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European Geosciences Union

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EGU best practices

11 March 2022

Table of contents

  1. Preamble
  2. Best practices for the management of the Union
    1. EGU Council
    2. EGU committees
    3. EGU divisions
    4. EGU budget
  3. Best practices for the EGU awards and medals
    1. The composition of the EGU awards and medals committees
    2. Nomination procedures for Union and division awards and medals
    3. Selection of candidates and confidentiality
    4. Application procedures for an OSPP Award
  4. Best practices for EGU committees, groups, and Early Career Scientists
    1. Publications Committee
    2. Outreach Committee
    3. Topical Events Committee
    4. Education Committee
    5. Programme Committee
    6. Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion Committee
    7. Finance Committee
    8. Early Career Scientists network

1. Preamble

The functioning of the EGU - European Geosciences Union e.V. (EGU) is regulated by its statutes and by-laws. The EGU best practices provide details on the functioning of the Union and its bodies, in compliance with its statutes and by-laws.

2. Best practices for the management of the Union

2.1. EGU Council

The Council is the decision-making body in the Union. The EGU recommends that the composition of Council is representative of the diversity of the scientific community. Council consists of the president (chair), vice-president, general secretary, treasurer, division presidents, the Early Career Scientists (ECS) Union Representative and the executive secretary as an ex-officio member. Chairs of the EGU committees and office staff members are normally invited to the Council meetings as ex-officio members. The incoming division presidents and the incoming Union ECS Representative are invited to participate in one Council meeting as ex-officio members before their terms start.

The Council can vote by simple majority either by an open vote at its meetings, by a closed vote at its meetings (on request), or through electronic voting between Council meetings (circular or parallel procedures). The Council has a quorum requiring that at least 50% of the voting members are present.

Elections of Council members are carried out through an electronic voting system.

The EGU Council members may meet in person or virtually. The agenda for Council meetings is made available to Council members at least two weeks in advance. Key information is also made available to Council members one week prior to the meeting.

The EGU President

The term of the president is four years: one year as vice-president (president-elect), then two years as president, and the final fourth year as retiring vice-president. The president is not eligible for re-election.

The president is the chief elected officer of the Union, and as such shall:

The president may delegate responsibilities to other members of the Union.

The EGU Executive Secretary, the EGU General Secretary, and the EGU Treasurer

The terms of the general secretary and the treasurer are two years and renewable.

The EGU executive secretary is proposed by the president and approved by Council. Their term can be terminated at any time.

The EGU Executive Board

The EGU Executive Board consists of the president, vice-president, general secretary, treasurer, and the executive secretary as an ex-officio member. The executive board is responsible for managing the association pursuant to its statutes.

2.2. EGU committees

The EGU has Union-wide committees that are in charge of organising selected Union activities. The EGU recommends that the composition of committees is representative of the diversity of the scientific community. Committees report to the Council. The terms of the chairs and the committee members appointed by Council are two years renewable once. An exception is the Publications Committee, where the term of the chair is three years renewable once, and the terms of the members are defined by their editorial duties.

The EGU committees are:

Selection procedure for vacancies of members of committees, including chairs

The composition of the various committees is defined in the by-laws, and further details are given in the best practices of each committee below. Members of the Outreach Committee, Topical Events Committee, and Education Committee share the same selection procedure for their members, which is organised as follows:

(A) EGU committees open to EGU Council members only

When there is a vacancy in an EGU committee composed of only EGU Council members, either due to an early resignation of a committee member or the end of their term of office, the committee chair informs the EGU executive secretary about this open position. The committee chair may also indicate possible successors for this position and/or required qualifications. The executive secretary then informs the EGU Council about this vacancy and the required qualifications via the Council forum. The committee chair then works with the executive secretary to collect/solicit applications and propose nominations to the Union president for Council appointment at the following Council meeting. A similar approach is taken if the chair of a committee resigns or reaches the end of their term of office; in this case, the Union president nominates a candidate after following the above procedure.

(B) EGU committees composed of both Council and non-Council members

When there is a vacancy in an EGU committee composed of both non-Council and Council members, a two-way approach can be taken to replace the outgoing member. If the EGU Council decides that the member to be elected should be part of the Council, the approach described in (A) should be followed. Vacancies for non-Council members should be publicly announced on the EGU website, and EGU should actively solicit and review applications from the broader EGU community. The committee chair and the executive secretary collaborate to collect the applications and seek feedback from the respective committee members to evaluate the incoming applications before the Union president nominates potential candidates to Council, which votes on the new composition of the committee. The outcome of this selection process should be publicly announced on the EGU website. It is recommended that the procedure should be completed within a time frame of six weeks.

2.3. EGU divisions

EGU has divisions that represent a scientific area or discipline. Divisions can be created and terminated by Council decision as needed. The EGU recommends that division officers are representative of the diversity of the scientific community.

Division presidents are each elected for a two-year term and can be re-elected once. The maximum duration of a term is thus four years. Each division president-elect serves as the division deputy president until the start of their presidential term. Candidates for division president are sought according to the following procedure:

The internal structure of the divisions can be decided by each division and does not need to be similar between divisions. However, each division should have a named contact person for (1) the General Assembly (the programme group chair), (2) EGU journals, (3) outreach activities, (4) division medals and/or awards, if any, and (5) ECS activities. In addition, divisions must have at least one deputy president and may have scientific secretaries and other officers as they see fit. The division officers and their roles within the division are publicised on the EGU website.

