Procedure For Nominations Of Members To Commissions And Executive Council

The positions Chair, Vice-Chair and Secretary are collectively called the Officers of the Commission. Other members are called Ordinary Members when it is necessary to distinguish them from Officers.People who are nominated for membership of Commissions should be aware that service on a Commission requires work on their part: responding to questions from the Chair of the Secretary, attending face to face or audio or video meetings, evaluating bids for conference support, and doing tasks that may be requested of them. The workload is clearly uneven in its pattern. Averaged over the year it may be a few hours a week, but there could be times when full days need to be devoted to Commission work.

Normally Commission Members serve from one General Assembly to the next, which is a three year term. The Executive Council will introduce a Resolution at the 30th General Assembly that, although the 30th General Assembly was delayed until 2021, the 31st will be held in 2023, in the Centenary year of the first General Assembly, and that Commission members, and members of the Executive Council elected at the 30th General Assembly serve a three year term, until the October 2024 meeting of the Executive Council and Commission Chairs.

Commission Members, individually and collectively, have responsibility to:

• Represent their sub-discipline, according to IUPAPs mission and statutes, with distinction
• Contribute to meetings of the Commission, in person and/or via electronic means
• Ensure applications from the most appropriate international conferences, which support their sub-discipline and which satisfy IUPAP rules, reach IUPAP for consideration in the annual round of applications for conference
• Contribute to the Commission’s consideration of applications for conference support
• Ensure nominations for the Commissions Young Scientist Prizes are sought from the broad spectrum of their physics community, including with due regard to representation of equity groups, particularly women
• Contribute to the process of deciding the Young Scientist Prizes following processes that ensure unconscious bias is identified and avoided
• Explain to their national physics community the part that IUPAP and their commission of IUPAP plays in assisting in the worldwide development of physics, in fostering international cooperation in physics, and in helping in the application of physics toward solving problems of concern to humanity.
• Assist their national physics community and their commission to identify, nominate and propose candidates for the next Commission.
• Contribute to reporting activities within their physics community, especially those involving international cooperation, through IUPAP Newsletters and Commission reports, which in turn lead to an overall, high quality profile of current Physics in the international context. This profile is to be one of which the physics community can be proud.
• Contribute to identifying projects and issues that should be the subject of an IUPAP Working Group.

The expected workload of those who become Chair, Vice-Chair or Secretary is significantly higher. Those asked to consider nomination to an officer position should ideally consult the present Chair about the likely workload, because it varies from Commission to Commission. However they should expect a high workload at the time of Commission meetings, Conference bids and evaluation of nominations for their successor commission. Chairs are also expected to attend the annual two day meeting of the Council and Commission Chairs. Some commissions have a connection with a Working Group, and are expected to attend meetings of that working group. A crude estimate of a Chairs workload is about 4 weeks of full time work, and quiet times of 3-4 hours a week in between. The Vice-Chair and the Secretary would have about half the workload of the Chair.

The officers of a Commission are responsible for leading the Commission in exercising the above responsibilities, and for ensuring that the views of their sub-discipline of physics are adequately represented to IUPAP, and that the views of IUPAP about physics as a whole are adequately represented to their Commission and to physicists working in their sub-discipline.

There is no defined succession path from Vice-Chair to Chair, or from Secretary to Chair, but these officers often do go on to become the Chair of the Commission.

When submitting a nomination, nominees are asked to confirm that they have read the above description of the responsibilities of the positions for which they are nominating.

• Nominations by Liaison Committees of National Members for positions on Commissions
  • Nominations by Liaisons for positions on Commissions are to be made on the form on the IUPAP web via a link to be provided as soon as possible. It is regretted that the disruption in the working of IUPAP by the termination of our office at the Nanyang University of Technology on 31 December 2020 has meant that the nominations website is not operational at the time of the call for nominations. This form will be available for nominations as soon as possible.
  • To show you the information that will be required, an image of the 2017 form is included in the appendix. The 2021 form will ask for the same information.
  • Nominations must be made on the form available from the link, but you are encouraged to collect the necessary information now.
  • If, after you complete and submit a form, and receive a copy, you wish to make a correction, you will need to submit a new form. When you do so, the new form will replace the previous form on our database.
  • Nominations may be made for Chair, Vice-Chair, Secretary and Nominees for Chair, Vice-Chair and Secretary will also be considered as nominations for members, in the event that they are not recommended as officers, if they are eligible for an additional term as a member.
  • The initial nominations of physicists for Commissions are made by the Liaison Committees of National The closing date for these nominations is 20th June 2021.
  • Liaison Committees should include women and applied physicists in their nominations.
  • The Executive Council has determined that, in 2021-2023, there should be at least 4 of each Commission who are women and at least 4 who are men, and that at least one of the Officers of a Commission should be a woman and at least one of the Officers of the Commission should be a man.

