Elon Musk was made a fellow of the Royal Society in 2018 but has caused anger among its members for ‘malicious’ behaviour that allegedly contravened the society’s code of conduct
Elon Musk’s controversial fellowship in the Royal Society is set to remain following a meeting of the world’s oldest scientific academy.
This comes after an open letter was last month signed by around 3,500 science experts across the world urging the scientific body to expel him. They claimed Musk’s promotion of “unfounded conspiracy theories” and “malicious” behaviour was contrary to the society’s code of conduct.
The Royal Society’s code of conduct and disciplinary regulations state: “Fellowship and foreign membership of the society is a privilege predicated on adherence to particular standards of conduct. When speaking or publicising statements in a personal capacity, fellows and foreign members must still strive to uphold the reputation of the society and those who work in it, and be mindful that what is said or stated in a personal capacity could still impact the society.”
The Royal Society released a statement after the meeting saying they agreed on the need to stand up for “necessary” science and for scientists in the face of a “threat as never before”. It added: “Concern was expressed, in particular, about the fate of colleagues in the US who are reportedly facing the prospect of losing their jobs amid threats of radical cutbacks in research funding.
“Fellows, over 150 of whom attended tonight’s meeting, were united in the need for the Society to step up its efforts to advocate for science and scientists at a time when these are under threat as never before and yet at the same time have never been more necessary for humanity at large. The Society agreed to look at potential further actions that might help make the case for science and scientific research and counter the misinformation and ideologically motivated attacks on both science and scientists.”
Musk, 53, was made a fellow in 2018, with the society noting his achievements as the CEO of Tesla, the Boring Company, SpaceX, and Neuralink. However, the open letter against Musk said his position as a fellow of the society risked undermining the institution’s international reputation as he, and US President Donald Trump, spent “the past several weeks engaged in an assault on scientific research”.
Musk has led a full-scale raid on US government spending while acting as the head of the so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). He announced on X (formerly Twitter), which he owns, that DOGE axed 89 contracts in the Department of Education worth $881million (£710m), effectively wiping out the Institute of Education Sciences, the agency’s research and statistics office.
Experts have labelled the actions as the “apocalypse of American science” and were left “dumbstruck” with fear for the future of public health. The open letter, written by Emeritus Professor Stephen Curry – who worked as a structural biologist at Imperial until he retired last year – noted: “I urge you, for the sake of decency and to offer hope in what are very troubling times, to demonstrate that the Royal Society has the courage to stand up for the scientific community and for the values that it claims to believe in.”
Last month, a Royal Society spokesperson told the Mirror that any complaints raised against its fellows are “dealt with in strict confidence”. They 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. Any issues raised in respect of individual Fellows are dealt with in strict confidence.”
