More than 1,700 members of the international scientific community have signed an open letter to the president of the Royal Society, Sir Adrian Smith, with signatories including Bishop, Sir Richard Peto – an eminent statistician and Royal Society fellow – and Prof Susan Michie of UCL, a behavioural scientist who became a household name during the Covid pandemic.
A spokesperson for the Royal Society said: “In the event of any concerns raised about the behaviour of a fellow, the Society has a clear set of processes described in our code of conduct, which is published on our website along with relevant disciplinary regulations.
The letter adds that the lack of comment by the Royal Society about Musk’s fellowship, other than its reiteration that concerns around individual fellows are dealt with in strict confidence, “increasingly looks like a failure of moral courage”.
Curry said he hopes the letter, as well as the recent resignations, would highlight to the Royal Society the breadth and depth of feeling within the scientific community about Musk’s fellowship.
“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.”.
