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Bylaws

Bylaws and Guidelines

In accord with the purposes and the principles of the ISHR (international) insofar as these are applicable to the European Section. In matters not otherwise covered in Bylaws and Guidelines of the ISHR (European Section), guidance should be sought in the Bylaws of the ISHR (International) (J Mol Cell Cardiol 1992;24:1203-1210).

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Membership of the ISHR (European Section) is open to all clinical or non-clinical scientists, as well as for corporate members interested in cardiovascular research. Application for membership should be sent to the President or Secretary. With the exception of Honorary Fellows of the ISHR, an annual membership fee is payable. All members in good-standing shall be eligible to vote and to hold office. Corporate membership may be held by any corporation, partnership, foundation, society, or other organization. Corporate members are non-voting. An Emeritus Member shall be designated “Emeritus Member of the International Society for Heart Research European Section” and must have been a member for a minimum of 9 years and made an appropriate request to the Secretary for cause, such as retirement, disability, hardship, etc. Emeritus Members do not pay dues, but may vote at meetings of the General Assembly.

(i) Composition

Council will comprise the elected posts of the President, President-Elect, immediate Past President, Secretary, Treasurer and the other elected Members of Council. Council will normally number 15, not less than 12 and not more than 20 members in total, the number within these limits being at Council’s discretion. The Council membership will reflect scientific excellence, different cardiovascular research interests and career stage, commitment to the Society, geographical spread, national membership numbers and Sub-Section representation.

(ii) Council Membership

The term of office for an elected member of Council is 4 years. It is not renewable. Re-election is permissible after a minimum of 4 years outside Council. New Council members will take office immediately after their election is announced, i.e. at and for the first Council meeting at the next Annual Congress of the ISHR (European Section) or ISHR World Congress if that replaces the European Section Congress.

Exception: Under exceptional circumstances, the ISHR-ES council may decide to prolong by 1 year the term of the members.

(iii) Election of Council Members

Council will select candidates for new Council members from nominations received from the general membership in advance of the Winter Council Meeting immediately preceding the vacancy. Self-nomination is permitted. Nominations shall contain a short CV and a statement of intent. Council members will receive these documents from the President or Secretary not less than 2 weeks before the Council meeting. Council will select candidates for election from the nominations, compiling a list with at least 2 more candidates than the number of vacancies. In selecting candidates for election, Council shall have regard for the necessary balance in geographical, scientific and gender representation. The general members will each have as many votes as there are vacancies, and may assign one vote to each candidate of their choice. A ballot paper, together with supporting information on the candidates nominated by Council will be distributed to all members of the ISHR (European Section), to be returned by 2 months before the Annual Congress at which the election result will be announced. Election to the Council will be by simple majority. In addition to the members so elected, the Council may co-opt further members being full members of the Society in order to fulfill the broad composition of the Council as defined in paragraph 2 (i). Co-opted members are entitled to vote at meetings of the Council. The number of co-opted members should not exceed 20% of the total members of the Council.

(iv) Officers

The officers comprise the President (normally proceeding from President-Elect), the PresidentElect, immediate Past-President, Secretary and the Treasurer. New officers will normally have had experience on the Council. Election will take place 4-6 months before the Annual Congress (i.e. before election of the required number of new Council members) and will be by simple majority of the Council. The necessary quorum will be half the total number of Council Members. If there are more than two candidates for any post then a series of votes will be held. On each round the candidate who receives fewest votes will be removed. Newly elected officers will take office at the first Council meeting of the Annual Congress of the ISHR (European Section) following their election, or immediately if filling a previously vacant post. President-Elect, President, Past President will serve for a single 2-year term. Secretary and Treasurer for a single 4-year term. The maximum term the President will serve is 4 years as a Council member, 2 years as PresidentElect, 2 years as President and 2 years as Past-President. The maximum term the Secretary will serve is 4 years as a council member and an additional 4 years as Secretary. A member shall not serve as President and Secretary (or vice versa) in succession. The maximum term the Treasurer will serve is for 4 years as a council member and an additional 4 years as Treasurer. A member shall not serve as President and Treasurer (or vice versa) in succession. Exceptionally, if the terms of offices of secretary and the treasurer are due to finish in the same year, one can be extended for an additional year to maintain continuity of offices.

(v) Meetings of the Council

Two meetings of the Council will normally be held during each Annual Congress of the ISHR (European Section). Agendas should be pre-circulated 6 weeks before the meeting. When no Annual Congress of the European Section is held, as during years in which the ISHR World Congress is held in Europe, meetings of the Council should be held during that World Congress. One full day Winter Council meeting will also be held: this will normally be in January or February with venue decided at SCM. One of the 2 meetings of the Council held at each Annual Congress may be attended in nonvoting capacity by (a) the Chairman (or his/her representative) of those national societies of cardiovascular research with whom there is a joint membership agreement with the ISHR (European Section), (b) the Congress organizer, and (c) guests invited with the agreement of all Council members present. Other meetings of the Council may be called by the President if necessary, with due notice. In the case of a tied vote by the Council, the President (or deputy) may call for a re-vote and, in the case that this is also tied; he/she will have the casting vote. Decisions of the Council will be put to the membership for ratification at the General Assembly.

(vi) Transitional arrangements

If changes to the By-laws are ratified at a given General Assembly, Council members and Officers of the Society commencing their duties at that meeting will serve the terms in place at the time they were elected, i.e. under the By-laws preceding that meeting.

The ISHR-ES Ketty Schwartz Award will be awarded to a European Researcher who has made a significant scientific contribution to cardiovascular research. Nominations for the award will be made by members of the ISHR-ES Council ahead of the ISHR-ES Winter Council Meeting (WCM), and the final selection of the awardee will be made by the ISHR-ES Council Members. When making the decision, the ISHR-ES Council should bear in mind that, over time, the Awardees should be reasonably balanced in terms of both gender and geographical diversity. The awardee will receive €1000 and will be invited to speak as a Plenary Lecturer at the next ISHRES Annual meeting (or the ISHR World Congress meeting). Nominees must be active members of the ISHR-ES at the time of nomination, be a resident of one of the countries of ISHRES (including Israel and South Africa), have not previously received an ISHR International award, and not be a current member of the ISHR-ES council. The Ketty Schwartz Award is conferred every third year (the year after the World congress).

ISHR-ES Medal of Merit The ISHR-ES Medal of Merit will be awarded to members who have made sustained and outstanding contribution to cardiovascular science. Nominations for the award will be made by members of the ISHR-ES Council ahead of the ISHR-ES Winter Council Meeting (WCM), and the final selection of the awardee will be made by the ISHR-ES Council Members. When making the decision, the ISHR-ES Council should bear in mind that, over time, the Awardees should be reasonably balanced in terms of both gender and geographical diversity. This award will be conferred at the ISHR-ES Annual Meeting by the Council. Nominees must have a history of active contribution to ISHR-ES and not be current members of the ISHR-ES Council. The awardee will be invited to participate in the subsequent ISHR-ES meeting to receive the award and the registration fee will be waived.

ISHR-ES will establish joint programs with national basic cardiovascular science societies to promote ISHR-ES in these societies. Activities will include establishing dedicated competitions, offering named prizes to the best communications in domestic societies’ meetings, providing competitive free access to domestic societies’ members for participation in the scientific ISHR-ES activities and advertising joint initiatives on the ISHR-ES communication channels.