Menu

EGU Best Practices

Outline of Procedures

This document is intended to describe the way the EGU operates. For more detailed information and rules please refer to the EGU constitution and laws.

EGU Council

The Council is the highest decision-making body in EGU. The Council consists of the President (chair), Vice President, General Secretary, Treasurer, Division Presidents and the Executive Secretary as an ex-officio member.

  • Nominations for the various positions in the Union are generally sought by an open call. Open call may include group e-mails to the membership, presentation at business meetings, and/or request to the division/union officers.
  • The Council can vote either by an open vote at its meetings, on request by a closed vote at its meetings, or through e-mail vote between Council meetings.
  • The membership votes are carried out through an electronic voting system.

The EGU Council meets during the General Assembly and at the Council Fall meeting held typically from Thursday to Saturday during the first full week of October. Agenda for the Council meetings is made available to Council members 3 weeks prior to the meeting. Key information about nominations and financial decisions is made available to Council members 2 weeks prior to the meeting.

EGU Executive

The EGU Executive consists of the President, Vice President, General Secretary, Treasurer, and Executive Secretary.

The term of the President is four years, first year as the Vice President, then two years as President, and final fourth year as Vice President again. The President is not eligible for immediate re-election.

  • Nominations for President are sought by an open call.
  • The Council evaluates the candidates and selects candidates for voting.
  • The EGU membership votes for the President.
  • The EGU President is the chair of the Council.

The term of  the General Secretary and Treasurer is 2 years and it is renewable.

  • Nominations for General Secretary and Treasurer are sought by an open call.
  • The Council evaluates the candidates and selects candidates for voting.
  • The EGU membership votes for the General Secretary and Treasurer.

The term of the Executive Secretary is 5 years and is renewable.

  • Applications for the Executive Secretary are sought by an open call.
  • The Council evaluates the candidates and selects the Executive Secretary by voting.

EGU Committees

EGU has presently seven Union-wide committees that report to the Council. The President and Executive Secretary are ex-officio members of all committees. The election period for chairs of union committees cannot exceed six years.

  • Programme Committee (coordinates the General Assembly programme).
  • Outreach committee (coordinates the activities by the committees for Education, Outreach, News, and Sponsorship with reference to Council).
  • Publications Committee (coordinates the EGU journals).
  • Awards Committee (coordinates the EGU Medal Committees and proposes medals recipients to the Council).
  • Finance Committee (oversees the EGU finances, including preparation of budgets).
  • Nominations Committee (consists of the president and vice president, oversees the various nomination processes).
  • Presidential Advisory Committee (by invitation of the President(s), provides input to the future development of the Union).

Programme Committee

The council nominates the Programme committee chair for a 2-year term which is twice renewable. Each programme group is represented in the PRC.

Outreach Committee

The council nominates the Outreach committee chair for a 3-year term which is renewable once. Other committee members are appointed by the committee chair for periods of three years. These periods are indefinitely renewable.

Awards Committee

The EGU gives Union and Division medals as well as special awards in recognition of service provided to the Union. The council nominates the Awards Committee chair for periods of three years. These periods are indefinitely renewable.

For nomination of the committees, their terms, and award nomination procedures please see separate document.

Publications Committee

The Publications Committee consists of the Chair, one representative of each journal (usually one of the chief editors), and EGU treasurer, executive secretary, president, vice president, and publisher as ex-officio members.

For selection procedure of journal editors and chief editors, please see separate document.

EGU Divisions

EGU has divisions that represent a scientific area or discipline. Divisions can be created and terminated as needed. New activities typically start up as Programme Groups at the General Assembly. If the programme group is successful in attracting a sufficient number of abstracts to the General Assembly, it can become a division by making a proposal to the Council. The Council reviews the status of Divisions and Programme Groups annually.

Division presidents are elected for a two-year term and can be re-elected once. Maximum duration of a term is thus four years, from General Assembly to General Assembly.

  • Nominations for Division President are sought by an open call.
  • The Council evaluates the candidates and selects candidates for voting.
  • The EGU membership votes for the Division President.

The internal structure of the divisions can be decided by each division, and need not be similar from division to division. However, each division should have a named contact person for (1) the general assembly (PC chair), (2) the EGU journals, (3) the EONS activities (outreach), and (4) the division medals. In addition, divisions may have Vice Presidents, Scientific Secretaries, and other officers as they see fit. The division officers are publicized at the EGU website.

  • The internal organization of each division is decided by the division at the annual business meeting during the General Assembly.
  • The division officers are selected for two years by voting at the business meeting and presented to the Council for final approval. The positions are renewable.

