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In fullling our Royal Charter for the advancement of learning and useful knowledge, the Society contributes to the social, cultural and economic wellbeing of Scotland.
We benet enormously from having a Fellowship which covers the whole range of intellectual and public life in Scotland.
LORD WILSON OF TILLYORN
Presidents Foreword
In fullling our Royal Charter for the advancement of learning and useful knowledge, the Society contributes greatly to the social, cultural and economic well-being of Scotland and its people. The report that follows highlights activities during the year which helped us to achieve these objectives and have helped also to create added value. In delivering a varied programme of public activities we benet enormously from the time and expertise of a Fellowship which covers the whole range of intellectual and public life in Scotland. Our Fellows, who are based both in and outwith Scotland, give their time and expertise on a pro bono basis. This provides a public benet worth more than 0.6 million. Without this free contribution, and the support of our hard-working staff and other volunteers, we could not make the impact we do. I am extremely grateful to them all for the part they have played in helping us to continue to fulll successfully the objectives set out in our Royal Charter. During the year we continued to support research, enterprise and innovation through the award of grants. We supported, built and maintained relationships which increased Scotland's research connections internationally, including facilitating new joint projects with China, now one of the world's biggest economies. We launched a Business Innovation Forum, bringing together senior business people and academics to identify and stimulate processes that will increase investment in business innovation. We shared knowledge and understanding with more than 3,000 school pupils the length and breadth of Scotland, and with some 6,000 people who attended our wide ranging public events series. In addition to all of this, we played our part in assisting public policy decisions by providing parliamentarians with timely advice on a wide range of subjects; we contributed to the implementation of the new Curriculum for Excellence and we began a major inquiry on Facing up to Climate Change, the report of which is expected in early 2011.
Our activities create added value. The Scottish Government-supported Research Fellowship programme we operate has in recent years helped produce for Scotland more than 40 million of additional research funding; our Enterprise Fellowships programme has been the catalyst for 63 new companies, 51 of which are going concerns which have attracted 92 million investment; our contribution to the Curriculum for Excellence has produced exemplar teaching resources for Chemistry, which are being disseminated to schools across Scotland; and our advice to parliamentarians has inuenced decisions taken and the way forward in relation to a range of issues. We are proud of what we have achieved.
Last, but not least, I would like to express my sincere thanks to our funding partners for their support during the year and in previous years. The Society is very grateful indeed for this. As we look ahead, their continuing support is crucial in enabling us to contribute further to the social, cultural and economic well-being of Scotland. Without this support, our ability to do so would be much reduced.
Increasing the number of world-class science and culture researchers working in Scotland
scholarships would not have been possible without the support of BP, Lloyds TSB Foundation for Scotland, the Caledonian Research Fund and a number of bequests and legacies which we have received.
As a result of the programme, 38 individuals working in arts and humanities in Scotland have developed collaborative links with individuals and organisations they would not otherwise have been able to work with easily. It has set in motion long-term dialogue, both interdisciplinary and interinstitutional, across Scotland and beyond, involving artists, curators, art historians, librarians, archivists, scientists and research students. A CelticCossack Connections project resulted in public performances in Scotland and Russia of Prokoev's original opera War and Peace, attended by 7000 people. A grant recipient is currently preparing a paper on international law-making for the UN Security Council, with particular reference to climate change.
This research fellowship has been the single most important grant I have received in my career. It has enabled me to re-organise my group to be more productive and to contribute to the largest number of high quality scientic papers in my career.
MATT CLARKE, 2008 SUPPORT RESEARCH FELLOW
It (RSE personal fellowship) has enabled me to develop the skills needed to get a permanent lectureship position in energy materials at Heriot-Watt University. I am 100% sure that without this opportunity I would not have my current lectureship position.
JAN-WILLEM BOS, 2006 PERSONAL RESEARCH FELLOW
So what now? I meet with Boosey and Hawkes the [music] publishersto discuss publication possibilities for a denitive scholarly edition of the whole of the material for War and Peace This is what the Prokoev family would like, and they would like me to supervise this. I couldnt have hoped for a better outcome!
