EGU best practices

11 March 2022

1. Preamble
2. Best practices for the management of the Union
   1. EGU Council
      • The EGU President
      • The EGU Executive Secretary, the EGU General Secretary, and the EGU Treasurer
      • The EGU Executive Board
   2. EGU committees
      • Selection procedure for vacancies of members of committees, including chairs
   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
      • Composition of the Union Awards Committee
      • Composition of the Union medals committees
      • Composition of the division medals committees
      • Composition of the Arne Richter Awards for Outstanding Early Career Scientists Committee
      • Composition of the Katia and Maurice Krafft Award Committee
      • Composition of the Union Service Award Committee
      • Composition of the Division Outstanding Early Career Scientists (ECS) Awards Committees
      • Composition of the Angela Croome Award Committee
      • Composition of the Champion(s) for Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Award Committee
   2. Nomination procedures for Union and division awards and medals
      • 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. Selection of candidates and confidentiality
      • Policy for conflict of interest
      • Selection procedures
   4. Application procedures for an OSPP Award
      • Criteria for application
      • Application procedure
      • Selection procedure
      • Award presentation
4. Best practices for EGU committees, groups, and Early Career Scientists
   1. Publications Committee
      • Objectives
      • Membership and terms of office
      • Authorities and duties
      • Practices and procedures
      • Editorial boards
   2. Outreach Committee
      • Target groups
      • Membership and nomination
      • Terms of office
      • Authority and duties of the committee and its members
      • Meetings
      • Reporting
   3. Topical Events Committee
      • Objectives
      • Target groups
      • Membership and nomination
      • Terms of office
      • Authority and duties of the committee and its members
      • Meetings
      • Reporting
   4. Education Committee
      • Objectives
      • Target groups
      • Membership and nomination
      • Terms of office
      • Authority and duties of the committee and its members
      • Meetings
      • Reporting
   5. Programme Committee
      • Objectives
      • Membership and terms of office
      • Meetings
   6. Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion Committee
      • Objectives
      • Authority and duties of the group and its members
      • Meetings
      • Reporting
   7. Early Career Scientists network
      • Objectives
      • Membership and target group
      • Terms of office
      • Attributes
      • Authority and duties of the ECS network and its members
      • Meetings
      • Reporting

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.

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, and the executive secretary as an ex-officio member. Chairs of the EGU committees, the Early Career Scientists (ECS) Union Representative, 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.

• Nominations for president are sought by an open call.
• The Council approves the candidates according to the statutes.
• The EGU membership votes for the president.

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

• Represent, together with the vice-president, the Union as a whole in all internal and external matters;
• Preside at all meetings of the Council, the Plenary session, and the executive board, unless deputised;
• Nominate all chairs and other members of Union committees to Council in consultation with the respective committees, unless otherwise specified in the by-laws;
• Oversee and provide strategic steering to all activities of the Union, in particular those of the committees and the EGU office.

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.

• Nominations for general secretary and treasurer are sought by an open call.
• The Council approves the candidates according to the statutes.
• The EGU membership votes for the general secretary and the treasurer.

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.

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:

• Programme Committee (oversees the EGU General Assembly programme).
• Outreach Committee (oversees outreach projects as stipulated by By-laws 1.5 and 1.6).
• Topical Events Committee (oversees activities related to Galileo Conferences, conference and training school series, and training schools).
• Publications Committee (oversees EGU journals and other publications).
• Awards Committee (oversees EGU awards and medals committees and proposes medal and award recipients to the Council).
• Finance Committee (oversees EGU finances and proposes budget to the Council).
• Education Committee (oversees activities related to secondary and tertiary geoscience education).
• Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion Committee (advises Council in order to support the scientific mission of the EGU by promoting and supporting equality, diversity, and inclusion within EGU and also organises activities to pursue its mission).

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.

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:

• Nominations for division president are sought by an open call.
• The Council approves the candidates according to the statutes.
• The EGU membership votes for the division president.

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:

• News from EGU: General Assembly and EGU committees highlights, Council main current items, and time and location of the next General Assembly.
• Division officers: list of current officers, approval or vote for new ones and replacements.
• Awards and medals: review medal(s) relevant to the division, advertise recipients and lectures, review proposal procedures, ask for nominations for the next call for nominations, approve new division medal committee members (if any), advertise ECS Awards and Outstanding Student and PhD candidate Presentation Awards, and review the procedures by which these are awarded.
• Journals: review journals relevant to division, list executive editors and status of the journal(s), advertise new editor positions, plan for new journals (if any) and journal awards (if any).
• Scientific programme for the next General Assembly: advertise timeline (call for proposals for sessions, abstract submission, and other relevant deadlines), discuss meeting format and so forth, advertise web interface for session proposal submission, review travel-support procedure and the conveners’ roles in the selection procedure, review new guidelines or rules (if any).
• Feedback from the division regarding EGU activities.

