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英国皇家学会古植物学院士与外籍院士是如何遴选的？
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古植物学的故事（编外故事）
英国皇家学会古植物学院士与外籍院士是如何遴选的？
孙启高
2010年12月1日星期三
欧美古植物学研究的历史悠久，科学积累丰富，涌现了许多杰出的古植物学家。在欧美地区，也有许多很悠久的旨在推动现代科学技术发展的国家科学院，如：英国皇家学会（成立于1660年）、德国科学院(成立于1652年，German Academy of Sciences at Leopoldina)、法兰西科学院(成立于1666年)、俄罗斯科学院（成立于1724年）、瑞典皇家科学院（成立于1739年）以及美国科学院（成立于1863）等。在我的研究项目中，我有一个工作计划想把这些科学院中的古植物学院士和外籍院士之名单整理出来。这是一项很有趣的研究，但属于吃力不讨好的工作。我已初步将英国皇家学会和美国科学院以及中国科学院的古植物学院士和外籍院士之名单整理出来了，如：《350年来与古植物学有缘的英国皇家学会院士与外籍院士（1660--2010）》，但还有很多工作要做。
现在，有一个很重要的问题摆在我们面前：这些科学院的古植物学院士与外籍院士是如何遴选出来的？这个问题不简单且极为重要，因为它涉及到科学研究的体制性问题，似乎已超出了古植物学的研究范围。我考虑将此类问题暂作为《古植物学的故事》（编外故事）。本文的问题是：英国皇家学会古植物学院士与外籍院士是如何遴选的？
英国皇家学会的历史非常悠久，已有350年的漫长历史。让我们先来看一下近一个世纪以来该学会拥有古植物学院士与外籍院士的名单：
1871
Robert Etheridge FRS (3 Dec 1819---18 Dec 1903)
Election: 8 June 1871
1894
Dunkinfield Henry Scott FRS (28 Nov 1854---29 Jan 1934)
Election date: 7 June 1894
1898
Sir Albert Charles SewardFRS (9 Oct 1863---11 April 1941)
Election date: 9 June 1898
1902
Robert Kidston FRS (29 June 1852 –13 July 1924)
Election date: 5 June 1902
1905
Francis Wall Oliver FRS (10 May 1864---14 Sep 1951)
Election date: 11 May 1905
1911
William Henry Lang FRS (12 May 1874—29 August 1960)
4 May 1911
1917
Frederick Ernest Weiss FRS (2 Nov 1865---7 Jan 1953)
Election date: 3 May 1917
1934
Hugh Hamshaw Thomas FRS (29 May 1885—30 June 1962)
Election date: 3 May 1934
1936
Birbal Sahni FRS ( 14 Nov 1891---10 April 1949)
Election date: 7 May 1936
1945
Harry Godwin FRS (9 May 1901---12 August 1985)
Election date: 22 March 1945
1948
Thomas Maxwell Harris FRS (8 Jan 1903 ---1 May 1983)
Election date: 18 March 1948
1976
William Gilbert Chaloner FRS (28 Nov. 1928--）
Election date: 18 March 1976
1996
Dianne Edwards FRS（23 Feb 1942--）
Election date: 14 March 1996
1998
Sir Peter Robert Crane FRS（18 July 1954--）
Election date: 14 May 1998
目前，英国皇家学会只有3位古植物学领域的院士(FRS)[尚无这方面的外籍院士]，他们是：William Gilbert Chaloner FRS (1976年当选）、Dianne Edwards FRS（1996年当选）和Sir Peter Robert Crane FRS（1998年当选）。最近，我写信请教Bill Chaloner教授上述问题，他回复如下：
“There are only three people who might be labelled palaeobotanists who are currently fellows of the Royal Society – Sir Peter Crane, Prof Dianne Edwards and myself. Election of any scientist to the Royal Society goes through the same routine – they need to be nominated by two scientists (who of course need to be in that field of work) and they then join a long list of candidates who are assessed by a series of ten committees, made up collectively of about 100 Fellows. Each year, the best candidates are shortlisted, and then opinions of other scientists (some from outside of Britain) are then sought of those shortlisted candidates. Finally, a list of about 50 candidates is put to the Council of the Royal Society, who then recommend some or all of these to a meeting of Fellows, who normally then elect all or most of them.
