A vision for Venki: where next for the Royal Society?

This week, Sir Venki Ramakrishnan takes over one of the biggest jobs in British science, as incoming president of the Royal Society. We asked his fellow Fellows what they hope to see during Venki's five years at the helm.

With a roll-call of predecessors that stretches back to the 17th century and includes Samuel Pepys, Isaac Newton, Joseph Banks and Ernest Rutherford, the presidency of the Royal Society is one of the most prestigious - and daunting - jobs in British science. This week, as the society celebrates its 355th birthday, Sir Venki Ramakrishnan takes over from Sir Paul Nurse, as its 62nd president.

Sir Venki is currently deputy director of the MRC Laboratory for Molecular Biology (LMB) and a fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge. A biochemist, Venki studies how genetic information is translated by the ribosome to make proteins, and the action of antibiotics on this process. Together with Tom Steitz and Ada Yonath, he was awarded the Nobel Prize for chemistry in 2009.