TRUSTEES’ REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 1 Trustees’ report and financial statements For the year ended 31 March 2014 2 TRUSTEES’ REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS Trustees Executive Director The Trustees of the Society are the Dr Julie Maxton members of its Council, who are elected Statutory Auditor by and from the Fellowship. Council is Deloitte LLP chaired by the President of the Society. Abbots House During 2013/14, the members of Council Abbey Street were as follows: Reading President RG1 3BD Sir Paul Nurse Bankers Treasurer The Royal Bank of Scotland Professor Anthony Cheetham 1 Princess Street London Biological Secretary EC2R 8BP Sir John Skehel** Dame Jean Thomas DBE* Investment Managers Rathbone Brothers PLC Physical Secretary 1 Curzon Street Sir John Pethica London Foreign Secretary W1J 5FB Professor Martyn Poliakoff CBE Internal Auditors PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP Members of Council Cornwall Court Professor Gillian Bates * 19 Cornwall Street Sir John Beddington CMG Birmingham Professor Geoffrey Boulton OBE B3 2DT Professor Andrea Brand ** Dr Simon Campbell * Professor Michael Cates ** Professor John Collinge * Registered Charity Number 207043 Dame Athene Donald DBE Professor Carlos Frenk Registered address Dame Wendy Hall DBE ** 6 – 9 Carlton House Terrace Professor Alexander Halliday * London SW1Y 5AG Professor Judith Howard * Dame Frances Kirwan DBE royalsociety.org Professor Ottoline Leyser CBE Dr Robin Lovell-Badge * Professor Angela McLean ** Professor Georgina Mace CBE ** Professor Roger Owen Professor Timothy Pedley Dame Nancy Rothwell DBE ** Professor Nicholas Tonks * Professor John Wood * Up to 29 November 2013 ** From 29 November 2013 TRUSTEES’ REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 3 Contents President’s foreword ................................................................................................. 4 Executive Director’s report ......................................................................................... 5 Trustees’ report ........................................................................................................ 7 Promoting science and its benefits ......................................................................... 9 Recognising excellence in science ....................................................................... 23 Supporting outstanding science ........................................................................... 31 Providing scientific advice for policy ...................................................................... 41 Fostering international and global cooperation ........................................................47 Education and public engagement ....................................................................... 55 Fundraising and development: support fot the Royal Society ........................................ 65 Financial review ..................................................................................................... 69 Governance ........................................................................................................... 76 Independent auditor’s report to the Council of the Royal Society ................................... 80 Consolidated statement of financial activities ............................................................. 82 Consolidated balance sheet ..................................................................................... 84 Consolidated cash flow statement ............................................................................ 85 Accounting policies ................................................................................................ 87 Notes to the financial statements .............................................................................. 93 Cover Jellyfish, Aurelia aurita, swimming in a water tank: image from the Limits of perception exhibit, part of the Royal Society Summer Science Exhibition 2014, exploring imaging techniques of the future. 4 TRUSTEES’ REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS President’s foreword Science is central to modern life. It is at the Science is a global activity and the Society’s heart of our culture and is recognised as the relations with China have developed key to sustainable long term economic growth. significantly this year. In September 2013, The Royal Society, as the national academy of I visited China with the purpose of building UK science, has a responsibility to ensure that on current scientific collaboration between our the importance of science is recognised. two countries. Highlights included a meeting with Madame Liu Yandong, Vice Premier of the Our position is based on the strength of People’s Republic of China and the admittance our Fellowship and I am delighted that the of Professor Chen Zhu to the Royal Society Fellowship Programme, launched in 2012, Foreign Membership. The latter took place continued to flourish, providing opportunities in the Great Hall of the People – an example for Fellows to discuss science with each other of a very rare case of the ceremony taking and Royal Society business with myself and place outside of London. A Memorandum other Officers of the Society. This has taken of Understanding was agreed with the me to places including Canada, Australia, Chinese Academy of Sciences recognising Singapore, India, Belfast, Dublin, Glasgow, the importance of free enquiry in science Norwich, Exeter, Nottingham and Edinburgh and encouraging future collaborations. We to discuss topics as varied as elections to the have also been working with our government Fellowship, public engagement with science, to secure funding for such future scientific climate change, scientific misconduct and collaborations. funding for science. At home, the Society continues to champion The achievements of the Fellowship have not the value of research to the UK’s economy. We gone unnoticed on the world stage, with Peter worked closely with the Academy of Medical Higgs being awarded the 2013 Nobel Prize for Sciences, the British Academy and the Royal Physics. Foreign Member Randy Sheckman Academy of Engineering throughout the year was also recognised, receiving the 2013 Nobel to engage the government as it considered Prize for Physiology and Medicine along with future public spending decisions. I believe that Yakov Sinai who was awarded the Abel Prize. our joint statement entitled Fuelling prosperity We also made our own awards and I was (published in April 2013) was instrumental in delighted that Andre Geim received the delivering a spending review settlement for Copley Medal for his work on graphene. science that compared well to most areas of public spending. We continue to make the Unfortunately the news has not all been good. case for investment in science. In February we were saddened by the death of Lorna Casselton, the Society’s Foreign Secretary between 2006 and 2011. She will be greatly missed. Paul Nurse President of the Royal Society TRUSTEES’ REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 5 Executive Director’s report The Royal Society recognises the importance In February 2014, the Society announced the of science to many areas of policy making and launch of a new journal, Royal Society Open this year climate science has been an area of Science, the first to cover the entire range of particular focus. The US National Academy science and mathematics. Royal Society Open of Sciences (NAS) and Royal Society joint Science incorporates ‘objective’ peer review statement on climate science was published in – publishing all articles which are scientifically February 2014, receiving extensive coverage sound and of good quality. across social and traditional media. The During the year, the Society established a publication of the statement reinforces the new Public Engagement Committee under Society’s work on climate science since the the Chair of Professor Russell Foster FRS, to launch of the Intergovernmental Panel on promote science as a key element in the cultural Climate Change (IPCC) report in September and economic life of the nation. Many of the 2013, including a scientific discussion meeting contemporary science issues affecting society Next steps in climate science, organised by are the subject of Royal Society policy reports Brian Hoskins FRS, which brought together lead and one of the aims of the public engagement authors of the IPCC report and other experts strategy is to discuss more evidence-based in the field. A major ongoing Society project on policy topics with the public, an approach Human resilience to climate change is analysing reflected by the publication of the Society’s joint how ecosystem-based approaches can be statement on climate science with the NAS. effectively used to build resilience to climate change impacts and the full report will be The Royal Society is committed to promoting available in 2015. diversity in UK science, technology, engineering, mathematics and medicine and is a signatory The Society’s international ambitions are to the Department for Business, Innovation and prominent in its Strategic Plan, which commits Skills Women into Technology and Engineering the Society to extend the reach, scale, visibility Compact. The compact was launched in May and impact of current international activities. 2014, almost exactly on the fiftieth anniversary of Under the UK’s G8 Presidency, the Society Dorothy Hodgkin FRS winning the Nobel Prize hosted a unique meeting of G8 Science for Chemistry. At the time she was only the third Ministers and Academy Presidents in June 2013. woman to win the prize and