Royal Society elects new Fellows for 2012

The expansion of the universe, genetics, the exploration of Saturn and its moons and the appliance of science are among the fields of expertise of the scientists who have been newly elected as Fellows of the Royal Society.

Cosmologist Professor Brian Schmidt becomes the 83rd Nobel Laureate among the Society’s Fellows and Foreign Members.   Geneticist, evolutionary expert and public figure Professor Steve Jones and Professor Michele Dougherty who is one of the lead scientists on the NASA-ESA Cassini-Huygens mission to Saturn have also been elected.  They are joined by science based innovator and entrepreneur Dr Herman Hauser among the 44 newly elected Fellows and eight newly elected Foreign Members.

Sir Paul Nurse, President of the Royal Society said: “Science impacts on most aspects of modern life, improving our understanding of the world and playing an increasing role as we grapple with problems such as feeding a growing global population and keeping an ageing home population healthy.  These scientists who have been elected to the Fellowship of the Royal Society are among the world’s finest.  They follow in the footsteps of luminaries such as Newton, Darwin and Einstein and I am delighted to welcome them into our ranks."