RITA MCALLISTER, COMMENTING ON HER CELTICCOSSACK CONNECTIONS PROJECT
accepted for conference presentations, three awardees are discussing the potential for future MoUs, joint degrees and joint PhDs, and a PhD graduate from Slovenia has received a post-doc fellowship at the University of Edinburgh.
This new international programme [TRACES] owes its start to the RSE exchange scheme and I would like to thank you very much for this support.
DR J. MURRAY ROBERTS, HERIOT-WATT UNIVERSITY, IEP OPEN PROGRAMME AWARDEE 2005 AND 2006
I found the support from the International Exchange Programme very valuable for developing my new research programme and maintaining already existing research projects.
DR YULIA VELD-MERKOULOVA, UNIVERSITY OF STIRLING, IEP OPEN PROGRAMME AWARDEE 2009 THE US AMBASSADOR TO THE UK, LOUIS B. SUSMAN, PICTURED ON HIS VISIT TO THE RSE
Sir Johns lecture was rst class, and having been so recently in post in Brussels, there was no doubt his views were both topical and relevant.
DANISH CONSULATE OFFICIAL ATTENDING THE MacCORMICK EUROPEAN LECTURE
Supporting Enterprise
With the support of Scottish Enterprise, the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) and the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC), we awarded 18 Enterprise Fellowships to encourage the commercialisation of technologybased business ideas from academic institutions into spin-out companies. The Scottish Enterprise Fellowship programme has supported 93 Enterprise Fellows over the past 13 years. In that time 63 companies have been started, with some Enterprise Fellows now on their second or third company. 51 of these companies are still going concerns which have attracted at least 92 million of investment (82 million from the private sector). A survey of all the RSE Enterprise Fellows was carried out in late 2009/early 2010 and the gures above have come from the data collected.
included leading gures from business, academia, and the public sector, as well as members of the Forum itself. The Reception was hosted by Dr Elaine Murray MSP, who welcomed the guests to the Scottish Parliament, and her introduction was followed by speeches from Lord Wilson of Tillyorn, President of the RSE, John McClelland, the RSEs Vice-President for Business and Chair of the Forum, and John Swinney MSP, Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Sustainable Growth. They all highlighted the important role the RSE can play in the area of innovation. The task of the Forum, which comprises ten senior business people and academics, is to develop strategies that will help encourage business innovation. The Forum will identify and stimulate processes that will increase business innovation and investment and indicate how appropriate strategies should be developed in Scotland. Members of the group have met and are meeting Chief Executives of leading companies to discuss what is needed to create a supportive environment for businesses to grow and innovate.
Rewarding Innovation
With the support of the Gannochy Trust, we continued to administer an annual innovation award of 50,000 which seeks to encourage and reward Scotlands young innovators for work which benets the wellbeing of Scotland and its people. Since the award began, six past winners have beneted from this. Mr Mark Webster, Chairman, The Gannochy Trust recently commented on their success. Gannochy Award winners continue to make progress in leaps and bounds, making a useful contribution to the innovative climate in Scotland and a worthwhile contribution to the economy. The RSE recently commissioned an independent evaluation of the innovation award to analyse its contribution and, where possible, strengthen its impact further. The early indications are that the award has, through its six winners at various stages of their business development, aided by an overall contribution of 600,000 from The Gannochy Trust, generated approximately 4 million of added value for the Scottish economy.
The Fellowship trained me to think like an entrepreneur; taught me to separate technology from the market; introduced me to my peer group and to inuential and successful entrepreneurs.
