Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences

The goals of the academy are:

To be a forum where researchers meet across subject boundaries,
To offer a unique environment for research,
To provide support to younger researchers,
To reward outstanding research efforts,
To communicate internationally among scientists,
To advance the case for science within society and to influence research policy priorities
To stimulate interest in mathematics and science in school, and
To disseminate and popularize scientific information in various forms.

Every year, the academy awards the Nobel Prizes in physics and chemistry, the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel, the Crafoord Prize, the Sjöberg Prize and several other awards. The academy maintains close relations with foreign academies, learned societies and international scientific organizations and also promotes international scientific cooperation. The Academy of Sciences is located within the Stockholm region's Royal National City Park.

Prizes

Notable international prizes

Nobel Prizes in Physics and in Chemistry
Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel
Crafoord Prizes in astronomy and mathematics, geosciences, biosciences (with an emphasis on ecology), and polyarthritis (for example rheumatoid arthritis)
Sjöberg Prize for research in cancer
Rolf Schock Prizes in logic and philosophy, mathematics, visual arts and musical arts
Gregori Aminoff Prize in crystallography
Gold Medal for Radiation Protection

Notable national prizes

Göran Gustafsson Prize for research in chemistry, mathematics, molecular biology, medicine and physics
Ingvar Lindqvist Prizes for teachers in the fields of physics, chemistry, biology, mathematics and natural sciences
Tage Erlander Prize "for research in natural sciences and technology" in four fields (physics, chemistry, technology and biology)

3 more chapters are free with a Lably account.

Members

The academy has elected about 1,700 Swedish and 1,200 foreign members since it was founded in 1739. Today, the academy has about 480 Swedish and 175 foreign members which are divided into ten "classes", representing ten various scientific disciplines:

Mathematics
Astronomy and space science
Physics
Chemistry
Geosciences
Biosciences
Medical sciences
Engineering sciences
Social sciences
Humanities and "for outstanding services to science"

List of secretaries general

The following persons have served as permanent secretaries of the academy:

Anders Johan von Höpken, 1739–1740, 1740–1741
Augustin Ehrensvärd, April – June 1740
Jacob Faggot, 1741–1744
Pehr Elvius, 1744–1749
Pehr Wilhelm Wargentin, 1749–1783
Johan Carl Wilcke and Henrik Nicander, 1784–1796
Daniel Melanderhjelm and Henrik Nicander, 1796–1803
Jöns Svanberg and Carl Gustaf Sjöstén 1803–1808; Sjöstén was removed 1808 for negligence of his duties
Jöns Svanberg, 1809–1811
Olof Swartz, 1811–1818
Jöns Jacob Berzelius, 1818–1848
Peter Fredrik Wahlberg, 1848–1866
Georg Lindhagen, 1866–1901
Christopher Aurivillius, 1901–1923
Henrik Gustaf Söderbaum, 1923–1933
Henning Pleijel, 1933–1943
Arne Westgren, 1943–1959
Erik Rudberg, 1959–1972
Carl Gustaf Bernhard, 1973–1980
Tord Ganelius, 1981–1989
Carl-Olof Jacobson, 1989–1997
Erling Norrby, 1997–30 June 2003
Gunnar Öquist, 1 July 2003 – 30 June 2010
Staffan Normark, 1 July 2010 – 30 June 2015
Göran K. Hansson, 1 July 2015 – 31 December 2021
Hans Ellegren, 1 January 2022 – 31 December 2025
Ellen Moons, 1 January 2026 – present

History

The academy was founded on 2 June 1739 by naturalist Carl Linnaeus, mercantilist Jonas Alströmer, mechanical engineer Mårten Triewald, civil servants Sten Carl Bielke and Carl Wilhelm Cederhielm, and statesman/author Anders Johan von Höpken.

The purpose of the academy was to focus on practically useful knowledge, and to publish in Swedish in order to widely disseminate the academy's findings. The academy was intended to be different from the Royal Society of Sciences in Uppsala, which had been founded in 1719 and published in Latin. The location close to the commercial activities in Sweden's capital (which unlike Uppsala did not have a university at this time) was also intentional. The academy was modeled after the Royal Society of London and Academie Royale des Sciences in Paris, France, which some of the founding members were familiar with.