Division business meetings are organized annually during the General Assembly. The EGU Programme Committee takes care that the business meetings are adequately advertised in the General Assembly programme. Division presidents and/or division representatives in the Programme Committee should advertise the business meeting at relevant sessions during the meeting. Division meetings are open to all interested meeting participants. Young people are especially encouraged to attend. The agenda of the business meeting should consist of at least:

  • News from EGU: meeting highlights and council current items, time and location of the next year’s General Assembly.
  • Division Officers: list of present officers, vote for new ones and replacements.
  • Medals and Awards: Review medals relevant to division, advertise recipients and medal lectures, review medal proposal procedures, ask for nominations for medallists, ask for nominations for medal committee members, advertise Young Scientist Award and Young Scientist Outstanding Poster Presentation Award and review the procedures.
  • Journals: review journals relevant to division, editors and status of the journal(s), new editor positions, planning for new journals.
  • Scientific programme for next General Assembly: call for proposals for sessions, discuss meeting format etc., advertise web interface for session proposal submission, review travel support procedure and the convenors’ role in the selection procedure.
  • Feedback from the division to EGU.
  • Division business meeting reports are submitted by the presidents to the General Secretary within two weeks from the General Assembly.

EGU Budget

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, and general secretary.
  • All activities requiring funding from the EGU budget must submit a proposal for funding to the Executive Secretary and Treasurer by September 1.
  • Based on the proposals, the Finance Committee together with the Executive Secretary make a budget proposal to the Council (available to the Council members 2 weeks before the meeting).
  • The Council approves the budget at the Fall Council meeting.

Budget items include, but are not limited to:

  • General Assembly;
  • Publications;
  • Union activities (membership, executive offices and staff);
  • Outreach (newsletter, GIFT program, press office, medals, topical conferences, general assembly support).

Topical conferences

In addition to the General Assembly, EGU can organize and/or support topical conferences. The topical conferences may receive support from the EGU, but the financial risk and responsibility lies with the main organizer of the conference.

  • Proposals for topical conferences are sought by an open call. The deadline for applications submitted to the Executive Secretary is September 1.
  • The Outreach committee reviews the proposals and presents them to the Council at the Council Fall meeting.
  • The Outreach committee approves the conferences within its budget approved by the Council.

EGU Best Practices for Awards

Premise

  • Recognise eminent scientists for their research contributions to one field of Geosciences;
  • To identify the awardees as role models for a young generation of scientists to foster geosciences research;
  • For the awardees to act as ambassadors for the European Geosciences Union at the global scale.

Each Medal bears the name of one relevant scientist who has shaped the discipline itself.

Each Division has access to the following awards each year:

  • Outstanding Young Scientist Award, at the Division level and Union level (Arne Richter Award for Outstanding Young Scientists).
  • At least one Division Medal for middle career scientists.
  • One Union Medal for senior scientists.

All divisions have equal opportunity to get the Union Medal for senior scientists.

Each Medal and Award has a Medal/Award Committee, which works under the Union Award Committee. Each Medal/Award Committee consists of several persons. The Council makes all final decisions about medals.

The EGU Medals and Awards

Union Medals
  • Arthur Holmes Medal & Honorary Membership (Solid Earth Geosciences).
  • Alfred Wegener Medal & Honorary Membership (atmospheric, hydrological or ocean sciences).
  • Jean Dominique Cassini Medal & Honorary Membership (planetary and space sciences).
  • Alexander von Humboldt Medal (scientists from Developing Countries).
Union Awards
  • Arne Richter Award for Outstanding Young Scientists (Union level; the nominee should be a Young Scientist).
  • Union Service Award (outstanding service and/or exceptional efforts in the promotion, growth and running of the Union).
Union Assembly Awards
  • Union Travel Award (to financially assist in particular Young Scientist in their participation in the meetings).
  • Union Outstanding Student Poster (OSP) Award (to foster the excitement of younger colleagues in presenting their work in form of a poster).
Division Medals
  • Vilhelm Bjerknes Medal (Atmospheric Sciences);
  • Vladimir Ivanovich Vernadsky Medal (Biogeosciences);
  • Milutin Milankovic Medal (Climate: Past, Present & Future);
  • Hans Oeschger Medal (Climate: Past, Present & Future);
  • Louis Agassiz Medal (Cryospheric Sciences);
  • Ian McHarg Medal (Earth and Space Science Informatics);
  • Robert Wilhelm Bunsen Medal (Geochemistry, Mineralogy, Petrology & Volcanology);
  • Vening Meinesz Medal (Geodesy);
  • Augustus Love Medal (Geodynamics);
  • Ralph Alger Bagnold Medal (Geomorphology);
  • Christiaan Huygens Medal (Geosciences Instrumentation and Data Systems);
  • John Dalton Medal (Hydrological sciences);
  • Henry Darcy Medal (Hydrological sciences);
  • Louis Néel Medal (Rock Magnetism, Rock Physics & Geomaterials);
  • Petrus Peregrinus Medal (Magnetism & Palaeomagnetism);
  • Plinius Medal (Natural Hazards, young scientists);
  • Sergey Soloviev Medal (Natural Hazards);
  • Lewis Fry Richardson Medal (Nonlinear Geosciences);
  • Fridtjof Nansen Medal (Ocean Sciences);
  • David Bates Medal (Planetary & Solar System Sciences);
  • Runcorn-Florensky Medal (Planetary & Solar System Sciences);
  • Beno Gutenberg Medal (Seismology);
  • Philippe Duchaufour Medal (Soil System Sciences);
  • Julius Bartels Medal (Solar - Terrestrial Sciences);
  • Hannes Alfvén Medal (Solar - Terrestrial & Planetary - Solar System Sciences);
  • Jean Baptiste Lamarck Medal (Stratigraphy, Sedimentology & Palaeontology);
  • Stephan Mueller Medal (Tectonics and Structural Geology).
Division Awards
  • Outstanding Young Scientists Award (Division level; the nominee should be a Young Scientist).

