Trustees report and financial statements 2020

STRATEGIC REPORT GOVERNANCE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS OTHER INFORMATION THE ROYAL SOCIETY TRUSTEES’ REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 8 SCIENCE SHAPING THE WORLD WE LIVE IN 9 “The second series of our People of Science films launched this year and tells the stories of extraordinary scientists, using our archive of science artefacts.” the Fellowship, but we are making progress in some areas. In scientific publishing, papers in our journals were downloaded over 30 million times. Our scientific meetings programme has brought together leading experts to discuss the latest research and to develop knowledge of their field. This year we could not complete our programme due to the pandemic, but we are now planning for meetings to take place virtually. We have continued to highlight the threats to UK science if there is no deal with the EU and to make the case for investment in science. This year saw the new Government commit to more than doubling public investment in research. This year has been another year of growth for the Royal Society but one that ended with the severe disruption of the global coronavirus pandemic. Lockdown closed our building in central London and shut down some of our programme of activities, but we continued much of our work from our homes. As you will see from our President’s Foreword, science and the Royal Society have been at the heart of the response to COVID-19. In the year leading up to the pandemic, we increased our expenditure by 17% to £133.7 million as we continued to recognise scientific excellence by providing financial support for scientists at various stages of their careers in the UK and internationally. We awarded £102.5 million to fund exceptional researchers and outstanding scientists, which is an increase of 21% from the previous year. More than 1,065 researchers are currently supported by the Society through its research fellowships. This year also saw our first FLAIR fellowships awarded, supporting early career researchers in Africa. Our work to elect top scientists to our Fellowship continues. This year, two new temporary nominating groups were established to increase nominations from groups that are under-represented because of ethnicity, gender or location, and from those working in industry. There is clearly still more work to be done to increase the diversity of We continue to influence policy- makers and three key reports which we published last year illustrate our work in this area. Our reports on green ammonia, data science and neural interfaces showed how new technologies and ways of working can transform different aspects of science in the future. Our You and the Planet series of public events were designed to help shape public debate on climate change and biodiversity. This year, along with US National Academy of Sciences and National Academy of Medicine, we convened an international commission on heritable human genome editing that brought together representatives from countries around the world. The findings of the commission will be published in 2020. Working with leading scientific nations is an important part of our remit. The Royal Society’s Foreign Secretary and I visited Beijing for high-level meetings with national science organisations, ministries and the private sector, as part of the Society’s strategic engagement with China. The trip also set the scene for a year of work with China, including a discussion forum with Science Minister Wang Zhigang, exchanges on a range of topics with province- level science academies, and the translation into Chinese of selected science policy reports. Our Partnership Grants scheme supported 49 schools and colleges, and over 8,400 students from primary and secondary level across the UK with up to £3,000 to buy equipment to run an investigation project in partnership with a STEM professional in either research or industry. Following a focus on promoting the scheme in Northern Ireland, we have had an increase in applications in 2020 from schools in the region. Our strategic plan Promoting excellence in science The Society’s aim is to harness the expertise of its Fellowship to ensure that excellence in science is recognised and supported and that scientific work is of the highest quality. Read more on page 16. Supporting international scientific collaboration Science is an inherently international activity. 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. Read more on page 22. Our Summer Science Exhibition saw over 11,500 members of the public attending a packed programme of events in our Carlton House Terrace building. Another 3,000 people were able to visit and find out more about our history during London’s Open House Weekend. We also had excellent digital engagement, with all our social channels increasing by around 20% on last year and our website having 1.8 million users. Our books prizes go from strength to strength, with Caroline Criado Perez winning the Royal Society Science Book Prize for her book Invisible Women: Exposing Data Bias in a World Designed for Men . A record- breaking 10,600 children from around the UK cast their votes to choose Planetarium: Welcome to the Museum by Raman Prinja and Chris Wormel as the winner of our Young People’s Book Prize. The year ahead looks to be very different from the last as the Society operates remotely. We will continue to engage with the public by using digital formats for some of our popular public engagement activities and holding virtual events online. Much of our work will be able to continue as planned, but remotely, such as electing our Fellows, judging our book prizes, publishing journals and funding researchers and we will use our convening strength to advocate for research and innovation and to support the scientific response to the pandemic. Dr Julie Maxton Executive Director of the Royal Society Executive Director’s report Demonstrating the importance of science to everyone Science is influenced by culture and other developments in society, just as scientific thinking and innovation influence how people live their lives. It is important that the Society engages with different groups in society and with the public in general to find out about their experiences, to listen to their views and to make science part of wider conversation. Read more on page 28.