The internal organisation of each division is decided by the division at the annual division meeting during the General Assembly.

The division officers are selected to serve for two years and presented for approval at the annual division meeting. Positions are renewable. Division medal committee members are also selected to serve one year renewable three times. They are presented and approved at the annual division meeting. Council is then informed for the final approval of the composition of medal committees.

Division meetings are organised annually during the General Assembly and presided over by the division president or their delegate. Division presidents, or persons designated by the division president for this purpose, should advertise the division meeting before and during the General Assembly. Division meetings are open to all interested General Assembly participants. The agenda of the division meeting should consist of, at a minimum:

Division meeting reports are submitted by the division presidents to the EGU executive secretary within two weeks after the end of the General Assembly.

2.4. EGU budget

The EGU budget takes into account the foreseen incomes generated mainly by the membership fees and by cooperation and license contracts with third parties. The EGU budget distributes funding for activities that are in line with the EGU strategy as defined by the Council.

Budget items could include, but are not limited to:

Best practices for the EGU awards and medals

EGU awards and medals recognise eminent scientists, regardless of their career stage, for their outstanding research contributions in the Earth, planetary, and space sciences or to outreach as well as outstanding journalists who report on Earth, planetary, or space sciences.

The purposes of the EGU awards and medals programme are also to:

A list of the EGU awards and medals is published on the EGU website.

To increase diversity in the group of EGU awardees and medallists, EGU encourages the membership to consider diversity with a broad perspective when nominating outstanding Earth, planetary, and space scientists at all career stages.

Each award and medal has a award/medal committee, which works under the Union Awards Committee (UAC). Each award/medal committee consists of members who work together to assess the nominations.

The Council makes all final decisions regarding EGU awards and medals recipients.

3.1. The composition of the EGU awards and medals committees

The EGU recommends that the composition of each Union award and medal committee is representative of the diversity of the scientific community. Past medallists and ECS can be included in the awards and medals committees.

Composition of the Union Awards Committee

The chair of the UAC is appointed by the Council for a period of two years, renewable once. Members of the UAC are the chair, the president, the vice-president, the general secretary, the executive secretary, and the treasurer of EGU.

Composition of the Union medals committees

The chair of each Union medal committee is appointed by the Council. The term is one year and can be renewed three times. The Council appoints a minimum of four additional members. Committee members can include past Union or division medallists. They should, however, include at least one member who is not a past medallist. Additionally, the chair of the UAC is an ex-officio member. The term of the committee members is one year and can be renewed three times. One member of the committee should be replaced each year.

The role of the chair of each committee includes bringing in the knowledge of the community and maintaining continuity. The role of the members is to bring in their knowledge of the community and their expertise. The role of the chair of the UAC is to ensure contact with the Council and that the Union’s best practices are followed. In case a new medal is established, a transitional committee should be formed.

Composition of the division medals committees

The chair of each division medal committee is nominated and discussed at the annual division meeting and appointed by the Council. The term of the chair is one year and can be renewed three times.

The division medal committee includes at least three additional members. Members can be past medallists. At least one member should not be a past medallist. Members shall be approved at the division annual meeting and formally appointed by the Council. Their term is one year and can be renewed three times. The division president and the chair of the UAC are ex-officio members.

One member of the committee is replaced each year. The role of the chair of the medal committee and the division president includes bringing in their knowledge of the community. The role of the chair of the UAC is to ensure contact with the Council. In case a new medal is established, a transitional committee should be formed.

Composition of the Arne Richter Awards for Outstanding Early Career Scientists Committee

The committee is annually formed by the division presidents and is chaired by the chair of the UAC.

Composition of the Katia and Maurice Krafft Award Committee

The committee is formed by at least two members with recognised experience in geoscience outreach and at least one other member. Nominations for members are discussed by the Outreach Committee and appointed by the Council. Term of members is one year and can be renewed three times.

Composition of the Union Service Award Committee

The committee is formed by the UAC and is chaired by the chair of the UAC.

Composition of the Division Outstanding Early Career Scientists (ECS) Awards Committees

The committee is formed by the division president (chair) and additional members that can be nominated by the relevant division. The term of the additional members is one year and can be renewed three times.

Composition of the Angela Croome Award Committee

The committee is formed by at least two journalists and at least one other member. Nominations for members are discussed by the Outreach Committee and appointed by the Council. Term of members is one year and can be renewed three times.

Composition of the Champion(s) for Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Award Committee

The jury shall be composed of two current members of the EGU EDI committee one of which will be the Chair of this award committee (Champion(s) for Equality, Diversity and Inclusion), one member of the EGU Executive Board, one member from the EGU Council, one ECS member and two external EGU members. One of the EDI Co-Chairs will be an ex-officio member of the committee. The jury should be a diverse group with different demographic backgrounds that collectively represent the diversity of our EGU membership. The term of a jury member is one year that can be renewed three additional times. One-third of the committee should be replaced annually.

3.2. Nomination procedures for Union and division awards and medals

A person is eligible to receive one EGU/EUG/EGS medal only once in their lifetime, except for the Union medals, which can be assigned only once to any person, including previous division medal awardees. With regards to ECS, any candidate who complies with the Early Career Scientist definition is eligible to receive one outstanding ECS award in their lifetime. This can be either the Arne Richter Award for ECS or a Division ECS Award.

All past EGU awardees and medallists are eligible for the Katia and Maurice Krafft Award, provided they have not previously received it. The same applies to the Union Service Award.

