Greenfield fails to get on society shortlist

Baroness Greenfield has not been included on the shortlist for membership of the Royal Society, The Times Higher can reveal.

The Times Higher reported in February that Baroness Greenfield, a professor of physiology at Oxford University and the first female director of the Royal Institution, had been nominated. Existing fellows will vote on shortlisted candidates at the end of May.

Some fellows had threatened to resign if she was successful, arguing that her work did not merit the honour. But others said her efforts to engage the public in science made her worthy of consideration.

Fellows received a confidential copy of the shortlist for 2004 this week.

Sources have confirmed that Baroness Greenfield's name is not on this list.

The Times Higher 's columnist Nancy Rothwell, Medical Research Council research professor at Manchester University and a specialist in neuroscience, has been shortlisted.

The Royal Society's sectional committees met in January to draft longlists of candidates from 535 nominees. When pressed, a spokesperson admitted:

"The candidate in question was considered by the relevant sectional committees... in January, and the decision was taken then that she, along with the majority of other candidates, would not be placed on the longlist for this year."

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