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

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.

• The Finance Committee consists of the treasurer as the chair, the president, vice-president, general secretary, and the executive secretary.
• All committees and groups requiring funding from the EGU budget must submit a proposal for funding to the executive secretary and treasurer by mid-September of the previous year.
• Based on the proposals, the Finance Committee makes a budget proposal to the Council.
• The Council approves the budget at the autumn Council meeting.

Budget items could include, but are not limited to:

• Membership fees;
• Publication fees;
• General Assembly registration and exhibition fees as well as Abstract Processing Charges;
• Union activities (Executive office costs);
• Outreach, education, and other events and activities that the Union supports;
• Fellowships, grants, and the Roland Schlich travel support scheme.

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:

• Identify the awardees and medallists as role models to foster the next generation of geoscientists;
• Elect the awardees and medallists as ambassadors for the EGU on the global scale.

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.

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.

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):

• EGU president;
• EGU vice-president;
• Council members (not including ex-officio members);
• Chairs of EGU committees.

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

• Nomination letter. It should not exceed 5000 characters (including spaces) and must clearly detail why the candidate deserves this recognition, with particular focus on the candidate’s scientific contributions to the field, describing the importance, the impact on the discipline, and implications for the future of these contributions. The new views and insights that have been stimulated by the candidate’s work are particularly relevant.
• Supporting letters. Between three and five letters of support (maximum 5000 characters each including spaces) should be submitted. These letters should clearly establish the nominee’s recognised contributions to the field.
• Nomination package (PDF document). The nomination package needs to include the following items:
  • Curriculum Vitae (two pages). A summary of the candidate’s CV, including the candidate’s name, address, history of employment, degrees, research and teaching/supervising experience, honours, and service to the community, including service to EGU.
  • Selected bibliography (two pages). A list of selected publications by the candidate that best support the nomination. The candidate’s total number and types of publications and citations should also be briefly stated.

Nominations for the Katia and Maurice Krafft Award

• Nomination letter. It should not exceed 5000 characters (including spaces) and must clearly detail why the candidate deserves this recognition, with particular focus on the candidate’s contributions to geoscience outreach and engagement, and the importance and impact of these contributions. The new views and insights that have been stimulated by the candidate’s work are particularly relevant.
• Supporting letters. Between three and five letters of support (maximum 5000 characters including spaces each) should be submitted. These letters should clearly establish the nominee’s recognised contributions to geoscience outreach and engagement.
• Nomination package (PDF document). The nomination package needs to include the following item:
  • Curriculum Vitae (one page). A summary of the candidate’s CV, including the candidate’s name, address, outreach experience, honours, and service to society.

Nominations for the Union Service Award

• Nomination letter. It should not exceed 5000 characters (including spaces) and must clearly detail why the candidate deserves this recognition, in particular focussing on the candidate’s scientific contributions to the Union.
• Supporting letters. One or two letters of support (maximum 5000 characters including spaces each). These letters should clearly establish the nominee’s contributions to the Union.
• Nomination package (PDF document). The nomination package needs to include the following item:
  • Curriculum Vitae (one page), with particular emphasis on the candidate’s activity in the Union.

Nominations for the Outstanding ECS awards

• Nomination letter. It should not exceed 2500 characters (including spaces) and must clearly detail why the candidate deserves this recognition, including the division to which the candidate’s research is most applicable.
• Nomination package (PDF document). The nomination package needs to include the following items:
  • Curriculum Vitae. A summary of the candidate’s CV (one page), including the date when their highest degree qualification was received.
  • Selected bibliography. A list of selected publications by the candidate that best support the nomination (half page).

Nominations for the Angela Croome Award

• Nomination letter. It should not exceed 5000 characters (including spaces) and must clearly detail why the candidate deserves this recognition, in particular focussing on the candidate’s contributions to Earth, planetary. or space science journalism, including how their work promoted discoveries relevant to Europe or European citizens.
• Nomination package (PDF document). The nomination package needs to include the following items:
  • Curriculum Vitae (one page). A summary, in English, of the candidate’s CV, including the candidate’s name, address, journalism experience, and honours.
  • Samples of reporting published within the past five years. Up to three samples of reporting that establish the nominee’s excellent contributions to Earth, planetary, or space science journalism. The samples may be in any language. Each submitted sample must be accompanied by a summary in English (maximum one page) providing a synthesis of the content and information to evaluate the value of the contribution.