The procedure for foreign members is similar, but far fewer candidates are nominated – the expectation for attainment of international standing is pretty high for these people. We elected 44 Fellows this year and only 8 foreign members. There are no foreign members at the moment who could be labelled palaeobotanists, and I am not sure that there have ever been any!”
为了清楚地了解英国皇家学会院士与外籍院士的一般遴选程序和过程，建议访问该学会的官方网站。为了方便大家阅读，我将有关资料放在此处。如需引用，请直接引用原文，特此说明。
1. 英国皇家学会简介
2. 英国皇家学会院士与院士外籍简介
The backbone of the Society is its Fellowship, which is made up of the most eminent scientists, engineers and technologists from the UK and the Commonwealth. Fellows and Foreign Members are elected for life through a peer review process on the basis of excellence in science.
There are approximately 1,450 Fellows and Foreign Members, including more than 75 Nobel Laureates (PDF). Current Fellows include Jocelyn Bell Burnell, Richard Dawkins, Stephen Hawking, Harry Kroto, Tim Berners-Lee, Paul Nurse and John Sulston.
Individuals who are not eligible for election to the Fellowship in the conventional categories may be eligible for election as Honorary Fellows. Seven Honorary Fellows have been elected to date. Before 1996 some Fellows were also elected under the former Statute 12 arrangements.
There are currently five members of the Royal Family who have been elected as Royal Fellows. Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II is our patron.
Fellows are elected through a peer review process that culminates in a vote by existing Fellows. Each year 44 Fellows, 8 Foreign Members and up to 1 Honorary Fellow are elected from a group of over 700 candidates who are proposed by the existing Fellowship. Read the biographies of those elected in 2010.
Once elected, Fellows may use the postnominal FRS after their name, Foreign Members may use the postnominal ForMemRS after their name and Honorary Members may use the postnominal FRS after their name.
Women make up about 5 percent of the Fellowship. Over the last 10 years about 10 percent of new Fellows elected to the Royal Society have been women.
A complete listing of the Fellowship from 1660 to 2007 is available for download (PDF).
Fellows are invited to fulfil a range of responsibilities for the Society on a voluntary basis . Many are members of awards or grants committees, editorial boards, research panels or other bodies that oversee the work of the Royal Society.
Fellows have the right to stand for election as members of the Council. They may also propose or support the nomination of candidates for election to the Fellowship or Foreign Membership and the nomination of Fellows for election as Officers or members of the Council.
The Royal Society regrets to announce the deaths of these Fellows in 2010.
3. 英国皇家学会院士与院士外籍选举
Introduction
The process of electing Fellows of the Royal Society is highly thorough and results in the election each year of 44 Fellows, 8 Foreign Members and up to 1 Honorary Fellow, from a group of over 700 candidates who are proposed by the existing Fellowship.
According to the Society's statutes, candidates for election to the Fellowship must have made "a substantial contribution to the improvement of natural knowledge, including mathematics, engineering science and medical science".
Each candidate is considered on his or her own merits and can be proposed from any sector of the scientific community. Every effort is made to encourage nominations of women candidates and candidates from the emerging disciplines.
Nomination
Each candidate for the Fellowship or Foreign Membership must be nominated by two Fellows of the Royal Society, who sign a certificate of proposal. The certificate includes a statement of the principal grounds on which the proposal is being made and is available for inspection by other Fellows. The completed certificate of proposal must be received by 30 September each year.
The President of the Royal Society may additionally encourage suggestions for candidates from Vice-Chancellors of universities and Chairs and Chief Executives of Research Councils. These suggestions must also be received by 30 September each year.
The proposing Fellows are responsible for informing the candidate that he or she has been nominated. The proposers must ensure, in consultation with the candidate, that all information relevant to the nomination is up to date.
There is no limit on the number of new nominations made in any year. There were 637 candidates for election as Fellows in 2010.
Once nominated, candidates remain eligible for election for seven years. If not elected within this period, an individual may be proposed as a candidate again after a break of three years and then remains eligible for election for a period of three years. This three year cycle may be repeated without limit.
The Society does not provide details of the identities of nominated candidates to anybody outside the Fellowship, except those individuals consulted in confidence during the refereeing process.
Selection
The Council of the Royal Society oversees the selection process. Two Officers, the Biological Sciences Secretary and the Physical Sciences Secretary, are responsible for the smooth running of this process. The Council appoints ten subject area committees, known as Sectional Committees (PDF), to advise it about the selection of the list of the strongest candidates.
