STATUTES OF THE INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF BIOLOGICAL AND EPR RADIATION DOSIMETRY (IABERD)

Approved by the General Assembly (Hanover, US) – 7 October 2015

ARTICLE I: OBJECTIVES
The Association (IABERD) is a scientific association, established for the public benefit to advance research, development and education in the biological and EPR dosimetry applied to ionizing radiation. The IABERD is a non-profit association.
The aim of the IABERD is to stimulate and coordinate biological and EPR radiation dosimetry activities around the world, with two major objectives:
• To hold and arrange courses and meetings on matters connected to these fields;
• To promote the diffusion and exchange of information among people interested in these fields.

ARTICLE II: LOCALISATION
The headquarters of the IABERD are located at the residence of the Association President.

ARTICLE III: ORGANS
The association is composed of the three following organs:
• The Assembly ;
• The Scientific Council;
• The Executive Committee;

ARTICLE IV: ASSEMBLY
The Assembly is the supreme organ of the Association, consisting of all members of the Association. The Assembly shall make the following decisions:
• Approval of the minutes of the Assembly Meetings;
• Election of the Scientific Council for a period of six years, renewed per half;
• Approval of the yearly balance-sheet of the activities of the Association;
• Approval of the yearly accounts;
• Definition of future objectives;
• Modification of subscription rates;
• Modifications of the Statutes;
• Dissolution of the Association.
An Ordinary Assembly Meeting will take place each two years, in principle on the occasion of a Scientific Meeting of the Association. To be part of the agenda, any matter to be treated at an Assembly Meeting or any application to the Scientific Council has to be submitted to the Executive Committee in writing at least one month before the following Assembly Meeting.
Extraordinary Assembly Meetings can be convened any time by the Executive Committee, or must be organized by the Executive Committee within two months if at least one-fifth of the Members ask for it in writing.
The Executive Committee can change the agenda at anytime, but not during the fifteen days preceding the Assembly Meeting. The Executive Committee shall notify (with an agenda) all members of any Assembly Meeting, at least fifteen days in advance of any Assembly Meeting.
The Assembly is not entitled to make any decision on matters that are not on the agenda. Except as otherwise expressly provided by these Statutes, any matter to be decided by the Council shall be decided by a simple majority vote of the eligible members present at the Assembly Meeting. Only members who are in good standing (membership fees paid) shall be entitled to vote. Ordinary Members, Corporate Members and Honorary Members shall each be entitled to one vote.

ARTICLE V: EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
Subject to the Assembly, the Executive Committee shall be vested with the administration of the Association. The Executive Committee is formed by four Officers that will act as President, Vice-President, Secretary, and Treasurer, proposed by the Scientific Council among the Scientific Council members. They are all elected by the Assembly for terms which are defined as the time between EPRBioDose Meetings. The President and Vice-President will serve for a maximum of 2 terms. After the mandated term of the President, the Vice-president will become President and a new Vice-president will be elected by the Assembly based on a proposal by the Executive Committee. In the case of a resignation of the President, the Vice-President will automatically become President for the remainder of that term and for a maximum of 2 additional terms. The treasurer and the secretary must be reconfirmed in their position by the Assembly every two terms, but there is no limit on the number of terms served by the Secretary and Treasurer. As the Association is under French law, it is necessary that one Executive Committee member be a citizen of France. This could be a fifth Executive Committee member chosen from the Scientific Council.. The Executive Committee shall make decisions by a simple majority vote, but in any case by a minimum of three votes. The President’s vote will predominate in case of equality of votes. The Executive Committee shall be empowered to act on behalf of the Association and to enter into contracts in the period between meetings of the Association.
The Executive Committee is in charge of:
• The current affairs of the Association;
• Representing the Association with respect to third parties;
• Coordinating the activities of the Association and ensuring their good development;
• Summoning the Assembly Meetings;
• Making decisions relative to the admission, demission or eventual exclusion of Members of the Association;
• Taking care of the respect of the present Statutes;
• Administrating the goods of the Association;
• To appoint employees to serve the Association under its direct supervision for a specified period.
The President leads the Association and takes care of its good course.
The treasurer is responsible for financial management and the presentation of accountancy.

ARTICLE VI: SCIENTIFIC COUNCIL
The Assembly shall elect a Scientific Council for terms of three years, constituted from at least 8 members up to 20 members. The Scientific Council shall be composed of members of the IABERD, acknowledged for their scientific background in the scientific topics of the Association. Membership of the Scientific Council shall be dynamic, replacing one third of the committee every term. For the first time, the renewal of the council members is determined by draw or volunteer. Prior to each EPRBioDose meeting an announcement of the meeting will be sent to the General Assembly soliciting interest in the Scientific Council. New members will be selected from those who have submitted a proposal to the President. New members are proposed to the Assembly by the executive committee based on a proposal of the scientific committee. The General Assembly must validate the selection of new members. The new members of the Scientific Council are chosen by the members in activity in order to preserve the balance of the Scientific Council. The choice is submitted for vote to the following Assembly Meeting. Ordinarily the Executive Committee Officers will be part of this Council. Officers of the Association shall be ex officio (without vote) members of the Scientific Council.