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

• Nomination letter. It should not exceed 5000 characters (including spaces) and must clearly state why the individual or team deserves this recognition, with a particular focus on the nominee’s contributions to equality, diversity and inclusion initiatives, and the importance and impact of these contributions. Descriptions of new views, insights and working practices stimulated by the actions of the candidate(s) should be included in the nomination letter. Specific links of the candidate(s) to the EGU community should also be stated.
• Supporting letters. Three letters of support should be submitted for the individual or the team. These letters should clearly set out the significance and importance of the nominee’s contributions to improving equality, diversity and inclusion in the geoscience community. A maximum of 5000 characters (including spaces) is allowed for the supporting letters.
• Nomination package (PDF document).
  • Curriculum Vitae. For a single individual, include a short summary of the candidate’s CV, including the name, address, education, work experience, honours, and services to society of the candidate (maximum 2 pages). For teams, a group coordinator should be selected on behalf of the group, with a short summary for each group member (maximum 5 pages). The descriptions should also have an emphasis on initiatives, activities, and service for the geoscience community especially regarding equality, diversity and inclusion.

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:

• Known family relationship as spouse, child, sibling, or parent.
• Business or professional partnership.
• Past or present association as thesis advisor or thesis student.
• Collaboration on a project, a book, article, report, or paper within the last 5 years, and 10 years if a substantial number of co-publications are involved.
• Co-editing of a journal, compendium, or conference proceedings within the last 48 months.
• Having had substantial collaboration during their professional career.
• Current employment at the same institution.
• Previous employment at the same institution within the last 12 months.
• Being considered for employment at the institution.
• Being involved in any office, governing board membership, or relevant committee chairpersonship in the same institution.
• Having received an honorarium and/or award from the same institution in the past 24 months.

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:

• Candidates for medals are evaluated by the respective medal committees and approved by the Council.
• Candidates for the Union Service Award are evaluated by the UAC and approved by the Council.
• Candidates for the Katia and Maurice Krafft and Angela Croome awards are evaluated by the relevant award committee and approved by the Council.
• Candidates for the Champion(s) for Equality, Diversity and Inclusion award are evaluated by the relevant award committee and approved by the Council.
• Candidates for the Division Outstanding ECS Awards are first evaluated by the relevant division committee, which forwards the best candidate to the chair of the UAC. Four candidates are then selected by the Council and awarded at the Union level (Arne Richter Awards for Outstanding ECS). The remaining best candidates are awarded by the relevant division.

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.

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:

• are first author and personally present a poster or PICO at the conference; and
• satisfy one of the following criteria:
  • are a current BSc or MSc student or PhD candidate; or
  • are a recent BSc or MSc student or PhD candidate (conferral of degree after 1 January of the year of the conference) who are presenting their thesis work.

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.

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 chief/executive editors, who are appointed by the Council. Nominations of chief/executive editors are made by the journals to the Publications Committee. 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 chief/executive editors 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.

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:

• To identify and highlight societal challenges that can be addressed by the scientific work of the EGU membership and to harness the expertise of the EGU membership to address societal needs.
• To increase public awareness of the scientific work of the EGU membership and to facilitate the broad dissemination of information beyond the geoscience community.
• To establish and strengthen links between the EGU membership and policy- and decision-makers, primarily but not exclusively in Europe, for the mutual benefit of both parties.
• To facilitate interactions and the transfer of information within the geoscience community by means other than scientific meetings and publications, such as newsletters, websites, data portals, bulletins, blogs, and social media.
• To encourage interaction with other parties interested in the Union and its activities.
• To promote the geosciences beyond the scope set by the statutes and by-laws of the Union.

Target groups

• The membership of the Union and its component groups
• Geoscientists who are not Union members
• National or international geoscience societies, agencies, and enterprises, both within and outside Europe
• People, institutions, organisations, or scientific unions engaged in fields other than the geosciences, both within and outside Europe
• Decision-makers, the working media, and the non-scientific public, primarily but not exclusively in Europe

Membership and nomination

The Outreach Committee is constituted as follows:

• A chair, appointed by the Council.
• A minimum of five, and a maximum of ten, expert members appointed by the Council to cover the key domains of outreach activities pursued by the Union. Of these, two should be active members of the Council and one must be an ECS according to the Union’s definition.
• The members of the EGU Executive Board are ex-officio members of the Committee.
• The relevant EGU office staff members are ex-officio members of the Committee.
• The chairs of the Education and Topical Events committees are ex-officio members.

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.