Moreover, the following individuals are not eligible to be candidates for awards and/or medals during their terms of service and one year after the term is finished (meaning that the nomination for these individuals cannot be accepted during the year their term ended, but can be accepted the subsequent year):

Similarly, members of the awards and medals committees are not eligible for that award/medal in the year they step down as committee members and the following year (term of committee members ends during the General Assembly when the award is conferred). Their nomination can only be accepted from the third nomination period after they leave the committee.

Recipients of EGU (including EUG and EGS) awards, with the exception of the Katia and Maurice Krafft Award, the Union Service Award, and the Angela Croome Award, cannot receive a lower-level recognition afterwards from the EGU (e.g., a recipient of a Union medal cannot receive a division medal).

It is possible to award recognition shared between individuals: in this case, the relevant recognition will not subsequently be awarded for as many years as the number of recipients exceeds one. Any candidate can be nominated for only one EGU medal or award each year. An ECS can be nominated for the division ECS award for one division only per year.

Awards and medals committee members, including ex-officio members, cannot submit nominations or write support letters for the awards or medals for which they are serving.

Nominations for all awards and medals are to be submitted online by the stipulated deadline (usually in June) of each year. Only EGU members can submit nominations for EGU medals and awards except for the Angela Croome Award. Proposals are then forwarded to the chair of the relevant award or medal committee. Nominations for EGU awards and medals are not automatically renewed for the subsequent year. A person can receive only one EGU medal or award each year. Self-nominations are not accepted except for the Angela Croome Award.

For the Angela Croome Award, nominations by both EGU members and non-members are accepted and self-nomination is possible. Past recipients are not eligible.

Nominations should include the following items and written in the English language:

Nominations for the Union and division medals

Nominations for the Katia and Maurice Krafft Award

Nominations for the Union Service Award

Nominations for the Outstanding ECS awards

Nominations for the Angela Croome Award

Nominations for the Champion(s) for Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Award

3.3. Selection of candidates and confidentiality

Award and medal committees exclusively discuss and vote on the Union forums, and otherwise by email while keeping the chair of the UAC in carbon copy. If virtual meetings are organised, the minutes must be made available on the forum. The vote of the chair of the individual award or medal committee prevails in case of parity. Award and medal committee chairs and members are expected to keep strict confidentiality on the discussion that leads to the selection of the winners. The outcome of the selection by the award and medal committee is to be kept strictly confidential until Council approves the entire list of winners and the decision has been communicated to the winners.

Policy for conflict of interest

Any EGU award or medal is selected through a rigorous assessment of the candidates and their merits. The EGU Council, the award and medal committee members, and the Union and division officers are committed to soliciting the nomination of deserving individuals by avoiding conflicts of interest. Awards and medals may not be conferred in a given year if high-quality nominations are not received.

Candidates for the Union and division awards and medals are evaluated by the respective awards and medals committees before final approval by the Council.

If only one nomination is received for a Union or division medal, the UAC will assess the merits of the candidate and may seek the help of external peers to ensure that the candidate is high profile and deserving. The EGU reserves the right to not confer the medal when there is only one nomination. The assessment made by the UAC is approved by Council before medals are conferred.

Awards and medals committees must prevent conflicts of interest during the selection procedure. Awards and medals committee members should declare at the beginning of the selection procedure if they have any personal and/or professional relationship with any candidate, including:

It is the responsibility of the chair of the award/medal committee to reveal any possible conflict of interest to the chair of the UAC.

The chair of the UAC, after consultation with the chair of the relevant award/medal committee, may decide to exclude an award/medal committee member from the consultation if the personal and/or professional relationship with any nominee is deemed to have a potential impact on the selection of candidates.

Members of awards and medals committees and the chair of the UAC may for other reasons determine that there are potential conflicts that require elimination from service in a committee.

Selection procedures

Awards and medals winners are selected according to the following procedures:

The president will then inform the awardees and medallists appropriately and will invite them to the next EGU General Assembly, where the awards and medals will be presented. The EGU office, on behalf of the chair of the EGU Awards and Medal Committee and the EGU president, will take all necessary actions for inviting the Union and division awardees and medallists to give an award/medal lecture at the General Assembly. In parallel, the Programme Committee of the next EGU General Assembly incorporates the corresponding potential award/medal lectures into the overall programme of the meeting, either as stand-alone lectures or as invited contributions in selected sessions.

The Arne Richter Awards for Outstanding ECS, the Union Service Award, and the Union medals are presented by the president during the EGU Awards Ceremony at the General Assembly, while the division medals are presented by the respective division presidents at the beginning of the medal lectures in question. The Union and division medallists, as well as the recipients of the Union Service Award, the Arne Richter Awards for Outstanding ECS, the division ECS, and the Krafft, Croome and Champion(s) for Equality, Diversity and Inclusion awards are introduced during the EGU Awards Ceremony. The presentation of the division ECS, the Krafft, and the Croome awards takes place at the beginning of the corresponding award lecture.

3.4. Application procedures for an OSPP Award

The Union presents a number of special awards, including the Outstanding Student and PhD candidate Presentation (OSPP) Award. The division OSPP Co-ordinators are nominated by the relevant division president and approved during the annual division meeting. The Council nominates an EGU OSPP Award Co-ordinator to supervise the programme groups’ OSPP Co-ordinators.