PROFESSOR CHRIS HILLIER, CEO OF SISTEMIC SCOTLAND LTD
DR BARBARA SPRUCE, 2003 GANNOCHY WINNER, PICTURED AT THE LAUNCH OF THE RSE'S BUSINESS INNOVATION FORUM WITH PAST AND PRESENT GANNOCHY TRUST CHAIRMEN, DR RUSSELL LEATHER (LEFT) AND MR MARK WEBSTER
The resources provided by the Royal Society of Edinburgh in terms of funding for fellowship development, networking opportunities, extensive business training in particular on IP rights, legal obligations, accounting and nance have been extremely useful. More importantly, the Fellowship has fetched me the time to bring our technology a step closer to the commercial world
ARFAN ALI, CONSULTANT AND OPERATIONS MANAGER, PETROC TECHNOLOGIES LTD
JOHN SWINNEY MSP, CABINET SECRETARY FOR FINANCE AND SUSTAINABLE GROWTH PICTURED AT THE LAUNCH OF THE RSE'S BUSINESS INNOVATION FORUM
> A Christmas lecture Facing up to Climate Change, was given by Professor Paul Jowitt FRSE, Director of the Scottish Institute of Sustainable Technology, Heriot-Watt University; President of the Institution of Civil Engineers, at Lochaber High School, Fort William. On this occasion, 77% of pupils attending felt their knowledge of how science and engineering are helping Society adapt to climate change had improved. > The RSE@Schools programme consisting of 15 talks and one workshop for S3, S5 and S6 pupils on applied science and technology. One example, Who are you?, a talk given by eminent forensic anthropologist Professor Sue Black OBE FRSE at Tobermory High School, examined the security of our identity and discussed how we can prove who we really are. 95% of those attending thought their knowledge of applied science had improved > 32 interactive Start-up Science Master classes for S1& S2 pupils in university venues around Scotland. With titles as diverse as Bagpipes and Electrons and How to be a Rocket Scientist, young people met and worked with real scientists in a university setting to inspire them to pursue science further.
> A Science Engineering and Technology (SET) Summer School consisting of 14 hands-on workshops given during a two-day and one-week event to S5 and S6 pupils in the Lothians. This is a relaxed and fun introduction to student life and includes study skills sessions to prepare the young people practically for Higher Education. 78% of those attending said they were more likely to apply to university and 94% thought their condence to handle university had grown.
Fantastic: an inspirational talk, pitched exactly right. Content was intriguing, thought provoking and very well judged to meet the needs of a mixed audience
JENNY, TEACHER, TOBERMORY HIGH SCHOOL
I dont know all the answers but its got me thinking. These talks were really good, I enjoyed them
PUPIL ATTENDING THE DARWIN 200 DISCUSSION FORUM
Yesterday was a very successful day all round and very worthwhile. Thanks very much for everything
HEAD TEACHER, LOCHABER HIGH SCHOOL ATTENDING THE RSE CHRISTMAS LECTURE
Enhancing the publics appreciation and understanding of science and culture issues
A More Informed and Knowledgeable Public
Our wide-ranging public events series of lectures, conferences and discussions reached out to almost 6,000 people. The series comprised 37 events, including a programme of 12 lectures as part of the Edinburgh International Festival. Amongst the other highlights of the series were:
Niels Bohr and the German Werner Heisenberg. As friends, they had collaborated on major developments in quantum theory and were later ensnared in work to produce an atomic bomb, but World War II placed them on opposite sides. On 23 April, the RSE presented the lm The Strangest Dream, which told the story of Joseph Rotblat, the history of nuclear weapons and the efforts of the Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs an international movement Rotblat co-founded to halt nuclear proliferation.
On 24 April, the author of Copenhagen, Michael Frayn, presented a talk at the RSE on The After-effects of Copenhagen. Following Frayns talk, Muriel Romanes (Artistic Director, Stellar Quines) directed guests of the RSE as they read excerpts from Operation Epsilon readings from The Farm Hall Transcripts which had inspired Copenhagen. Afterwards, a panel discussion brought together eminent individuals to discuss the conversations of Heisenberg and the other German scientists, following their capture and internment at Farm Hall near the end of World War II, whilst exploring the underlying science and the full implications in more detail.
HRH Prince El Hassan bin Talal HonFRSE Inching Towards Peace: A New International Humanitarian Order
In this Edinburgh Lecture, HRH Prince El Hassan bin Talal called for a humanitarian approach to address the problems facing the world and, in particular, the West AsiaNorth Africa (WANA) region. Covering areas including climate change, nuclear weapons, water and oil, HRH said that the human aspect must not be ignored. Violence and disaster, natural and man-made, are daily news, but what can we, as individuals, do to prevent them or at least mitigate their effects? How can we get at the roots of what goes wrong and change what grows from them? These were the questions posed by HRH Prince El Hassan bin Talal in his rst lecture as an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. His talk was the RSEs contribution to the prestigious Edinburgh Lectures series. It outlined the problems facing the world today, suggested how these should be tackled, and ended with a plea to the RSE and to Scotland more widely to work together to address them.
