FRS: Failure at the Royal Society
A while ago I posted an item about the Royal Society’s failure to take proper action against Elon Musk. The petition I linked to then gained almost 4,000 signatures – including quite a number of people I know. Well, yesterday evening that venerable institution held a meeting attended by over 150 of its Fellows. The meeting was behind closed doors but it seems to have been rather fractious. It also seems that Elon Musk remains a Fellow.
Here is the resulting statement in all its bland uselessness:
At a meeting this evening of the Royal Society, Fellows agreed on the need to stand up for science and for scientists around the world in the face of the growing challenges science faces.
Concern was expressed, in particular, about the fate of colleagues in the US who are reportedly facing the prospect of losing their jobs amid threats of radical cutbacks in research funding.
Fellows, over 150 of whom attended tonight’s meeting, were united in the need for the Society to step up its efforts to advocate for science and scientists at a time when these are under threat as never before and yet at the same time have never been more necessary for humanity at large.
The Society agreed to look at potential further actions that might help make the case for science and scientific research and counter the misinformation and ideologically motivated attacks on both science and scientists.
Is that the best they could come up with?
In the Dark 
March 4, 2025 at 11:31 am
Thanks, Peter, for highlighting this.
I’m not an FRS, but was a member of an RS University Research Fellowships panel for four years. If I were still a member of that panel, I would refuse to do any panel business or review proposals until the RS got its act sorted out. I’ll certainly not be agreeing to review for the RS in any capacity while they continue to give Musk their blessing.
It would send a powerful message to our beleaguered colleagues on the other side of the Atlantic if many more Fellows would follow Dorothy Bishop’s and Andrew Millar’s example (https://www.theguardian.com/science/2025/feb/14/elon-musk-royal-society-open-letter-academics) and resign. However, I’ll not hold my breath. Some groups of academics never fail to live down to expectations.
March 5, 2025 at 3:52 pm
Just a reminder, for the hard of thinking, of my comments policy on the front page of this blog:
(I should perhaps add “deranged” to that list…)
March 8, 2025 at 3:21 pm
I signed the petition, not as a member, but as a former FDA manager (Division Director) with 30+ yrs of experience in drug review. Good, dedicated FDA staff and NIH colleagues are being pilloried on the basis of their employment without any regard to their contributions to public health. I am constantly reminded of the Latin phrase
Nec audiendi qui solent dicere, Vox populi, vox Dei, quum tumultuositas vulgi semper insaniae proxima sit.
or
And those people should not be listened to who keep saying the voice of the people is the voice of God, since the riotousness of the crowd is always very close to madness.
Elon is mobilizing madness and I wish the Royal Society would stop giving this “man-child” their imprimatur
March 26, 2025 at 12:47 pm
And today we have confirmation that the RS is going to do absolutely nothing about Musk. To my mind this is rank cowardice by an organisation that should be standing against the huge cuts that presidents Trump and Musk are appplying to US science, the impacts of which will be felt the world over for years to come. https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2025/mar/25/royal-society-decides-not-to-take-disciplinary-action-against-elon-musk