How do you become a Fellow?

To be eligible for election, nominees need to meet our definition of a Fellow:

A demonstrable record of excellence and achievement in an academic discipline or having made a distinguished contribution to the world of learning in the professional world.

A particular connection with Wales (for example a resident of Wales or of Welsh birth).

No. Whilst many of our Fellows are professors, a nominee does not need to be an academic, and an academic nominee does not need to be a professor.  The key question we consider is whether a nominee demonstrates an excellent contribution to the world of knowledge. We actively encourage nominations from a wide range of sectors and strongly believe in the importance of contributions to knowledge from outside of universities.

Nominations must be submitted by Fellows of the Learned Society of Wales. They work closely with the nominee to present the best evidence of their case.

Fellows and nominees do NOT need to be from the same organisation or discipline.
Please see the next point to help identify a Fellow to be a proposer.

We recognise the relationship between a Fellow and the nominee is an important one and want to support you to find the right person to work with.

Alternatively, please contact our Fellowship Officer Stanislava Sofrenić who will assist you.

Visit our ‘Current Fellows’ page to view a searchable list to check if you already know a Fellow. You are encouraged to directly contact anyone you know and ask if they would consider nominating you.

If you are linked to a Welsh university, please contact your Cenhadon who can also provide guidance.

The closing date is 31 October 2025.

In addition to the nomination forms completed by the ‘proposer’ (Fellow) and nominee, we also seek ‘reviews’ from independent peers. All of this information is then considered by an elected committee of relevant peers. These are known as scrutiny committees. You can view a list of these committees and their members here.

You can view our paperwork and guidance here.

Forms and guidance information are on the website in both Welsh and English.

Paperwork is received by the Fellowship Officer who collates the nominations for each Scrutiny Committee to view.
The Scrutiny Committee you chose to apply to will review and discuss your nomination. The Vice Presidents oversee the process in order to provide feedback but are not part of the Scrutiny Committee discussions.
In addition to your nomination forms, you also have the option to submit a confidential ‘Individual Circumstances’ form that is only considered by the Chair of the Scrutiny Committee and the detail of this is not shared with the rest of the Committee (read our Privacy Policy).

We contact all nominees to inform them of the result of the process in April each year.

If an individual has been elected, they will be sent information on orientation, welcome and how to get involved in the Society.

If an individual is not elected, we will contact them to let them know, to encourage them to consider being re-nominated and to offer time with one of our Vice Presidents to receive feedback on how they can strengthen their case in the future.

Not all our Fellows are elected the first time they were nominated and there are many reasons for this. There is no limit to the number of times an individual can be nominated, as long as the correct paperwork is submitted each year.

This is not a fixed number – the number varies annually. In recent years we have received between 40 – 80 per year.

Around 40-60, but that is not a fixed number, and we do not have an annual cap on how many people may be elected. Election decision is based on the evidence presented by the nominee, as well as independent assessment of their case and the final ballot of Fellows.

We are actively committed to making the Society, and our Fellowship, more welcoming and inclusive. We strive for a more diverse Fellowship, with increased membership from all under-represented groups. At present, we have a particular focus on increasing nominations of women and people from an ethnic minority background. Find out more about our approach here.

We know that the gender balance of the Fellowship is not equal and so we are actively working to increase the number of women nominated each year. We work directly with Fellows and organisations to raise the profile of Fellowship among women, offer support sessions directly to women and encourage our Fellows to nominate more women each year.

We are not currently able to analyse the diversity of our Fellowship beyond gender, but we do recognise that people from an ethnic minority background are generally underrepresented. For the last two years, positive action has led to an increase in the number of people nominated and elected to Fellowship from an ethnic minority background and we continue to focus on developing this further.

• Get involved!

We encourage all our Fellows to actively engage with the Society. Our strategic direction is governed by our Fellows, our policy work invites expert Fellowship input, and our Early Career Researchers are supported by our Fellows. There are a many ways a Fellow can choose to get involved with time commitments varying depending on individual availability and aspiration.

• Contribute to the financial stability of the Charity:

New Fellows pay an admission fee of £90. There is also an annual subscription fee of £180.

We want to ensure that our admission and membership fees are never a barrier to Fellowship. We operate a Fee reduction or waiver policy for Fellows whose circumstances make it difficult to cover the fees. As a nominee, you can make a pre-emptive application, and we will let you know prior to nomination whether it has been granted.

The fee reduces to £90 for those aged over 70 at the beginning of each society year. Those aged over 85 are exempt from admission and subscription fees.

Contact Stanislava Sofrenić, Fellowship Officer.