Criteria for application

Eligibility for the Outstanding Student and PhD candidate Presentation (OSPP) Award is limited to participants who:

Please note that each first author can register only one abstract (poster or PICO) for the OSPP contest at the General Assembly.

Application procedure

With the letter of schedule, authors are informed about the final form of their presentation: oral, poster, or PICO. In case of poster or PICO, students fulfilling the above criteria can register for OSPP by selecting the respective link in the letter of schedule. In case of more than one poster and/or PICO presentation as a first author, students are asked to decide which presentation should be included in the OSPP contest. The student names are then forwarded to the OSPP Co-ordinators of the respective programme group. Authors receive a confirmation email after the OSPP registration deadline (which is about two weeks after the letter of schedule).

Selection procedure

Candidates for the OSPP award attach the OSPP label (blue PNG, yellow PNG) to their presentation material.

In addition, they can download a QR code of their online presentation page at the bottom of that page and include the QR code in their PICO or poster presentation.

In case that a judge was not able to attend the PICO or poster presentation, the uploaded supplementary material may be reverted to in exceptional cases. It is therefore mandatory for all OSPP participants to upload supplementary material file(s).

The OSPP Co-ordinator of each programme group informs all OSPP Contact Conveners about the OSPP abstracts to be judged in their session and asks them to nominate at least three judges for each presentation before the meeting. The conveners should obtain prior consent from the judges or select judges from the list of volunteers provided in the OSPP Nominator Tool. Conveners are explicitly invited to nominate themselves as judges within their session as long as they are not conflicted.

Evaluation forms for each OSPP presentation will then be made available to all judges via a personal link to the OSPP online system. These forms include a number of criteria to be evaluated by the judges. Criteria include the scientific quality of the presentation, the design, and the student’s ability to answer questions, with marks given from 0 to 10.

The judges evaluate the presentations at the General Assembly during the poster session or the PICO viewing time, respectively. Note that the two-minute presentation of PICOs is not part of the award evaluation. Each judge is expected to interact with the applicant during the poster/PICO session because this both guarantees some extra attendance and because the applicant’s ability to describe and defend their work is part of the OSPP evaluation criteria. The judges are asked to work confidentially. The judges then fill in the evaluation forms online.

In addition, all registered EGU participants are invited to vote on OSPP presentations, as long as they are neither BSc or MSc students or PhD candidates themselves, are not participating in OSPP, are not a co-author of the presentation, and do not share the same affiliation as the first author. The link to the evaluation form is directly available on the online presentation page for easy access.

After the General Assembly, each programme group’s OSPP Co-ordinator proposes a ranking among all the participating posters and PICOs (one combined list) in the programme group based on average marks that are automatically compiled from all evaluation forms and based on diversity criteria. The number of awards in each division should depend on the quality and the number of participating presentations that year. In general, the number of awards should be small to keep the contest competitive and the award a special distinction. The OSPP Co-ordinator and the division president decide on the awards based on the ranking no later than two months after the General Assembly.

Please confer the OSPP overview page for possible changes in the contest regulations for this year.

Award presentation

Each awardee is notified by the EGU OSPP Award Co-ordinator. Awardees are asked to submit a short statement on affiliation and research interests (two to three sentences), a portrait photo, and their PICO presentation or a PDF of their poster to the EGU Office. The information is published on the EGU OSPP Awards section of the website. The awardees receive a conference fee waiver for the next EGU General Assembly and are invited to submit a paper (of which the awardee is first author) free of publication costs to one of the EGU journals. At the respective division meeting held at the next General Assembly, each awardee receives an award certificate.

4. Best practices for EGU committees, groups, and Early Career Scientists

4.1. Publications Committee

Objectives

The main objective of the Publications Committee is to support the scientific mission of the Union by facilitating timely scientific publications according to the highest scientific and ethical standards. Specific objectives include ensuring the efficient operation of existing EGU journals and other scientific publishing outlets of the EGU (book series, web servers, etc.) and co-ordinating the proposal of new journals and other publication outlets.

Membership and terms of office

The Publications Committee consists of a chair and the chief/executive editors of the EGU journals. Representatives of the EGU Executive Board (president, vice-president, treasurer, general secretary, executive secretary) and of the publisher(s) (one per company) are ex-officio members.

The chair is suggested by the Publications Committee to the EGU President for approval by the Council. The Council appoints the Publications Committee Chair for a term of three years. Re-appointments are possible, but the number of consecutive terms is limited to two. The EGU executive secretary notifies the appointed chair on behalf of the EGU.

Members of the Publications Committee are the journal executive committee members, who are appointed by the Council. Nominations of new committee members are made by the current journal executive committees to the Publications Committee.

Nomination proposals should demonstrate that the candidate

In addition, nomination criteria include

The Publications Committee evaluates the nominations and proposes suitable candidates to the Council for final approval for a term of five years. Re-appointments as well as shortenings of terms are possible subject to publication performance, re-evaluation by the Publications Committee, and approval by the Council. The EGU executive secretary notifies the appointed/dismissed journal executive committee member on behalf of the EGU.

Authorities and duties

The tasks and responsibilities of the Publications Committee comprise the co-ordination of existing and new publications, the nomination of chief/executive editors for approval by the Council, and the discussion of publication budgets and service charges. Adjustment of service charges and the provision of financial support for individual publications are proposed by the Publications Committee for approval by the Council.

