By-laws

May 2026

The EGU fosters fundamental and applied geoscience research that addresses key societal and environmental challenges in order to realise a sustainable and just future for humanity and for the planet. The EGU is dedicated to the pursuit of excellence in geoscience research, upholding and promoting the highest standards of scientific integrity, Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) values, open science and open access research, and the facilitation of dialogue and the exchange of information between scientists, the media, policymakers and the public. The EGU aims to be recognised as a trusted source of impartial, evidence-based geoscience information.

The EGU is committed to developing the next generation of geoscientists through the provision of world-class education, training and resources to secondary school teachers, university geoscience educators and early career scientists, thus ensuring equitable access to the latest scientific knowledge and expertise.

In order to achieve its objectives, the European Geosciences Union (hereinafter called the Union) shall:

1.1

organise annual scientific conferences: its General Assemblies that bring together geoscientists from all over the world and cover all disciplines of the Earth, planetary, and space sciences, including Union-wide, disciplinary and community-led sessions as well as cross-cutting themes. These conferences aim to provide a forum in which scientists, especially early career researchers, can present their work and discuss their ideas with experts in all fields of geoscience, and to foster an accessible and inclusive environment;

1.2

publish public peer-reviewed, open access scientific journals with interactive public discussions;

1.3

support under-represented communities through appropriate mechanisms such as an Equality, Diversity & Inclusion (EDI) participation support scheme and concessionary Article Processing Charges for EGU publications;

1.4

encourage and support participation of Early Career Scientists in the affairs of the Union and its General Assemblies through mechanisms such as mentoring schemes and financial support for on-site and virtual participations;

1.5

recognize achievements and excellence in geosciences and related community-services;

1.6

organise, sponsor or co-sponsor appropriate training schools and scientific topical conferences outside the General Assemblies, including those organised by other bodies;

1.7

undertake outreach and education activities, which should include: identifying and drawing attention to societal problems that could be addressed by the scientific work of its members and communication with the non-scientific public;

1.8

encourage science-policy partnerships, inform geoscientists about relevant policy opportunities, and highlight policy-relevant research to both the public and policymakers, to allow decision-makers to consider the evidence and potential consequences of any action or inaction primarily but not exclusively in Europe;

1.9

inform the scientific community by publishing a regular newsletter and news items on the website, maintaining a presence on selected social media platforms, and organizing webinars and online events and

1.10

establish liaisons with other scientific organisations, both within and outside Europe, to mutual benefit.

2.1

Applications for Individual Membership are handled by the Executive Office under the supervision of the Executive Director (Directors).

2.2

All members are entitled to:

• participate in the Plenary meeting during the General Assembly;
• vote in EGU elections;
• stand for a position in the EGU Council (except for complimentary members);
• receive discounts on article processing charges in all EGU Journals;
• register at membership rates at annual Meetings of some sibling organisations;
• submit abstracts to and register at reduced registration rates for EGU General Assemblies;
• nominate candidates for EGU awards and medals;
• apply for financial support to organise scientific meetings, conferences, and training schools;
• apply for participation support to present research at an EGU General Assembly;
• apply for EGU Public Engagement Grants and
• receive periodic communications by email such as for example a monthly Newsletter.

2.3

All the members are expected to fulfil the following obligations:

• adhere to the EGU code of conduct (PDF document, 246.7 KB) and
• adhere to the EGU values and ethical standards (PDF document, 64.0 KB).

3.1

Members are invited to propose candidates to any vacancy, including through self-nominations. If nominating someone else, the candidate's consent needs to be obtained beforehand. A public call for candidates normally takes place during the summer prior to the autumn election and is handled by the Executive Office under the supervision of the Executive Director (or Directors).

3.2

Candidates can stand for election subject to approval by the EGU Council. They are reviewed against the required conditions (terms of reference) by the EGU Council. The Executive Director (Directors) must ascertain the willingness of each candidate to stand for election.

3.4

Candidates can only stand for one vacancy during an election period. This also means that they can only represent one Division. They cannot hold multiple voting roles in the Council.

3.5

Each list for a position opened for election should, wherever possible, contain at least two candidates.

3.6

The elections are conducted according to §8 (3), §8 (8), §8 (9), §12 (2), §13 (2) of the statutes.

3.7

The elections are conducted electronically and are overviewed by the Executive Director (Directors). Members may only vote for one candidate for each Union-level vacancy. Members may only vote for one candidate for a Division President vacancy and can participate in the Division President elections of up to three Divisions.

3.8

The elected candidates, after accepting the role, will be inaugurated during the plenary meeting held during the first General Assembly following the election. Their names shall be announced on the EGU website, as well as to the members through an electronic post.

4.1

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 all meetings of the Council, the Plenary, and the Executive Board, unless deputised;
• follow-up closely the functioning and operations of the Union's entities;
• cooperate closely with the Union's Office staff and with the Union's service provider Copernicus GmbH and
• oversee and provide strategic steering to the Executive Board and the Council.

