenges. Challenges that are global but that have very real impacts on the everyday lives of all of us – on our health, on the way we live our lives and on jobs and the economy. The UK has always been outward looking on science – we have thrived by welcoming the best people from around the world to come and work with our own outstanding homegrown talent. That has been threatened by Brexit and we have continued to highlight this problem to the government. In January, Downing Street announced a new Global Talent Visa. The government listened to the research community, and delivered an important first step in creating the visa system that we need to continue to attract global scientific talent – one that is welcoming, faster and more flexible, and takes into account the long-term aspirations of scientists and their families. Investment in science is essential for the health, wealth and happiness of the nation. That was one of the key messages that the Royal Society put to politicians in the general election. It is a message that has hit home, with the main parties making a significant commitment to increasing investment in science. In March, the Chancellor of the Exchequer committed to more than doubling government investment in research and innovation by the end of this parliament. The Royal Society is an important part of delivering that investment in science, and over the past year we have increased our investment in outstanding scientists from £84.7 million to £102.5 million. The people we invest in are pushing the boundaries of human understanding, as our Charter from 1660 describes, for the benefit of humanity. Science impacts our lives in so many ways. This year the Society has published reports on technologies that can help us decarbonise our economy and tackle climate change and set out ways to support people to develop the data skills that will prepare them for the jobs of the future. We published a report on the technology and ethical issues raised by the development of neural interfaces – electronic devices linked to our nervous systems that have great potential in medicine but could also exacerbate already strong inequalities in society. We also convened an international commission with the aim of developing principles, criteria and standards for the clinical use of genome editing of the human germline. Science and innovation promise so many improvements to the way we live but they also bring significant ethical challenges. Science can tell us what we can do but it is up to society to decide what we should do. Over the past year, our Fellows and the people we fund have continued to find new ways to benefit society. The Royal Society has continued to help people understand what the choices are and to give them the means by which they can decide what directions we go in. In a year that ended with great challenges for us all, science offers us hope for the future. Venki Ramakrishnan President of the Royal Society