The EGU Medals and Award Committees

Medal committees discuss and vote on the forum (if available). Medal committees must prevent conflicts of interest in the selection procedure.

Composition of the Union Award Committee

The Chair of the Union Award Committee is nominated by the Council for a period of 3 years which is renewable once. Members of the Union Award Committee are the Chair, the President, vice-President, General Secretary and Treasurer of EGU.

Composition of the Union Medal Committees
    • Chair nominated by the Council. The term is at most 4 years.
    • The Council appoints 4 additional members, preferably past union or relevant Division medallists. One Member is changed every year. Members serve for at most 4 years.
    • Chair of the Union Award Committee as ex-officio Member.

      The role of the Chair is, among others, to bring in his/her knowledge of the community and maintain continuity. The role of the past medallists is, among other things, to maintain the quality of the Medal by judging the candidates' achievements. The role of the Division representatives is to bring in his/her knowledge of the community which is important as different communities have different cultures and different needs. The role of the Chair of the Union Award Committee is to ensure the contact with Council.
      This setup ensures that at least one Committee Member changes every year and, additionally, all members are changed every fourth year. If a new Medal is established, a transitional Committee needs to be formed.

      Composition of the Division Medal committees
        • Chair nominations discussed at Business Meeting and appointed by the Council. The term is at most 4 years.
        • Minimum 4 additional members, preferentially past medallists. One is replaced every year. Term is at most 4 years.
        • Division President as ex-officio Member.
        • Chair of the Union Award Committee as ex-officio Member.

          The role of the Chair and Division President is, among others, to bring in their knowledge of the community. The role of the past medallists is, among other things, to maintain the quality of the Medal by judging the candidates' achievements. The role of the Chair of the Union Award Committee is to ensure the contact with Council. This setup ensures that at least one Committee Member changes every year. If a new Medal is established, a transitional Committee needs to be formed.

          Composition of the Union Service Award Committee

          The Committee is formed by the whole Council and is chaired by the Chair of the Union Award Committee.

          Composition of the Arne Richter Award for Outstanding Young Scientist Committee

          The Committee is formed by the whole Council and is chaired by the Chair of the Union Award Committee.

          Composition of the Division Outstanding Young Scientist Award Committee

          The Committee is formed by the Division President (chair) and additional members that can be nominated by the relevant division. The term is at most 4 years.

          Composition of the Young Scientist Travel Award Committee and OSP Award Committees

          The Young Scientist Travel Award Committee is nominated by the Council.

          The OSP Award Committees are nominated by the relevant divisions. The Division President is ex-officio Member. The Council nominate a Union Coordinator to supervise the OSP across the Divisions.

          Nomination Guidelines

          Any person is eligible to receive one EGU/EUG/EGS Medal only once in his/her lifetime except for the Union medals, which can be assigned only once to any person including previous Division Medal awardees.

          Recipients of EGU (including EUG and EGS) awards cannot subsequently receive a lower level recognition from EGU itself (e.g. a recipient of a union medal cannot receive a division medal).

          It is possible to award recognition shared between individuals; in such case the relevant recognition will not subsequently be awarded for as many years as the number of recipients exceeds one.

          Members of the medal committees are not eligible for that medal for 2 years after stepping down from their service.

          Moreover, with respect to the Awards and Medals reserved for the younger and more recently established scientists we refer to the definition of the Union with regard to a Young Scientist.