Energy
Scotland has an opportunity to realise its great renewable energy potential while developing other low carbon technologies and the required infrastructure. In this ECRR Peter Wilson Lecture, Professor Jim McDonald FREng FRSE, Principal, University of Strathclyde, argued that the nation could lead the world in creating an energy industry for the 21st Century.
a number of Scottish contacts for future work were made, particularly on the eld trip
ATTENDEE AT THE SCOTTISH AQUACULTURE CONFERENCE
I found the information very useful for expanding my knowledge for teaching Advanced Higher Biology. Thank you!
TEACHER ATTENDING THE HENSLOW'S LEGACY, DARWIN'S INHERITANCE LECTURE
Many aspects of the problem and the measures taken in the ght against malaria were new to me, and the clear and full explanation of all aspects certainly extended my knowledge.
ATTENDEE AT THE MALARIA, MOSQUITOES AND MODELS LECTURE
Yes, I learned so much from the lecture; about the grid, the state of renewable energy research in Scotland and its implication for Europe, potential economic benets, new power ow strategies such as smart grids.
ATTENDEE AT THE ENERGY LECTURE
Our Inuence
Our submissions on climate change encouraged MSPs to set the challenging emission reduction targets in the Climate Change (Scotland) Act. MSPs were receiving many recommendations over this Act, but the intervention of the RSE from the work of an expert team of scientists was signicant in advising the Scottish Parliament that an ambitious programme of emission reductions was both achievable and recommended on the latest scientic analysis.
The Royal Society of Edinburgh warned us that, given that we are in a recession, we should not assume that any decrease in emissions has happened as a result of the good things that we are doing in the Parliament; it might have happened because of the recession. Secondly, as we climb out of recession, there is a danger that the trends that we saw before the recession will pick up again. There is a real warning for us to look at the detail and to work harder on emission reductions.
SARAH BOYACK, MSP, CLIMATE CHANGE (S) BILL STAGE 1 DEBATE 7 MAY 2009
Thank you for sending us a copy of the RSEs submission of evidence on the Alcohol etc (Scotland) Bill. Bruce (Ritson) was in the ofce yesterday and he asked me to let you know that he thought the RSE response was excellent, as did I. We recognise that the input of such an august scientic body as the RSE to alcohol debate is very valuable, and we much appreciate it.
PETRINA MACNAUGHTON, PROJECT OFFICER, SCOTTISH HEALTH ACTION ON ALCOHOL PROBLEMS
Many thanks for sending me the information at rst reading it is the best thought through response to the Creative Scotland element of the Bill, so thank you and well done.
KEN HAY, CHIEF EXECUTIVE, SCOTTISH SCREEN
Recognising excellence
Royal Medals
His Royal Highness The Duke of Edinburgh presented Royal Medals to three individuals at a ceremony held at the RSE in August 2009. The medals were recommended to the RSE Council in recognition of intellectual endeavour which has impacted on the lives of other people, and were approved by the RSE Patron, Her Majesty The Queen. The medallists were Sir James Mirrlees FBA, HonFRSE for his outstanding contribution to economic theory; Professor Wilson Sibbett CBE FRS FRSE for his outstanding contribution to physics and science in Scotland; and Professor Karen Vousden FRS FRSE FMedSci for her outstanding contribution to cancer research.
elds. The annual award includes a US $20,000 honorarium a gold medal and certicate. In 2009 the award went to Professor Alberto Sangiovanni-Vincentelli FIEEE in recognition of his pioneering innovation and leadership in Electronic Design Innovation. Professor Sangiovanni-Vincentelli received the gold medal from His Royal Highness The Duke of Edinburgh in August 2009.
Each year, new Fellows are invited to attend an Induction Day, at which they are given an overview of the Society and furnished with more details about the role of the Fellowship. The day also provides an opportunity for the new Fellows to meet members of Council, the Executive Board and RSE staff, as well as being formally admitted to the Society.
