F.R.S.E.

Royal Society of Edinburgh

Arms of the Royal Society of Edinburgh
Motto	Societas Regalis Edinburgi
Established	1737 – diverged from the Royal Medical Society 1783 – received royal charter
Founder	Colin Maclaurin and Alexander Monro, primus (instrumental in founding the Philosophical Society of Edinburgh) William Cullen, Alexander Monro, secundus and William Robertson (instrumental in obtaining the royal charter)
Focus	science and technology arts humanities social science business public service
Headquarters	22–26 George Street, Edinburgh, EH2 2PQ
Location	New Town, Edinburgh, Scotland
Members	Over 1600 Fellows
Owner	Registered charity No. SC000470
President	Dame Jocelyn Bell Burnell
Chief Executive	Dr William Duncan
Key people	Prof Alan Alexander, General Secretary
Subsidiaries	RSE Scotland Foundation RSE Young Academy of Scotland
Budget	£5.9 million
Staff	34
Mission	Scotland's National Academy
Website	www.rse.org.uk
Formerly called	Philosophical Society of Edinburgh

The Royal Society of Edinburgh is Scotland's national academy of science and letters. It is a registered charity, operating on a wholly independent and non-party-political basis and providing public benefit throughout Scotland. It was established in 1783. As of 2017^[update], it has more than 1,660 Fellows.

The Society covers a broader selection of fields than the Royal Society of London including literature and history. Fellowship includes people from a wide range of disciplines – science & technology, arts, humanities, medicine, social science, business and public service.

Presidents of the Royal Society of Edinburgh have included:

The Society traditionally has more than one Vice President at any given time. Vice Presidents of the Royal Society of Edinburgh have included:

Fellowship of the Royal Society of Edinburgh is an award in its own right that entitles fellows to use of the initialism or post-nominal letters FRSE in official titles.

The Royal Medals are awarded annually, preferably to people with a Scottish connection, who have achieved distinction and international repute in either Life Sciences, Physical and Engineering Sciences, Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences or Business and Commerce. The Medals were instituted in 2000 by Queen Elizabeth II, whose permission is required to make a presentation.

Past winners include:

The Lord Kelvin Medal is the Senior Prize for Physical, Engineering and Informatics Sciences. It is awarded annually to a person who has achieved distinction nationally and internationally, and who has contributed to wider society by the accessible dissemination of research and scholarship. Winners receive a silver medal and are required to deliver a public lecture in Scotland. The award is named after William Thomson, 1st Baron Kelvin (1824–1907), who was a famous mathematical physicist and engineer, and Professor of Natural Philosophy at the University of Glasgow. Senior Prize-winners are required to have a Scottish connection but can be based anywhere in the world.