Important considerations in the composition of the Scientific Council include:
1. International representation of all regions with significant activities in the field
2. Representation keeping the balance of the different scientific tendencies of the Association, i.e. at least about 30% of experts in biological dosimetry and 30% of experts in EPR dosimetry.
3. Representation of appropriate subfields of the areas of scientific expertise
4. Representation of national/international organizations
5. Appropriate balance of gender
6. Balance of scientists at different levels of seniority (without diminishing the requirement for excellent scientific accomplishments)

ARTICLE VII: MEMBERSHIP
The Association shall consist of Ordinary Members, Corporate Members and Honorary Members, which are any individual, company, or organization interested in sharing the Association’s objectives. Application for membership to the Association is subject to approval by the Executive Committee.
An annual Membership fee shall be paid by Ordinary and Corporate Members (Honorary Members are exempted).
Any member is free to withdraw from the Association at an Assembly Meeting provided a notice of such withdrawal has been communicated to the President or Secretary in writing at least one month before the Assembly Meeting.
The Committee shall have the power to terminate membership if a member fails his commitments towards the Association, is harmful to the Association or does not pay his subscription after a due notice has been given in writing. The member concerned can appeal against the decision to the Assembly, the decision of which shall be definitive.

ARTICLE VIII: MEETINGS OF THE ASSOCIATION

A – OVERVIEW
A Scientific Meeting of the Association shall normally be held every two or three years at a place recommended by the Scientific Council. Scientific Meetings shall also be open to non-members. Scientific Meetings of the Association shall provide opportunities for the presentation of original communications, demonstrations and symposia. The Association may also organize General Meetings not necessarily directly scientific, as far as in frame with its objectives.
In agreement with the IABERD Committee, a Scientific Meeting or a General Meeting can be organized by a Host Member in collaboration and under supervision of the IABERD Committee. The detailed arrangements for the Meeting shall be at the discretion of the Host Member, in agreement with the Executive Committee. The financial arrangements for a Scientific Meeting or a General Meeting are also the responsibility of the Host Member.

B – SCIENTIFIC MEETING SUSTAINEMENT
The IABERD shall operate solely and exclusively as a non-profit organisation with the aims of promoting, assisting in the organisation of, and ensuring the continuity of the Scientific Meeting.
The IABERD shall achieve these aims by:
• Ensuring financial security for the Scientific Meeting by underwriting the Scientific Meeting to within preset limits in the event of financial loss by the Scientific Meeting,
• Selecting the venue of each Scientific Meeting,
• Providing Start-Up Funds and Support Funds for each Scientific Meeting if requested by the Local Organising Committee,
• Providing additional assistance, where possible, as requested by the Local Organising Committee,
• Selecting or approving the members of the Scientific Advisory Committee for each Scientific Meeting and
• Selecting or approving the mode of publication, the refereeing standards and the publishers, of the Proceedings of each Scientific Meeting.

C – SCIENTIFIC MEETING VENUE
1. Proposals
(1) Criteria to be considered by the IABERD in the selection of the venue include the proposed Scientific Meeting location, the economics of participation, an appropriate local sponsoring organisation, and a proposed budget. It is desirable that potential Scientific Meeting participation be maximized and that, over the long term, the Scientific Meeting be held in different parts of the world where significant work has been carried out in the biological and EPR dosimetry fields.
(2) In all cases, a formal, written proposal for the venue of the next Scientific Meeting, transmitted to the President of the IABERD, is required.
The proposal must address the criteria noted above, and must be submitted to the President of the IABERD prior to the Assembly Meeting when announced by the IABERD. A representative of the proposed venue may give a verbal presentation of the proposal to the IABERD Scientific Council as be required by the IABERD. If, in the judgment of the IABERD, no appropriate Scientific Meeting venue proposals are received, the IABERD reserves the right to solicit specific proposals.
(3) Specific points which must be addressed in each proposal will be made available by the IABERD on request.

2. Selection
(1) The selection of the winning proposal for the venue of the next Scientific Meeting will be decided by the IABERD Scientific Council in attendance of the following Assembly Meeting approval.
(2) If no proposal is submitted or achieved in favour of any of the proposed venues, the procedure for the selection of the next Scientific Meeting venue will be decided by the IABERD Scientific Council in attendance of the following Assembly Meeting approval.