Requirements and assets for the President role can be found in the best practices.

4.2

The Vice-President assists the President in representing the Union as a whole in all internal and external matters. If the President is unable to act, for whatever reason, the Vice-President shall deputise for them.

4.3

The General Secretary is responsible for supporting the Council activities, including preparation of the agenda (in discussion with the Executive Board) as well as the minutes of the Council meetings and the Plenary Sessions. The General Secretary is a member of the Executive Board, and as such shall:

• assist the Union president in overseeing and providing strategic guidance for all activities of the Union;
• attend meetings of the Council, the Plenary, and the Executive Board;
• prepare (along with the Executive Board), and record the Council, Plenary and Executive Board Agendas and
• cooperate closely with the Union's Office staff and with the Union's service provider Copernicus GmbH.

Requirements and assets for the General Secretary role can be found in the best practices.

4.4

The Treasurer chairs the Finance Committee and is, together with the members of the committee, responsible for overseeing the finances of the Union and for proposing the Union's annual budget to the Council.
Requirements and assets for the Treasurer role can be found in the best practices.

4.5

The Executive Director (or Directors) is responsible for the day-to-day running of the Union supported by the Union Office(s). They shall be a special representative of the Executive Board and an ex-officio member of the Council and of all Committees (unless otherwise specified in the By-laws). They have the right to speak, but not to vote.

4.6

The Executive Board is responsible for managing the association pursuant to its statutes. It oversees and provides strategic guidance to all activities of the Union, in particular those of the committees and the EGU Executive Office(s). Members of the Executive Board are ex-officio members (they have the right to speak, but not to vote) of all committees defined in these By-laws (unless otherwise specified in these By-laws). The Executive Board nominates all chairs and other members of Union committees to Council in consultation with the respective committees, unless otherwise specified in these By-laws (§8).

5.1

The Division Presidents are the representatives of the scientific community adhering to their Division. The Division President provides leadership for the management and administration of the scientific Division, in collaboration with the Deputy Division President and Division officers. The Division President is a member of the EGU Council. They represent their community/division in the Council meetings and participate in the strategic development of the Union. Division President's responsibilities include:

• participating in Council meetings;
• ensuring that the division covers all subjects of interest for the relevant community;
• overseeing the structure of the relevant General Assemblies Programme Group (PG) in consultation with the relevant PG Chair (if applicable);
• facilitating engagement from volunteers and the membership;
• soliciting candidates for the various Division officers roles and coordinating their activities;
• soliciting nominations of candidates to vacancies on the Council for the elections;
• soliciting nominations of candidates for the various awards and medals (relevant to the Division and Union) and liaising with the awards and medals recipients, presenting their awards during the General Assemblies;
• overseeing the discussions of the relevant medal committee(s) and maintaining its composition; they are an ex-officio member of the medal committee(s);
• convening a division meeting during the course of the General Assembly, during which they report on the activities of the Division, and providing a Division meeting report to be uploaded in the Division section of the EGU website;
• liaising with the relevant Journal Editorial Board (if applicable);
• moderating the relevant community mailing list to inform the members when and where appropriate and
• assuring the online presence of the division together with the relevant Division officers.

Requirements and assets for the Division President role can be found in the best practices.

5.2

The Union-level Early Career Scientist (ECS) Representative represents the interests of all Early Career Scientists within the Union and serves as a voting member of the Council. The Representative gathers input from Division ECS Representatives and ensures that the needs and perspectives of ECS members are communicated to all Committees and Council and are considered at the General Assembly and throughout the year. The Union-level ECS Representative coordinates and leads the ECS network, organises regular meetings of Division ECS Representatives, promotes ECS-related activities and initiatives, and supports inclusive engagement within the community. The Union-level ECS Representative serves on relevant Union committees and submits annual written and oral reports to Council outlining activities undertaken and planned, including associated resource requirements.

5.3

The committee chairs or co-chairs are ex-officio members of Council: they have the right to speak, but not to vote. They shall report to the Council on the activities of the committee and make recommendations regarding potential future activities. The committees carry out administrative activities of the Union.

6.1

Regular Council meetings take place, in general, three times per year; in winter, during the General Assembly, and in Autumn. To facilitate the effective progress of Council meetings, Council members are expected to come prepared, having read the agenda together with the appendices.

6.2

When possible, the Council meetings should allow the remote participation of members.

6.3

Council meetings should rotate locations and take into account the environmental footprint of their participants.

7.1

The scientific community is represented in Council through Divisions. These represent the scientific topics encompassed by the Union. The Division names shall be published on the EGU website.

7.2

Divisions hold at least one online or hybrid annual meeting around the time of the annual General Assembly. After each Division meeting, the Division shall provide the Executive Office with minutes of this meeting, which will be uploaded on the EGU website.