New Fellows
Recognised by their peer groups as having achieved excellence within their discipline or profession, we announced, in March 2010, the election of 48 new Fellows three Honorary Fellows, ve Corresponding Fellows and 40 Ordinary Fellows. The addition of these new Fellows brought our Fellowship up to 1,503. Our Fellows are encouraged to support our mission of advancing learning and useful knowledge and to contribute to the many activities reported on in the previous pages; for example, the provision of expert policy advice to Government and Parliament, outreach education programmes for young people, and public engagement events, including conferences and discussion forums.
RSE PRESIDENT, LORD WILSON OF TILLYORN, PICTURED WITH DR LYNN DRUMMOND AT THE NEW FELLOWS' INDUCTION DAY, MAY 2009
HRH THE DUKE OF EDINBURGH AND LORD WILSON OF TILLYORN PICTURED AT THE 2009 JAMES CLERK MAXWELL AWARD CEREMONY WITH THE WINNER, PROFESSOR ALBERTO SANGIOVANNI-VINCENTELLI AND MEMBERS OF HIS FAMILY
HRH THE DUKE OF EDINBURGH PICTURED AT THE PRESENTATION OF THE 2009 ROYAL MEDALS WITH ONE OF THE AWARDEES, PROFESSOR WILSON SIBBETT
Reaching out
Spreading Scientic Corporate Friends Knowledge Worldwide In 2009 the RSE created a corporate
We published our highly esteemed scientic journals: three issues of Earth and Environmental Science Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, distributed worldwide to 350 libraries and academies and six issues of Proceedings of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Section A: Mathematics, distributed worldwide to 500 libraries and academies. Our Journals have a broad international spread in terms of their author and subscriber base, their distribution to the Americas, Europe, Australasia and Asia, and the peer-review process that draws on an international bank of referees and editors. The ve-year impact factors for our Journals (a measure of the frequency with which the average article in a journal has been cited in a particular year) show us that Transactions ranks 18 in 35 related journals worldwide in the subject category Palaeontology and 83 in 125 related journals in the subject category Geosciences, Multidisciplinary whilst Proceedings A ranks 52 in 189 related journals worldwide in the subject category Mathematics. (Source: Journal Citation Reports, Thomson Reuters, Sep 2009) We also published our Science Scotland magazine on the subject of Life Sciences; distributed across the UK and worldwide to more than 2,500 people and available on the Science Scotland website. The website is being accessed by people in 70 countries and had 8,000 unique visitors last year. engagement initiative entitled Friends of the Society. Carefully selected, prominent organisations were invited to join the scheme, which was established to develop closer relations with key business organisations in Scotland. The project will provide the RSE and its corporate partners with a platform to explore areas of potential mutual interest, and we anticipate that a number of benecial projects will be developed over time. Through membership, the Friends of the Society receive a number of benets, including access to several annual Friends events at which the partner organisations can meet with key members of the RSE and each other. During the review period, April 2009 March 2010 several organisations accepted the RSEs invitation to become Friends of the Society Aegon UK, BP, Lloyds Banking Group, RBS, Scottish Enterprise, Scottish Power, Shell and Wood Group. They have been, and will be, joined in the future by others as further invitations are extended. learn more about us. Opening our doors in these ways enables us to broaden our reach and we are continually exploring how we can improve the visitor experience.