Practices and procedures

The Publications Committee typically conducts in-person meetings at least twice a year. During these meetings, the chief/executive editors report on the status of each EGU journal, exchange information and best practices related to journal management, and discuss any issues that have arisen. The publisher reports on the financial health of the journals and technical aspects related to the editorial system. In addition to the in-person meetings, the Publications Committee interacts frequently via its dedicated EGU forum.

To address specific tasks or issues raised during the Committee’s meetings, task teams consisting of a subset of the committee can be formed. These task teams typically produce a detailed proposal to address the issue at hand, which is then presented to the entire committee for discussion.

The Publications Committee reports, via its chair, to the Council. This includes written reports after in-person meetings of the committee and more informal reports during meetings and teleconferences.

Editorial boards

Each EGU journal is governed by an editorial board, which is responsible for the efficient operation of the journal and for maintaining high scientific and ethical standards. Each editorial board consists of two or more chief/executive editors and a much larger number of topical/associate editors who are appointed by the chief/executive editors for a term of three years. Re-appointments as well as shortenings of terms are possible subject to publication and editor performance. The chief/executive editors inform the EGU executive secretary and publisher of changes in editorial board membership. Any member of the scientific community can be nominated or self-nominate for membership on an editorial board.

4.2. Outreach Committee

The Outreach Committee co-ordinates the outreach activities of the EGU. The scope of these activities includes, but is not limited to, those stated in by-laws 1.5 and 1.6 of the Union, and is defined as follows:

Target groups

Membership and nomination

The Outreach Committee is constituted as follows:

Terms of office

The Outreach Committee Chair has a two-year term, renewable once. The terms of voting committee members are two years, renewable once. Past chairs of the committee can serve one two-year term as a committee member after their final term as chair.

Authority and duties of the committee and its members

The Outreach Committee monitors, co-ordinates, and facilitates the outreach activities of the Union. It takes instructions from, and reports to, the Council. The objectives and activities of the committee are defined by the committee in dialogue with Council and are to be approved by Council before relevant action is undertaken. To help the committee achieve its objectives, it can avail itself of a working budget, to be approved annually by the Council.

The committee chair is responsible for the proper and efficient management and functioning of the committee and its activities, providing support and supervision to the members of the committee, and representing the committee elsewhere. To help discharge these duties, the chair may appoint a deputy and a committee secretary and delegate responsibilities.

Appointed committee members have the responsibility to support the committee chair in their tasks. They may be charged with individual tasks and responsibilities, especially when these fall within their field of competence or expertise. They report to the committee.

Ex-officio committee members may advise and inform committee activities but are not normally expected to take on tasks other than those that fall within the remit of their principal office within the Union.

Committee decisions require a simple majority vote of the appointed members who are present. When the votes on each side of a decision are equally balanced, the vote of the chair prevails. A quorum of 50% of appointed membership votes is required for any committee decision to be valid. Voting is by show of hands, when the committee is in session, and by forum at other times. Ex-officio committee members do not have the right to vote on committee decisions. However, it is customary that the chair allows the ex-officio members to indicate their position on a decision in the same way as voting members of the committee.

Meetings

The EGU Outreach Committee meets at least twice per year, typically before the autumn session of the Council and during the General Assembly of the Union. The objective of these meetings is to monitor, co-ordinate, and facilitate ongoing outreach activities of the Union and to define and realise future outreach activities and initiatives. Further meetings of the committee or its task groups can be called as the need arises. Where possible, these additional meetings may be conducted using remote communication tools.

Reporting

The committee submits a written report to the EGU Council at least once per year. This report must contain an essential summary of the outreach activities undertaken in the current annual cycle and their outcomes, and a proposal for activities in the next annual cycle with the required financial, logistic, and administrative support. The report is to be submitted to the EGU general secretary in time for inclusion in the agenda of the autumn session of the EGU Council. In addition, oral reports are given at each Council meeting and a short, written report may be given if required.

4.3. Topical Events Committee

Objectives

In addition to the General Assembly, EGU can organise and/or support conferences and training schools. The EGU meetings programme is dedicated to the pursuit of progress in all areas of the Earth, planetary, and space sciences through the co-sponsoring of meetings. The Topical Events Committee oversees the meetings programme of the EGU apart from the General Assembly.

These events may receive support from the EGU, but the financial risk and responsibility lies with the main organiser of the conference, with the exception of the Galileo Conferences.

The portfolio of EGU meeting programme includes:

Proposals for financial support of events are sought by open calls. The deadlines for applications are at the end of February and 15 August for the Galileo Conferences and the Training Schools/Conference Series, respectively.

The Topical Events Committee reviews the proposals and presents them to the Council at the autumn Council meeting.

The Topical Events Committee approves the events within its budget approved by the Council.

Target groups

The EGU topical events are open to members of the Union as well as to other geoscientists who are not Union members. The applicants must be EGU members.

Membership and nomination

The Topical Events Committee is constituted as follows:

Terms of office

The committee chair has a two-year term, renewable once. The terms of voting committee members are two years, renewable once. Past chairs of the committee can serve one two-year term as a committee member after their final term as chair.

Authority and duties of the committee and its members

The Topical Events Committee co-ordinates the meetings programme of the EGU apart from the General Assembly. The committee reviews the events in the Conference series and the Training schools series every four years. It suggests removing existing events in the series and including new ones based on proposals from the EGU membership.

