Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences - Members and Organization

Members and Organization

The members (at most 200 regular members younger than 65) are appointed for life by co-optation. Nominations for candidate membership by persons or organizations outside the Academy are accepted. The acceptance criterion is delivered scientific achievements. Academy membership is therefore regarded as a great honor, and prestigious. Besides regular members, there are retired members (members older than 65 years old), regular members living abroad, foreign members, and corresponding members.

The Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences has long embraced the entire field of learning. The Royal Academy comprises two departments:

• Science (mathematics, physics, astronomy, life sciences, and engineering sciences) with 110 regular members;
• Humanities and Social Sciences (humanities, law, behavioural sciences and social sciences) with 90 regular members.

Both departments have their own board. The departments, in turn, are divided into sections. The highest organ in the Academy is the general meeting of members, the united meeting of both departments. The president was Frits van Oostrom until 1 May 2008, after which he was succeeded by Robbert Dijkgraaf. Both van Oostrom in his leaving address and Dijkgraaf in his inaugural address have voiced their worries about the low level of funding in science in the Netherlands compared to almost all other western countries. In March 2012, Hans Clevers was elected president; he will take office in June 2012.