Financial Review
Total incoming resources were 5.29 m (2009 6.76m). Excluding the 2.16m legacy in 2009, income increased by 15%, mainly attributable to the increase in funding for the Enterprise Fellowships and the Scottish Government Research Fellowships. Total resources expended also increased by 15%. Grants in support of research and innovation made up the major part of this increase, rising from 2.67m to 3.64m. This reected the increase in Enterprise Fellowships and an increased number of Scottish Government Research Fellows appointed. Expenditure on international research connections and inuencing public policy also increased, the latter due to an increase in staff. Despite the increased activity, governance and management costs were reduced from last year and now represent less than 3% of total income. The outcome was a revenue decit of 62,000. The budget expectation had been for a larger decit, reecting the additional requirement for expenditure committed by the CRF trustees before the RSE acquired CRF, and planned expenditure on
new computer systems. The improvement against budget came mainly from careful control of costs and management of cash resources. Offsetting the revenue decit were investment gains of 0.34m realised in the year and 2.87m unrealised at the year end. The net movement on funds for the year after an FRS17 pension scheme adjustment of 607,000 was 2.54m. In the prevailing external nancial conditions, the RSEs continuing strategy of diversication of income and tight control of expenditure is essential. The Councils aim of building relationships with a view to working in partnership is progressing in respect of the corporate sector through the Friends of the Society, and good foundations have been laid in the initial year. To highlight the importance of individual giving, a legacy brochure is being prepared not all can contribute as much as the legacy from Dr Harold Thomas received in 2009, but even the smallest amount is put to good use. The future of public sector funding is uncertain, but our scenario planning for the next spending review period is well advanced.
The delivery of the RSEs varied programme of activities with public benet outcomes will be guided by the priorities set by Council to ensure continuing nancial stability. In challenging times the RSE continues to seek new opportunities and develop existing activities, to help Scotland to ourish and achieve sustainable economic growth, and to promote Scotlands national identity. To support its programmes, the RSE draws upon the considerable strengths and varied expertise of its Fellows across a very wide range of disciplines. Where opportunities arise, activities are also delivered in partnership with or supported by others, a key partner being the Scottish Government. The value added by Fellows and supporters in enabling the achievement of the strategic objectives is recognised and much appreciated by the Council.
Financial Review
Income and expenditure
General Fund 000 Grants, donations and legacies, rental and investment income Incoming resources from charitable activities Total incoming resources Cost of generating funds Charitable activities Governance Total resources expended Net incoming resources 264 61 325 (188) (201) (115) (504) (179) Designated funds 000 132 132 (10) (105) (115) 17 Restricted income 000 3,562 3,562 (3,562) (3,562) Restricted funds 000 960 314 1274 (70) (1,065) (39) (1,174) 100 2010 total 000 1,356 3,937 5,293 (268) (4,933) (154) (5,355) (62) 2009 total 000 3,376 3,387 6,763 (252) (4,246) (157) (4,655) 2,108
The gures above have been extracted from the audited accounts for the period ended 31 March 2010 which carried an unqualied audit report. The full Trustees Report and audited accounts are obtainable in hard copy from 22 26 George Street, Edinburgh EH2 2PQ or on the RSE website www.royalsoced.org.uk.
Financial Review
Income by source (000)
Rental and investment income Operating income from activities Scottish Government Research funding Scottish Government Other activities Research Councils and Scottish Enterprise Charitable trusts Companies Individuals Fellows
500
1000
1500
2000
2500
Costs of generating funds Sustaining and utilising Fellowship Supporting world-class researchers Innovation and business Public appreciation of science & culture International connections Informing & inuencing public decisions Scottish Bioinformatics Forum Promoting science as career Governance
500
1000
1500
2000
2500
The Society is registered in Scotland as Scottish Charity No. SC000470 The RSE Scotland Foundation is a connected charity, registered in Scotland as Scottish Charity No. SC024636 Inland Revenue Claim Board Reference CR 18102
The Royal Society of Edinburgh is Scotlands national academy. Founded in 1783, its Fellowship includes some of the best intellectual talent in academia, the professions and business. It facilitates public debate, research programmes, educational projects and strategy formulation. Its strength is its diversity and impartiality. The Societys unique multi-disciplinary approach enables it to draw from and link with a broad spectrum of expertise to advance the understanding of globally-important issues. In fulfilling its Royal Charter for the advancement of learning and useful knowledge, the RSE is seeking to contribute to the social, cultural and economic wellbeing of Scotland.
The Royal Society of Edinburgh 22 26 George Street Edinburgh EH2 2PQ T F E W 0131 240 5000 0131 240 5024 rse@royalsoced.org.uk www.royalsoced.org.uk
The Royal Society of Edinburgh is registered in Scotland as Scottish Charity No. SC000470 The RSE Scotland Foundation is a connected charity, registered in Scotland as Scottish Charity No. SC024636 ISSN 1742-1810 This document is printed on 100% recycled paper