Galileo Conferences, co-sponsored training schools, and new conferences and Training schools series are selected based on an open call on the EGU website. Proposals are then assigned to committee members who seek at least two reviews for each proposal. Based on the reviews, the committee members rank the proposals assigned to them. Based on the rankings, the committee chair then prepares a list of the proposals to be funded and circulates it for consultation to the committee members. The number of funded proposals depends on the budget approved annually by Council in autumn. After possible consolidation by the committee, the committee chair forwards the final list of proposals to be funded to the EGU office for implementation. The Committee can co-ordinate other meetings when instructed by the EGU Council.

The Topical Events Committee takes instructions from, and reports to, the EGU Council. The objectives and activities of the committee are defined by the committee, in dialogue with Council, and are to be approved by Council before relevant action is undertaken.

The committee chair is responsible for the proper and efficient management and functioning of the committee and its activities, providing support and supervision to the members of the committee, and representing the committee elsewhere. To help discharge these duties, the chair appoints a deputy and may appoint a Committee secretary and delegate responsibilities.

Appointed committee members have the responsibility to support the committee chair in their tasks. They may be charged with individual tasks and responsibilities, especially when these fall within their field of competence or expertise. They report to the committee.

Ex-officio committee members may advise and inform committee activities but are not normally expected to take on tasks other than those that fall within the remit of their principal office within the Union.

Committee decisions require a simple majority vote of the present appointed members. When the votes on each side of a decision are equally balanced, the vote of the chair prevails. A quorum of 50% of appointed membership votes is required for any committee decision to be valid. Voting is by show of hands, when the Committee is in session, and by forum at other times. Ex-officio committee members do not have the right to vote on committee decisions. However, it is customary that the chair allows the ex-officio members to indicate their position on a decision in the same way as voting members of the committee.

Meetings

The Committee meets at least twice per year. The objective of these meetings is to monitor, co-ordinate, and facilitate events in the EGU meetings programme. Further meetings of the committee or its working parties can be called as the need arises. If feasible, these additional meetings may be conducted by remote communication tools.

Reporting

The committee submits a written report to the EGU Council at least once per year. This report must contain an essential summary of the meeting programme and other activities undertaken in the current annual cycle and their outcomes, and a proposal for the meeting programme and other activities in the next annual cycle with the required financial (budget), logistic, and administrative support. The report is to be submitted to the EGU general secretary in time for inclusion in the agenda of the autumn session of the EGU Council. In addition, oral reports are given at each Council meeting, and a short, written report may be given if required.

4.4. Education Committee

Objectives

The Education Committee organises the educational activities of the EGU. The scope of these activities includes, but is not limited to, those stated in by-laws 1.5 and 1.6 of the Union, and is defined as follows:

Target groups

Educators across Europe and beyond, particularly:

Membership and nomination

The Education Committee is to be constituted as follows:

Terms of office

The committee chair has a two-year term, renewable twice. The term of committee members is two years.

Authority and duties of the committee and its members

The Education Committee monitors, organises, and facilitates the educational activities of the Union. It takes instructions from, and reports to, the EGU Council. The objectives and activities of the committee are defined by the committee, in dialogue with Council, and are approved by Council before relevant action is undertaken. To help the committee achieve its objectives, it can avail itself of a working budget, to be approved annually by the EGU Council.

The committee chair is responsible for the proper and efficient management and functioning of the committee and its activities, providing support and supervision to the members of the committee, and representing the committee elsewhere. To help discharge these duties, the chair may appoint a deputy and a committee secretary and delegate responsibilities.

Appointed and co-opted committee members have the responsibility to support the committee chair in their tasks. They may be charged with individual tasks and responsibilities, especially when these fall within their field of competence or expertise. They report to the committee.

Committee decisions require a simple majority vote of the appointed members who are present. When the votes on each side of a decision are equally balanced, the vote of the chair prevails. Voting is by show of hands or by secret ballot, when the group meets either in-person or virtually, and by forum at other times. Ex-officio members do not have the right to vote on committee decisions. However, it is customary that the chair allows the ex-officio members to indicate their position on a decision in the same way as voting members of the committee.

Ex-officio committee members may advise and inform committee activities but are not normally expected to take on tasks other than those that fall within the remit of their principal office within the Union.

The committee maintains the education pages of the EGU website with the support of EGU office staff. It uploads information relating to each GIFT workshop to make this available widely. Further relevant information is uploaded as appropriate.

Meetings

The Committee normally meets at least twice per year, usually before the autumn session of the EGU Council and during the General Assembly of the Union. The objective of these meetings is to monitor, co-ordinate, and facilitate the ongoing educational activities of the Union and to define and realise future educational activities and initiatives. Further meetings of the committee or its working parties can be called as the need arises. Where possible, these additional meetings may be conducted remotely.

Reporting

The Committee submits a written report to the EGU Council annually. This report contains a summary of the ongoing educational proposals for future activities with the required financial, logistic, and administrative support. The report is submitted to the EGU general secretary for inclusion in the agenda of the autumn session of the EGU Council. In addition, oral reports are given at each Council meeting, and a short, written report may be given if required.

4.5. Programme Committee

Objectives

The Programme Committee co-ordinates the annual EGU General Assembly according to EGU’s by-laws. In doing so, the committee aims to:

The logistical aspects of the organisation of the General Assembly are handled by the meeting organiser. The Programme Committee takes care of the scientific organisation of the General Assembly, including:

The Programme Committee Chair ensures close communication on all matters relevant to the General Assembly with the meeting organiser, pertinent EGU officers, and EGU office staff.

Membership and terms of office

The Programme Committee has the following composition:

Programme Committee Officer positions can be created or discontinued by Council decision.