Each candidate is considered by the relevant Sectional Committee on the basis of a full curriculum vitae, details of their research achievements, a list of all their scientific publications and a copy of their 20 best scientific papers. Members of the Sectional Committees vote in early March each year to produce a short-list.
The final list of candidates is confirmed by the Council in April each year and a secret ballot of Fellows is held in May each year. A candidate is elected if he or she secures two-thirds of votes.
Admission
New Fellows are formally admitted to the Society at the formal Admissions Day ceremony in July, when they sign the Charter Book and the Obligation of the Fellows of the Royal Society.
The Obligation reads as follows:
"We who have hereunto subscribed, do hereby promise, that we will endeavour to promote the good of the Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, and to pursue the ends for which the same was founded; that we will carry out, as far as we are able, those actions requested of us in the name of the Council; and that we will observe the Statutes and Standing Orders of the said Society. Provided that, whensoever any of us shall signify to the President under our hands, that we desire to withdraw from the Society, we shall be free from this Obligation for the future."
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2006年英籍华裔科学家杨子恒（Yang Ziheng， Professor of UCL—University College London）当选为FRS。他的个人网页上附载有一份介绍英国皇家学会及FRS的中文资料，内容如下：
英国皇家科学院（ROYAL SOCIETY）的雏形是17世纪40年代中期兴起的 “隐形学院”。该“学院”没有固定的场所，没有固定模式，由一些志同道合的自然哲学家自发组成，不定期聚会，探讨佛朗西斯·培根的观点以及一些相关学术问题。1660年11月28日，皇家科学院正式成立。
皇家科学院院士的评选基本上每年一次，每次名额最多不超过44位。获此殊荣的都是在科学基础研究或工业及科技前沿研究方面有特殊贡献的科学家，如牛顿、达尔文等。根据遴选条件，获得“皇家科学院院士”（FRS）头衔的必须是英国公民或英联邦国家和地区的国民。皇家科学院院士的头衔是终生的，并且一旦获得该荣誉，就有权利在本人姓名后加上“FRS”字样。同时，皇家科学院也从国际上的知名科学家中遴选1-6位外国公民，授予“外籍院士”资格（Foreign Membership），其中许多是诺贝尔奖得主，比如，华人科学家、诺贝尔奖获得者杨振宁于1992年被选为“外籍院士”。“外籍院士”资格也是终生的，他们的名字后边可以加上ForMemRS字样。目前皇家科学院有1316位院士（其中20位为诺贝尔奖得主）；135位外籍院士（其中46位为诺贝尔奖得主）。
院士的评选有严格的程序。评选的主要指标是学术成就。被推荐的院士候选人必须由两位院士联合签署推荐书。推荐书必须在每年的9月30日以前提交皇家科学院。候选人的数量没有限制。一旦被提名候选，就可以保留7年候选资格，7年后没有被选中，则每3年更新一次资格。院士的评选由学院委员会（the Council）负责组织的。委员会指定10个评选分会，每个分会的成员一般不超过15位。各分会根据研究背景，将候选人分成三类：主流科学家（Mainstream），即那些在科学知识、科学思维领域有建树的学者；应用科学家（Applied science），指那些在应用科学研究中有创新的学者；一般科学家（General Science），指那些在非基础科学研究领域有贡献的学者。评选分会根据候选人的推荐信、相关资料（包括简历、学术著作、20篇学术论文复印件等）以及通过向熟悉候选人的同行私下了解情况后，在每年的1月份确定候选人初选名单（Long list）；每年3月底，各评选分会根据各候选人的学术成果强弱，形成入选名单（Short list），提交给学院委员会。4月份，委员会确认44位正式候选人名单（Final list），并将其公布给全体院士。5月份，由全体院士参加的年度选举大会匿名选出年度的44名院士及6名（或以下）外籍院士。新院士一般在每年7月份参加了入院仪式后，正式被列入院士名单。
2006年的44位院士中，牛津大学入选4位、剑桥大学6位、UCL大学3位、帝国理工大学3位。
驻英使馆教育处
2006年6月
上述中文资料出处：
特别致谢：在写作过程中得到英国皇家学会古植物学院士Bill Chaloner教授的大力帮助，特此致谢！
相关资料：
古植物学的故事（39）---350年来与古植物学有缘的英国皇家学会院士与外籍院士（1660--2010）
发表于 2010-5-24 23:43:30
[End]
院士话题
https://blog.sciencenet.cn/blog-225931-389583.html
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