Why Elon Musk has caused a crisis at the UK’s Royal Society

Behind the imposing doors of the world’s oldest scientific academy, the Royal Society, confidential talks have been taking place.

The gathering of 150 members on Monday evening was effectively a crisis meeting, held amid a growing campaign urging the society to expel its most controversial member – Elon Musk.

Mr Musk’s achievements earned him a fellowship of the Royal Society back in 2018.

But, over the last nine months, many scientists have raised concerns about the billionaire’s behaviour, which has been called a threat to science.

Most recently, in his senior role in President Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency (or Doge) Mr Musk has overseen unprecedented funding cuts to scientific research in the US.

He has also been accused of sharing misinformation on his social media platform, X.

The Royal Society has made no comment about Mr Musk. It described Monday’s meeting as a discussion of “the principles” around public pronouncements and behaviours of Fellows.

After the meeting, it issued a statement: “[Those who] attended tonight’s meeting were united in the need for the Society to step up its efforts to advocate for science and scientists.”

While the Royal Society has previously steered away from political comments, it added that particular concern was expressed among members who attended 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”.

This follows a statement published on the society’s website last week, saying science was “under threat” and that “ideological agendas” were being used to “suppress research, threaten academic freedom and to cut funding”.

It is 150 years since a member of the Royal Society was ejected: That was German scientist and writer, Rudolf Eric Raspe, who was accused of theft and fraud.

So the rift among the membership, caused by Mr Musk and his public pronouncements, could be an historic turning point for this most elite of scientific academies.

Two eminent scientists have resigned their fellowships in protest – Dr Dorothy Bishop of Oxford University and Prof Andrew Millar from University of Edinburgh.

Both suggested that Elon Musk’s actions were “incompatible” with the society’s own code of conduct.

More than than 3,300 scientists also put their names to a letter, written by Prof Stephen Curry, emeritus professor of structural biology at Imperial College London, who is not a fellow, that expressed “deep concern” about the billionaire’s fellowship and the society’s “continued silence and apparent inaction” with regard to the controversy.

“As a private individual, he is free to say what he likes, but as a member of this club, he has a responsibility to promote excellence and promote the pursuit of truth,” Prof Curry told the BBC.

Prof Curry has not called for Mr Musk’s removal explicitly but has said that a more open debate needs to be held.

Dr Dorothy Bishop, emeritus professor of development neuropsychology at Oxford University and the first fellow to resign over the issue, told BBC News that she complained to the Royal Society twice last year.

“On both occasions they consulted lawyers, and it may well be the case that the lawyers are concerned about the prospect of legal action,” she said.

There are more than 1,700 fellows of the Royal Society and more than 60 of them have signed Prof Curry’s letter. Many more have expressed their concern about Mr Musk’s behaviour.

But there are many academics, researchers and Royal Society fellows who do not wish to see the divisive billionaire have his membership revoked.

Nobel prize-winner, Prof Sir Andre Geim from Manchester University said: “Musk is certainly an eccentric, but his achievements beat those of any of his critics in the Royal Society. Very few can say that they achieved similar in their lives.”

Other scientists who spoke to the BBC pointed out that an attempt to remove Mr Musk’s fellowship could be seen as political interference and a curtailment of freedom of expression.

But Prof George Efstathiou, from the University of Cambridge, dismissed that argument.

Members, he said, “should at least have respect for the truth”.

“If somebody has a disregard for the truth and says things that are blatantly false, then that speaks to their ethical standards,” he added. “That’s not political.”

Fiona Fox is chief executive of the Science Media Centre, which works with journalists and scientists to promote “accurate, evidence-based information” in science coverage. She was elected as a Royal Society fellow in 2023.

Ms Fox told BBC News that she is concerned what is happening to the science community in the US, but questioned whether ejecting Musk would achieve the Royal Society’s overall aims of educating and advancing scientific research.

“There are terrifying things being done in the US – removing data sets, taking web pages down of data. This is knowledge. This is universally owned.

“There’s a climate of fear in which people are self censoring. I mean, it’s absolutely terrifying,” she said.