The Academy of Social Sciences (named Academy of Learned Societies for the Social Sciences until July 2007[1]) is a research body in the UK. As of February 2007[update], the Academy was composed of over 450 Academicians and 32 Learned Societies. Academicians are distinguished scholars and practitioners from academia and the public and private sectors. Most of the learned societies in the Social Sciences in the United Kingdom are represented within the Academy. Academicians are elected through peer review in an annual competition on the nomination either of constituent societies or of existing academicians; they may use the letters "AcSS" (Academician of the Social Sciences) after their name. The Academy's ambition is that the status of AcSS should confer the same kind of prestige as fellowship of the Royal Society or the British Academy; while it is some distance from reaching this goal, many of the most prominent academic social scientists in the UK are now academicians.
The Academy responds to Government and other consultations on behalf of the social science community, organises meetings about social science for practitioners and seminars on topics that span social science disciplines, and sponsors a number of schemes that promote social science and enhance its value to society. Member learned societies include organisations such as the Regional Studies Association, the Royal Town Planning Institute and the Royal Geographical Society.