Lots of people don't want to do it': Paul Nurse on his controversial second term as Royal Society president

"Paul Nurse is a turn up for the books. A Nobel prize-winning geneticist, former director of the Francis Crick Institute and erstwhile head of Rockefeller University in the US, his CV marks him out as one of this generation's most eminent scientific figures. But his presidency of the Royal Society, a position he has taken up for a second time, makes him rarer still. No other scientist in centuries has had a second term at the head of the academy."

"The unusual nature of the appointment is not lost on Nurse, nor is the controversy it has attracted. I'm old, I'm white, I'm a man, so everything's against me. And so I didn't apply, but I was nominated anonymously by a number of people, apparently, he says. Sitting down with the Guardian at the national academy of sciences in central London, Nurse, 76, cuts an avuncular figure. But his appearance a shock of white hair and a cosy knitted jumper conceals a steely core: he has previously picked fights with influential figures who misuse scientific evidence and taken the British government to task for its handling of the Covid pandemic."

"His reappointment as society president he held the post from 2010 to 2015 has been another battle. While some fellows supported his election, others argued it was time for a female president and that Nurse's appointment gave the impression that the organisation, which was founded in 1660 and has always been headed by a man, was a boys' club. Nurse seems adamant he is the right person for the job, pointing out that, unlike in his previous presidency, there were multiple candidates and an interview. The key thing for me was that you had to get two-thirds of the fellowship to vote for you, he says. So that persuaded me that it was sort of semi-democratic. He pushes back against the view of some fellows that it is a poor reflection on the society that it could not find someone else from among its 1,500 distinguished scientists. It's not an easy position to fill, he says, noting that since the jo"

Paul Nurse, a Nobel prize-winning geneticist and former director of the Francis Crick Institute and Rockefeller University, has been reappointed president of the Royal Society for a second term. A second term at the academy is historically rare and prompted debate about diversity, with critics arguing for a female president and describing the organisation as a boys' club. Nurse did not apply and was nominated anonymously by several people. The election included multiple candidates, an interview stage, and required a two-thirds fellowship vote, which framed the result as broadly supported by the membership.

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