The Copernicus Managing Director and the Copernicus Meetings Conference Manager are invited to Programme Committee meetings.

Meetings

The committee meets in autumn (session programme building), in late winter (session scheduling), and at the feedback meeting typically held on the last afternoon at in-person General Assemblies. During the remainder of the year, the committee communicates through the EGU Programme Committee forum. Voting in the committee is by show of hands or secret ballot during in-person or virtual meetings, and by forum voting during the rest of the year.

4.6. Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion Committee

Objectives

The main objective of the Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion Committee (EDI Committee) is to support and advise on the scientific mission of the EGU by promoting and supporting equality, diversity, and inclusion of opportunities in the Earth, planetary, and space sciences. The EDI Committee works with particular focus on EGU activities.

The scope of these activities includes, but is not limited to, those stated in the by-laws of the Union.

The tasks and responsibilities of the EDI Committee comprise the co-ordination of existing and new activities defined as follows:

The EDI Committee works with the EGU Council as an advisory entity. It is responsible for providing suggestions, recommendations, and reviews to EGU Council.

Membership and terms of office

The EDI Committee is constituted as follows:

The EDI Committee membership should reflect diverse backgrounds to ensure wide range of views.

Members of the EDI Committee are either nominated or self-nominated through a motivation letter sent to the EDI Committee Chair or co-Chairs. The EDI Committee evaluates the nominations and proposes suitable candidates to the Council for final approval. Re-appointments, as well as shortenings of terms, are possible, subject to approval by the Council.

Authority and duties of the Committee and its members

The EDI Committee monitors, co-ordinates, and facilitates equality, diversity, and inclusion activities of the Union. It follows guidance from, and reports to, the EGU Council. The objectives and activities of the EDI Committee are defined in dialogue with Council and are to be approved by Council before new actions are undertaken.

The EDI Committee Chair or co-Chairs are responsible for the proper and efficient management and functioning of the Committee and its activities, providing support and supervision to the members, and representing the Committee elsewhere. To help discharge these duties, the chairs may suggest to Council to appoint a deputy or deputies and a Committee secretary and delegate responsibilities.

Appointed Committee members have the responsibility to support the EDI Committee Chair or co-Chairs in their tasks. They may be charged with individual tasks and responsibilities, especially when these fall within their field of competence and interest. They report to the EDI Committee.

Ex-officio members may advise and inform activities but are not normally expected to take on tasks other than those that fall within the remit of their responsibilities.

EDI Committee decisions require a simple majority vote of the appointed members who are present. When the votes on each side of a decision are equally balanced, the vote of the chair or co-Chairs prevail. Voting is by show of hands or anonymous ballot, when the Committee is meeting in person, and by email at other times. Ex-officio members do not have the right to vote on Committee decisions. However, it is customary that the chairs allows the ex-officio members to indicate their position on a decision in the same way as voting members of the Committee.

Meetings

The EDI Committee typically conducts in-person meetings at least once a year, generally during the General Assembly. The objective of these meetings is to monitor, co-ordinate, and facilitate the ongoing activities and to define and realise future activities and initiatives. Further meetings of the EDI Committee or its task forces can be called as the need arises. Where possible, these additional meetings may be conducted using remote communication tools.

Reporting

The EDI Committee submits a written report to the EGU Council at least twice a year. This report must contain an essential summary of the activities undertaken in the current annual cycle and their outcomes. A proposal for activities in the next annual cycle is also included, with special details regarding any activity that may entail financial, logistic, and administrative support. In addition, oral reports are given by the chair or co-Chairs at Council meetings when invited and a short, written report may be given if required.

4.7. Finance Committee

Objectives

The Finance Committee outlines the financial and fiscal strategy and policy of EGU in agreement and compliance with the philosophy and ethical principles of the EGU as a bottom-up organisation.

The Finance Committee oversees the daily financial situation of the Union with the assistance of the relevant staff members of the EGU Office. It is responsible for tax declarations of the Union and for the organisation of the annual audit of the accounts of the Union, including its reporting to the Plenary at the General Assembly of the Union and the discharge of the Executive Board.

The Finance Committee is responsible for collecting the budget requests of the EGU, its committees and groups and for advising the Council on all budget-related items within the overall financial framework and strategy of the Union. With the assistance of the relevant staff members of the EGU Office, the Finance Committee monitors the incomes and the expenses of the Union to safeguard the financial stability and resilience of the Union.

The Finance Committee oversees the evolution of the finances of the Union and its internal and external financial flows within the framework of the financial strategy of the Union. In order to fully exert its duties in the interest of the financial robustness of the Union, the Finance Committee can seek advice from independent financial experts external to the Union and from Union members with acknowledged financial expertise.

Membership and nominations

The Finance Committee is constituted as follows:

Terms of office

The terms of office of the Chair and of the members of the EGU Executive Board shall coincide with their term of office as an elected officer of the Union. The Deputy Chair has a two-year term, renewable once. The term of office of the chairs of the Programme Committee and the Publications Committee shall coincide with their term of office as appointed committee chairs.

Authorities and duties

The Finance Committee Chair is responsible for the proper and efficient management and functioning of the committee and its activities, providing support and supervision to the members of the committee, and representing the committee elsewhere. On proposal of the Finance Committee Chair, the Council can appoint a Deputy Chair to help discharge these duties. The Chair can appoint a Committee Secretary and delegate responsibilities.