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:

• EGU Galileo Conferences
• EGU Conference Series
• EGU Training Schools Series
• Co-sponsored Training Schools

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:

• A chair, appointed by the Council.
• A minimum of four, and a maximum of six, Council members appointed by the EGU Council to cover the key scientific domains of the Union.
• One member appointed by the EGU Council who is responsible for co-ordinating the Galileo Conferences.
• The members of the EGU Executive Board are ex-officio members of the Committee.
• The relevant EGU office staff members are ex-officio members of the Committee.
• The chairs of the Education and Outreach committees are ex-officio members.

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.

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:

• To promote and support geoscience education at all levels across Europe and beyond
• To raise the profile of education within the EGU, its Council, committees, divisions, and membership
• To publicise the educational activities of the EGU

Target groups

Educators across Europe and beyond, particularly:

• Teachers of geoscience in schools and colleges with strong geoscience backgrounds;
• Teachers of science or geography with some geoscience in their teaching, but who have weak geoscience backgrounds;
• Teachers of geoscience in Higher Education (HE);
• Providers of informal geoscience education (in collaboration with the EGU Outreach Committee);
• Researchers into geoscience education;
• The membership of the Union.

Membership and nomination

The Education Committee is to be constituted as follows:

• A chair, appointed by the EGU Council.
• A vice-chair
• A secretary
• A minimum of five voting members after general calls to the EGU membership; co-opted members as appropriate
• The members of the EGU Executive Board are ex-officio members of the Committee.
• The relevant EGU office staff members are ex-officio members of the Committee.
• The chairs of the Outreach and Topical Events committees are ex-officio members.

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.

Objectives

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

• Provide a forum where scientists can present their work and discuss their ideas with experts in all fields of the Earth, planetary, and space sciences;
• Provide a safe, open, accessible, and respectful environment for participants;
• In cooperation with the Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion Committee, foster diversity among conveners, attendees, and presenters with respect to, among others, career stage, gender (identity), geography, and scientific approaches; and
• Minimise the environmental impact of the General Assembly.

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:

• Building a session programme that covers all disciplines in the Earth, planetary, and space sciences, ensuring cooperation, minimising similarity, and achieving the best schedule; and
• Assisting conveners at all stages of session organisation.

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:

• A chair, appointed by the EGU Council. Appointment is for a term of two years, renewable once.
• The EGU Executive Board.
• The Programme Group Chair of each EGU division.
• A secretary, appointed by the Programme Committee from among its members.
• The following Programme Committee Officers, appointed by Council:
  • The EGU ECS Union Representative, who is also the Short Course Programme Group Co-chair.
  • Short Course Programme Group Chair.
  • Inter- and Transdisciplinary Sessions Programme Group Chair.
  • Education and Outreach Programme Group Chairs (the chairs of the Education and Outreach committees).
  • Travel Support Officer, for co-ordination of the Roland Schlich travel support scheme for participation in the General Assembly.
  • Head of Communications.
  • Media Relations Manager.
  • Outstanding Student and PhD candidate Presentation Awards Co-ordinator.

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.

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:

• Promote the EGU vision to pursue equality, diversity, and inclusion of opportunities with an integrated, co-ordinated, constructive, and exciting approach.
• Raise the awareness of the scientific community on the inspiring value of diversity.
• Organise sessions and meetings dedicated to equality and diversity issues during the EGU General Assembly, as well as at other conferences and meetings organised by EGU and its sibling organisations.
• After delegation, represent EGU on relevant initiatives focusing on diversity, inclusivity and equality in science.
• Provide constructive suggestions and ideas to the EGU Council to promote equality, diversity, and inclusion.
• Work closely and constructively with EGU structures (board/committees) to find solutions and/or optimise processes and procedures to fully integrate EDI considerations in a fully transparent approach.

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:

• A chair or co-Chairs, appointed by the EGU Council for a term of two years, renewable once.
• A minimum of five, and a maximum of fifteen, members are appointed by the EGU Council to cover the key domains pursued by the Union. Members are appointed for a term of two years by the EGU Council. Three of the members should be members of the EGU Council, and two must be ECS, according to the Union definition of ECS (Union-level ECS Representative is a default, but delegation is possible). Their term is two years and renewable once.
• The members of the EGU Executive Board are ex-officio members of the EDI Committee.
• The relevant EGU office staff members are ex-officio members of the EDI Committee.
• The chairs of equivalent working groups at sibling organisations are ex-officio members of the EDI Committee (by invitation).

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.

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 participates in the Programme Committee and Council meetings as an ex-officio member. The Union-level ECS Representative is also a member of the EGU 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 deputy-ECS representative.

The Union-level ECS Representative serves a one-year term as the Deputy-Union-level ECS Representative and another year as the Union-level ECS Representative.

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.