7.3

Each Division may create sub-Divisions to identify particular areas of interest.

7.4

Each Division shall have an ECS Division representative and may have additional Division officers. All shall be appointed by the Division meeting.

7.5

Each Division has their own section on the EGU website and is responsible for its contents.

7.6

The management and administration of each Division are the collective responsibility of the Division President, the Division Deputy President and the other Division officers. It is their responsibility to:

• ensure that all subjects within the remit of the Division are well represented by appropriate Sub-Divisions, and in particular, by appropriate liaison, to be aware of all possible mutual interests with other Divisions;
• solicit nominations for candidates for elections to vacancies on the Council;
• solicit nominations for candidates for the various awards and medals, especially those relevant to the Division and
• to liaise with the executive editors if their relevant journals and to invite them to report of their activities during the division meetings.

8.1

The administrative activities of the Union shall be carried out through the following Committees:

• Awards Committee (co-ordinates EGU medal committees, oversees the nominations and proposes awards recipients to the Council, after the recommendations from each medal or award committee);
• Education Committee (co-ordinates activities related to secondary and tertiary education);
• Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) Committee (supports the scientific mission of the EGU by promoting and supporting equality, diversity, and inclusion of opportunities in the Earth, planetary, and space sciences and provides advice to the Council);
• Ethics Committee (investigates reported breaches of the EGU Code of Conduct and other allegations of scientific misconduct);
• Finance Committee (co-ordinates EGU finances and fiscal strategy, and proposes budget to the Council);
• Outreach Committee (co-ordinates outreach activities that aim to promote the geosciences to a wide audience);
• Programme Committee (co-ordinates the scientific programme of the annual General Assembly including the participation support schemes and recommends implementations of potential conference formats to the Council);
• Publications Committee (co-ordinates EGU journals and other publications and ensures their highest scientific and ethical standards) and
• Topical Events Committee (co-ordinates financial supports scientific events that are not organised by EGU).

8.2

In addition to By-laws 4.6, the members of the EGU Executive Board shall be ex-officio members of all committees, with the exception of the Ethics Committee.

8.3

Each committee shall report their activities to the Council. They shall meet at least once a year during the autumn committee meetings and may organise further meetings (in-person or online) during the year.

8.4

Working Groups, that conduct further administrative activities of the Union, shall be established, modified or discontinued by the Council.

9.1

Each EGU journal is governed by an Editorial Board, which is responsible for the efficient operation of the journals and for maintaining high scientific and ethical standards. Each Editorial Board consists of two or more Executive Editors and a number of Topical Editors. The terms of reference of the Executive Editors and Editorial Board are described in the best practices. The Executive Editors shall organise an Editorial Board meeting during or around the time of the General Assembly, chair the meeting and report on the activities of the journal to the Publications Committee.

9.2

The Topical Editors are appointed by the Executive Editors after consultation with the other members of the Editorial Board and, where appropriate, other members of the scientific community served by the journal.

9.3

The Executive Editors are proposed to the Publications Committee and after acceptance, they are recommended by the Publications Committee to the Council for appointment.
Nomination proposals should demonstrate that the candidate:

• is an established scientist in the field of the journal and
• has strong links to the journal-relevant science community.

In addition, nomination criteria include:

• knowledge of and prior engagement with the relevant EGU community;
• familiarity with and support of the EGU open-access interactive publishing model and
• prior editorial experience, ideally in an EGU journal.

9.4

The Executive Editors shall liaise with the relevant Division Presidents and report to the Division meetings of the activities of the journals.

10.1

The ordinary Plenary meeting is convened on the Monday of the General Assembly of the Union during the lunch break and is open to all EGU members.

10.2

The ordinary Plenary meeting includes a report of the President on behalf of the Executive Board that outlines the activities of the Union for the past year, a financial report by the Treasurer for the past year as well as the presentation of the Union budget for the current year and a report from the auditors.

11.1

The EGU Union Executive Office(s) is (are) responsible for the day-to-day running of the Union under the direction of an Executive Director (Directors) and the general guidance of the Executive Board.

11.2

The office(s) provide(s) administrative assistance to the Council members, Union committees and Working Groups for their activities related to EGU. The office activities include but are not limited to:

• administration of the EGU membership;
• maintenance of the IT systems and the EGU websites;
• manage the Union communications;
• assure the liaison with the European decision makers and with the media;
• administration of the EGU elections;
• assistance in the organisation of the General Assemblies;
• provide support to the EGU publications;
• organisation of the Council, Committees and Working Groups meetings;
• supporting the implementation of Council resolutions;
• accounting of the Union under the supervision of the Treasurer and
• liaising with other scientific organisations.

11.3

The Executive Director (Directors) shall report each year on the activities of the office(s) to the Council.