          Nominations for all the medals and Union Service Award are to be sent to the e-mail address awards.medals@egu.eu by 15 June of each year (absolute deadline) in pdf format. All the documents must be included in a unique compressed file (e.g., zip format). Only EGU members can submit nominations for all EGU medals and awards. Then, proposals will be forwarded to the Chair of the relevant Medal Committee. Nominations for the Arne Richter Award for Outstanding Young Scientist are to be submitted to the relevant Division President (please see http://www.egu.eu/nc/inside-egu/divisions-and-present-officers.html), in pdf format, by 15 June of each year (absolute deadline). Nominations for EGU Medals and Awards are not automatically renewed for the subsequent year.

          A nomination package for the Division and Union medals should consist of the following:

          • Nomination letter (1 page). This must clearly detail why the candidate deserves this recognition, in particular his/her scientific contributions to the field, their importance, their impact on the discipline and their implications for the future. The new views and new insights that have been stimulated by the candidate's work are particularly relevant.
          • Curriculum Vitae (2 pages). A summary of the candidate's CV, including the candidate’s name, address, history of employment, degrees, research experience, honours, and service to the community.
          • Selected bibliography (2 pages). A list of selected publications by the candidate that best support the nomination. It should also state briefly the candidate’s total number and types of publications and citations.
          • Supporting letters. Between 3 and 5 letters of support (maximum 1 page each) should be submitted. These letters should be written by individuals other than the nominator and should clearly establish the nominee's recognized contribution to the field.

          A nomination package for the Union Service Award should consist of the following:

          • Nomination letter (1 page). This must clearly detail why the candidate deserves this recognition, in particular his/her scientific contributions to the Union.
          • Curriculum Vitae (1 page), with particular emphasis on the candidate's activity in the Union.
          • Supporting letters. 1 or 2 letters of support (maximum 1 page each). These letters should be written by individuals other than the nominator and should clearly establish the nominee's contribution to the Union.

          A nomination package for the Arne Richter Award for Outstanding Young Scientist should consist of the following:

          • Nomination letter (1/2 page).
          • Curriculum Vitae. A summary of the candidate's CV (1 page), indicating date of birth and date of the MS or PhD degree (if any)
          • Selected bibliography. A list of selected publications by the candidate that best support the nomination (1/2 page). It should also state briefly the candidate’s total number and types of publications and citations.

           

          The whole nomination package must not exceed 2 pages.

          Nominations for the Young Scientist travel Award and OSP Award are collected accordingly to what is deliberated by the Council each year.

          Selection of Candidates

          Candidates for the Union and Division medals are evaluated by the respective Medal Committees and finally approved by the Council.

          Candidates for the Union Service Award are evaluated by the Union Award Committee and finally approved by the Council.

          Candidates for the Arne Richter Award for Outstanding Young Scientist are first evaluated by the relevant Division Officers through the Division Outstanding Young Scientist Award Committee. The Division Presidents forwards the best candidate to the Chair of the Union Award Committee. The Chair of the Union Award Committee divides the candidates in 4 groups. Then, candidates in each group are evaluated by the Division presidents involved in the same group. The 4 best candidates of each group are proposed to Council for the Arne Richter Award. The other candidates are awarded by the relevant Division (Division Award).

          Candidates for the Young Scientist travel Award and OSP Award are evaluated accordingly to what is deliberated by the Council each year.

          The President will then inform the awardees and medallists appropriately and will invite them to the next General Assembly of the Union, where the awards and medals will be presented.

          EGU Best Practices for Publications

          Publications Committee

          The scientific publications of the EGU (journals, book series, etc.) are coordinated by the Publications Committee, which consists of a Chair and of one representative of the editorial board of each publication (usually one of the chief/executive editors). Representatives of the EGU Executive Board (president, vice-president, treasurer, executive secretary) and of the publisher(s) (one per company) are ex-officio members.

          The publications committee proposes the chair 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 Executive Secretary notifies the appointed chair on behalf of the EGU.

          The tasks and responsibilities of the Publications Committee comprise the coordination of existing and new publications, the nomination of chief/executive editors for approval by the Council, and the supervision 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.

          Editorial Boards

          Each EGU journal is governed by an editorial board, which is responsible for the operation and quality of the journal and consists of two or more chief/executive editors and (topical/associate) co-editors.

          For each journal, the editorial board proposes chief/executive editors to the Publications Committee. The Publications Committee evaluates the nominations and proposes suitable candidates to the Council for final approval. The Council appoints the chief/executive-editors 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 Executive Secretary notifies the appointed/dismissed chief/executive editors on behalf of the EGU.

          For each journal, the chief/executive editors appoint (topical/associate) co-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 Executive Secretary accordingly, who notifies the co-editors on behalf of the EGU. Potential co-editors shall be sought through open calls to the scientific community, which may be complemented by targeted invitations of suitable candidates.