Our Fellows are central to all that we do. Use these top tips when nominating candidates for Fellowship, so that we can continue to elect the brightest minds to the Academy.
Our 10-year strategy sets the ambition to evolve our Fellowship to be more reflective of the society we live in. In 2024, Black, Asian and minority ethnic researchers made up just 8% of the Fellowship, while 22% of Fellows are women. The Fellowship is regionally dominated by London, 26%, South East, 18% and East of England, 17%. To improve this, the pool of candidates we elect from must grow to include a broader diversity of thought, expertise, and backgrounds.
"Every Fellow can play a part in helping us fill the pool with excellent candidates. One way is to seek out diverse nominations from underrepresented groups. Make yourself known and visible within your institution as an Academy nominator to allow potential candidates to come to you. Keep the doors of communication open so that people can approach you to discuss nominations."
Professor David Adams FMedSci, Academy Registrar
Read more about our ‘Three sprints to 30’ campaign to build a Fellowship for the health challenges of tomorrow.
Connect with your Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) professionals in your organisation who can support you, and reach out to your internal networks for disability, race, gender, or LGBTQ+. Be aware of some of the hesitations that diverse candidates may face and how different career experiences contribute to the excellence and leadership we seek. You may wish to use our EDI principles to guide you and our Senior EDI Manager, Vivien Kintu, can help you make connections.
We have held two nominations masterclasses for Fellows to learn what makes a successful nomination. You can view the recording below.
Criteria for election is that the candidate has made an outstanding contribution to the advancement of medical science or to the application of existing scientific knowledge or understanding in an innovative way, so as to bring about advances in human health and welfare. Some candidates may also be elected for their notable leadership and management roles, or for contributing to the public understanding of medical science. Only Fellows can nominate candidates; one Fellow serves as the principal nominator, and they must be supported by two other Fellows. The election process begins in July; please see the timetable for elections in 2025-26.
The application contains a citation (made up of 4 questions), a list of 10 principal contributions, a summary of achievements, a CV, and a full list of publications. Read on for our 5 top tips on how to write these successfully so that your candidate is elected.
1. Remember that not everyone reading the application is an expert in your candidate’s work.
Your application must be accessible and understandable, as it will be reviewed by people who are not experts in the field. Don’t let too much detail be the downfall of your nomination. Make sure that it looks professional and that spelling is correct.
“My experience on the sectional committee really highlighted how excellent the people who apply are, and how difficult it is to disentangle these excellent people from each other. This emphasises the point of clarity and simplicity.”
Professor John Radford FMedSci
2. The four citation questions are the most important aspect of the nomination.
The 300-word candidate citation is now broken into four targeted questions to help understand and asses what nominees will bring to the Academy. When answering these questions think about the following:
- What would have happened had this individual not made these contributions?
- How have they changed the world as a result of their work?
- How have they benefited people, patients and healthcare?
- How will the individual be able to contribute to the Academy?
You can also make reference here to the career development of others, or the individual’s interdisciplinary work.
“These changes we’ve made to the citation are not about lowering the bar—they’re about widening the lens. We’ve worked to remove hidden barriers and create space for excellence in all its forms, so that every candidate has a fair opportunity to be recognised.”
Professor Franklin Aigbirhio FMedSci, Council EDI Champion, and Sprint Group member
3. The summary of achievements and top 10 principal contributions should link together.
While the citation questions provide key evidence of a candidate’s contribution, the summary of achievements should chart the individuals career in a compelling narrative. It should be stimulating and engaging, and as it tracks the career it should be backed up with evidence, which is the top 10 principal contributions list.
Stress your candidate’s role in each of their contributions. Be clear what your candidate’s contribution was; were they a leader or part of a team? Include a mix of areas or impacts that they have contributed to, but also some where they have clearly led.
Think of it as a lay summary. It should draw together in a simple and clear way and highlight where the candidate has made a difference to medicine and healthcare, nationally and internationally.
“It’s like reading the blurb of a novel to decide whether to read it, but there’s not one magic ingredient!”
Professor Sir Stephen Holgate FMedSci
4. Choose the sectional committee to review your candidate wisely.
There are 8 Sectional Committees who review candidates. Think carefully about which is the right committee for your candidate, particularly if they have moved from research to more of a national leadership role. For example, Sectional Committee 7 looks at leadership contributions in a broad sense; some candidates may be better placed to be reviewed here if their achievements are in policy work, even if their academic discipline would normally sit in one of the other committees.
There is an option of selecting a second committee by exception if a strong case can be made that your candidate’s work falls into the scope of more than one committee. These candidates will be discussed at the Committee Chairs meeting where final decisions will be made.
If your candidate isn’t successful in the first year they are nominated, it is possible to change the sectional committee that reviews them the next year.
5. Keep your nomination updated each year it is in the pool.
If a candidate is not successfully elected in their first year, they remain in the pool of candidates for five years. It’s possible to be elected in each of these five years; every year when Fellows are elected, there is a spread of candidates from each year that they have been in the pool. After five years the candidate will lapse for two years, during which time they cannot be elected. After this they can enter the pool again for another three years, before lapsing for two years. There is no limit to this.
It's vitally important that you update your candidate’s nomination each year. Each year we contact nominators directly to update their candidates’ details, and over 80% do so. Updating nominations may take time, but it’s time well spent. A refreshed nomination ensures reviewers can benefit from seeing your candidates’ latest achievements; a lot happens in a year and Sectional Committees need to see that.