Over 1,700 members of the international scientific community have signed an open letter addressed to Sir Adrian Smith, President of the Royal Society, expressing concerns over Elon Musk's fellowship. The letter, prompted by the Royal Society's silence on the matter, highlights Musk's controversial comments and recent role within a Trump administration. Stephen Curry, an emeritus professor of structural biology at Imperial College London, voiced frustration over the society's inaction despite being aware of these concerns for more than six months.
The letter includes signatories such as Bishop, Sir Richard Peto, and Prof Susan Michie of University College London. It asserts that Musk's new position is exacerbating the seriousness of the situation. Concerns have been raised particularly about censorship in climate science, and the society has been criticized for not addressing Musk's incendiary comments. Prof Dorothy Bishop from the University of Oxford and Andrew Millar from the University of Edinburgh have both resigned their fellowships due to the Royal Society's lack of response.
The Royal Society has established a code of conduct detailing processes for addressing concerns about fellows' behavior. This code is publicly accessible on their website, along with disciplinary regulations. However, the society has been accused of failing to act in accordance with these principles, as highlighted by Curry's statement:
“Everybody can see what Musk has said and what he’s doing as head of Doge, and the Royal Society, which claims to have a strong voice for science within the UK, but actually, even on the international stage, has said absolutely nothing.” – Stephen Curry
Furthermore, Curry questioned the inconsistency between Musk's actions and the society's values:
“I am at a loss to understand how these actions are consistent with a code of conduct that requires fellows to have ‘due regard for the statement of values developed from time to time by [the Royal] Society’,” – Stephen Curry
Curry also highlighted Musk's alleged assault on scientific research in the US:
“has over the past several weeks engaged in an assault on scientific research in the US that has fallen foul of federal courts” – Stephen Curry
The Royal Society has stated that it manages concerns regarding individual fellows with strict confidentiality. However, this approach has been criticized as lacking moral courage:
“increasingly looks like a failure of moral courage” – Stephen Curry
To address these issues, a meeting of the Fellowship of the Royal Society is scheduled for March 3rd. The agenda includes discussing principles surrounding public pronouncements and fellows' behavior. Despite claiming a strong voice for science within the UK, the society's handling of the Musk situation has faced international criticism.