Committee members have the responsibility to support the Committee Chair in their tasks. They may be charged with individual tasks and responsibilities, especially when these fall within their field of competence or expertise. They report to the Committee.

The Chair of the Finance Committee is allowed to invite third parties as ex-officio members to attend the meetings of the committee if their field of competence or expertise is relevant to the activities of the committee and their contribution is deemed essential to the functioning of the committee and the achievement of its goals.

Given the delicate nature and special character of the subjects under discussion, the Finance Committee members should observe a strict rule of confidentiality and avoid conflicts of interest as to safeguard the Union's interests.

Requirements and assets for the Treasurer

Tasks

The Treasurer chairs the Finance Committee and is, together with the members of the committee, responsible for overseeing the finances of the Union and for proposing the Union's annual budget to the Council.

Requirements

Assets

Meetings

The Finance Committee meets at least twice per year:

Further meetings of the committee or its working parties can be called as the need arises.

All meetings may be conducted by remote communication tools.

Reporting

The Finance Committee submits a written report to the EGU Council at least once a year. This report must contain an essential summary of the activities undertaken in the current annual cycle and their outcomes as well as a proposal for the activities in the next annual cycle with the required financial, logistic and administrative support. In addition, oral reports are given at each Council meeting and a short written report may be given if required.

Auditors

Two auditors are appointed by the Plenary for a term of two years. Auditors must verify the properly-maintained accounting for factual and legal accuracy, but they do not need to conduct a suitability check with respect to specific items.

Terms of Reference

Function

Requirements

4.8. Early Career Scientists network

Objectives

To foster collaboration and participation in the EGU Early Career Scientists (ECS) network in order to create a broad, open, and inclusive ECS community.

Membership and target group

ECS members are represented within the EGU by ECS representatives, both at the division and at the Union levels. While the division ECS representatives gather feedback from early career researchers in their divisions, the Union-level ECS Representative and their deputy gather information from ECS division representatives and take it to the Programme Committee and Council, ensuring the needs of ECS are met at the General Assembly and throughout the year.

The Union-level ECS representative is a voting member of the EGU Council and is elected by the members during the EGU elections. The Union-level ECS Representative is also a member of the EGU Programme Committee, Outreach Committee and the EDI Committee and serves as the Programme Group Co-chair for EGU Short Courses.

ECS representatives (i) serve as the voices of the ECS membership within EGU; (ii) connect ECS online and offline; and (iii) stimulate active participation of ECS within the EGU.

Terms of office

The ECS representatives at the division level serve a two-year term, and are able to serve for a maximum of two terms. ECS representatives can operate in pairs, alternating a 1-year term as an ECS representative and vice-ECS representative.

The Union-level ECS Representative is elected for a two-year period where they first serve for one year as the Union-level ECS vice-Representative and then serve a following one-year term as the Union-level ECS Representative.

Candidates for Union-level ECS Representative are selected according to the following criteria:

Community service for early career scientists could include, but is not limited to:

Attributes

Anyone that applies for, or is nominated to be, an ECS representative must be both an ECS (according to the official definition) and an EGU member. The Union-level ECS Representative is elected each year by the division ECS representatives.

Authority and duties of the ECS network and its members

ECS representatives should be aware of the EGU’s activities and how the Union functions as well as work to promote and develop the values and vision of the Union.

ECS representatives are the vital link between the Union and its ECS members. Their volunteer activities are geared toward creating and highlighting helpful resources and opportunities for ECS, as well as ensuring their needs are met both at the General Assembly and throughout the year. They can transfer relevant information and share their resources with the larger ECS community. They also organise events, commonly targeted at ECS, and report feedback to the EGU divisions and Council. They are responsible for co-ordinating and promoting ECS-related activities within each division, which can include, but are not limited to: organising events for ECS at the General Assembly; outreach to the ECS community and the wider public through social media or a division blog; sustaining and creating ECS-related events and resources and highlighting them on EGU ECS media; and establishing a mentoring programme for other ECS.

All ECS representatives help make the group’s long-term goals a reality, and many ECS representatives join task forces to implement strategic priorities, as outlined in their vision and strategy. These task forces provide a platform for increasing engagement and interaction between ECS representatives and give more transparency to ECS activities, with the goal of creating a more inclusive community.

Meetings

The ECS representatives typically meet quarterly online via remote communication tools and in-person twice per year: once during the planner workshop the weekend prior to the EGU General Assembly and once during summer for an organisational workshop. The Union-level ECS Representative is responsible for organising these meetings with the division ECS representatives so they are kept abreast of developments within EGU and can then report back to the ECS community in their respective divisions. All ECS representatives commit to preparing for, and attending, these meetings.

These meetings serve as a way to give important updates on EGU ECS-related news and activities, as well as to discuss how the representatives can best serve their community. ECS representatives also actively engage in discussion and project planning with each other through online EGU-hosted forums to sustain communication with ECS members of their division. Additionally, it is desirable that ECS representatives are able to participate in ECS-related events at the EGU General Assembly.

Reporting

The Union-level ECS Representative and their deputy submit, on the behalf of all ECS division representatives a written report to the EGU Council at least once per year. This report must contain a summary of the activities undertaken in the current annual cycle and their outcomes, and a proposal for activities in the next annual cycle with details of the necessary associated financial, logistic, and administrative support. The report is to be submitted to the EGU general secretary in time for inclusion in the agenda of the autumn session of the EGU Council. In addition, oral reports are given at each Council meeting.