D – PROCEEDINGS PUBLICATION
1. Bids
Invitations to publishers to bid on the publication of the Proceedings of each Scientific Meeting will be made in time for the first joint meeting of the IABERD Scientific Council and the Local Organisation Committee. Bids received which were not invited will also be considered.
Aspects to be considered should include:

• Fee for the Proceedings, including mailing;
• Time schedule for publication;
• Publication of the Scientific Meeting Abstract booklet including fee and time schedule;
• Number of allowed pages and fee for exceeding the page allowance;
• Details regarding restriction of lengths of contributed and invited papers;
• Minimum number of copies of the Proceedings to be purchased by the Scientific Meeting Local Organisers;
• Number of free copies of the Proceedings;
• Details of allowed content of the Proceedings, including contributed and invited papers, Editorial, Author Index, Participant List, List of Contents, Committee Reports, etc.;
• Details of the editing and reviewing procedures.

2. Selection
The selection of the publishers and publication vehicle shall be decided during the first joint meeting of the IABERD Scientific Council and the Local Organisation Committee, excluding those IABERD members who have a conflict of interest in the outcome (e.g. employees, honorary editors or editors-in-chief, etc.) of the bidding publishers.

ARTICLE IX: FINANCES

A. INCOME
(1) The IABERD is empowered to receive financial support from donations, grants and the Scientific Meeting registration fee levy. The levy will be a portion of the registration fee for the Scientific Meeting.
The registration fee will be decided upon by the Local Committee. The amount of the levy will be decided by the IABERD in consultation with the Local Committee.
(2) The income will be used by the IABERD to raise a fund, to be kept in a designated bank account.
The IABERD’s mandate will be to maintain the IABERD’s fund at a viable amount to enable it to carry out its Objectives, as described in Article I. The ‘viable amount’ will be decided upon by the IABERD membership. It will be reviewed each year and changed, if required.

B. EXPENDITURE
(1) Underwriting: The IABERD will ensure financial security for the Scientific Meetings by underwriting the Scientific Meeting, and related activities such as training courses, to within preset limits in the event of financial loss by the Scientific Meeting. The preset limits will be set by the IABERD in consultation with the Local Committee.
(2) Start-Up Funds: Start-up funds will be provided to the Local Committee upon receipt of a written request from the Chairperson of the Local Committee to the President of the IABERD. The amount provided will be decided upon by the IABERD.
(3) Support Funds: Support funds will be provided to the Local Organisers for the express purpose of assisting young scientists, invited speakers and others to attend the Scientific Meeting, and related activities such as training courses. The request for support funds must be made in writing by the Chairperson of the Local Committee to the President of the IABERD. The criteria for selecting the awardees of the support money will be set by the Local Committee and these criteria will be made known to the IABERD. The amount provided will be decided upon by the IABERD. Additional Support Awards may be given at the discretion of the Local Committee.
(4) Mandatory Costs: Bank charges, accountants’ fees, lawyers’ fees, and other mandatory costs will be paid by the Treasurer from the IABERD bank account, as required.

C. FISCAL YEAR AND FINANCIAL REPORTING
(1) The Fiscal Year of the IABERD shall begin on September 1 and end on August 31.
(2) The Treasurer of the IABERD shall submit a detailed account of the IABERD finances (income and expenditures) to the full IABERD membership annually. At any time, however, any member of the IABERD will have the right to inspect IABERD accounts (or a detailed report of the IABERD income and expenditures), to be so provided by the Treasurer within a reasonable time of such a request.

ARTICLE X: CENTRAL FUND
In case of important profits from the incomes of the Association, there shall be formed a Central Fund. This Central Fund shall be applied to future objectives of the Association, as decided by the Executive Committee.

ARTICLE XI: ALTERATION TO THE STATUTES OF THE ASSOCIATION
The statutes of the Association may be amended, deleted, or augmented at any Assembly Meeting by a two-thirds affirmative majority vote, provided that at least two-thirds of the members are present and vote; or by an eighty-percent majority of the total votes present if less than two-thirds of the members are present and vote. If the two-thirds of the members are not present and if the eighty-percent majority is not reached, an Extraordinary Assembly Meeting can be held within three weeks and the alteration of the Statutes will be definitely rejected if not approved by at least two-thirds of the total votes.
Proposed alteration of the Statutes by Members must be notified in writing to the President or Secretary at least one month before the end of a financial year. The Secretary shall in turn notify all members of such proposals, at least fifteen days before the Assembly Meeting.
No alteration shall be made that would consistently alter the Objectives of the Association as described above in Article I.

ARTICLE XII: DISSOLUTION OF THE ASSOCIATION
The Association may be dissolved at an Assembly Meeting by a two-thirds affirmative majority vote in favour of the dissolution, provided that at least two-thirds of the members are present and vote. If the two-thirds of the members are not present, an Extraordinary Assembly Meeting can be held within three weeks, and the dissolution shall be decided by a two-third-majority vote of those present and voting, and this decision shall be definitive.
The proposal must be notified in writing to the President or Secretary, at least one month before the end of a financial year. The Secretary shall in turn notify all members of such proposals, at least fifteen days before the Assembly Meeting.
In case of dissolution of the Association, any surplus assets of the Association shall be applied, in such manner as the Assembly may decide, for charitable purposes in connection with the advancement of research and education in the biological or EPR dosimetry fields.