  WG5 on Women in Physics can help you identify women nominees, through their Country Contacts for your country. Go to the WG5 website http://wgwip.df.uba.ar/, and click Country Contact on the left hand side, to discover your country contact.

  Invited speakers in relevant conferences is another source for potential women and men candidates.

  • Liaison Committees are asked to nominate at least the number of physicists equal to the integer greater than 1.3 times their number of shares. The proposed minimum number of nominations is

  Shares	Minimum Nominees	Shares	Minimum Nominees
  1	2	2	3
  3	4	4	6
  5	7	6	8
  7	10	8	11
  9	12	10	14
  11	15	12	16
  13	17	14	19
  15	20	16	21
  17	23	18	24

  This is to help ensure that they get a number of Commission members equal to their number of shares, and to help the Commissions,, the Nomination committee and the General Assembly elect a Commission with adequate subdiscipline, gender and geographic diversity.

  • To help us understand how our very different liaison committees work we are asking those making nominations to tell us a little about the consultation process which generated the nomination
  • The nominations for a particular commission are sent to the Chair of that Commission, to the office and are copied back to the nominator.
  • Nominations for additional terms
    • Existing Commission members who have served one term may be renominated for the same position or for another position on the same Commission.
    • Existing Commissions members who have served two terms as ordinary members may be nominated only for Chair, Vice-Chair or Secretary.
    • Vice-Chairs, or Secretaries who have served two terms may be nominated as Chair, or for the officer position they have not served.
    • Retiring Chairs may not be nominated to any position on the Commission.
    • Commissions may suggest possible nominees to Liaison Committees.

• Commissions may nominate additional physicists to their Commission until from 20th June 2021 to 8th September 2021. The nomination form can be accessed via the link to be provided before 20th June 2021.
• Commissions will provide a recommendation for the officers and members of the Commission by 8th September 2021, with their comments on all of the nominations. Chairs will be provided with the instructions and the link for this on 21st June 2021.
• Commissions are reminded of the requirement that To the extent practical, at least one member shall be from industry. If a Commission believes that this requirement is not practical, it shall inform the Council of its reasoning.
• The Executive Council has determined that, in 2017-2020, there should be at least 4 women members of each Commission.

WG5 on Women in Physics can help you identify women nominees, but a good source of potential nominees for Commissions is the Invited speakers at their conferences.

The working group on Physics in Industry will also be invited to nominate Physicists in Industry to the Commissions.

• Nominations for additional terms
  • Existing Commission members who have served one term may be renominated for the same position or for another position on the same Commission
  • Existing Commissions members who have served two terms as ordinary members may be nominated only for Chair, Vice-Chair or Secretary
  • Vice-Chairs, or Secretaries who have served two terms may be nominated as Chair, or for the officer position they have not served
  • Chairs may not be renominated to any position on the Commission

• Review by the Nominations Committee of Executive Council, and by Executive Council
  • After nominations and Commission recommendations are received, a nominations committee of will convene to produce the first draft of the slate. The committee will be chaired by President Michel Spiro, with other members to be appointed.
  • The draft slate will endeavour to balance geographical distribution, coverage of sub- disciplines and to ensure that each National Member has a number of commissioners equal to its number of shares.
  • The committee may, on behalf of the Executive Council, make additional nominations to Commissions.
  • The draft slate will be discussed by a meeting of the Nominations Committee with the EC&CC in the meeting of 14th October 2021 to 19th October 2021, considered by Executive Council, modified if necessary, and provided to the delegates to the General Assembly before the first day of the meeting.

• Nominations by Liaison Committees

  Liaison Committees may, with a closing date of 30 August 2021, make nominations for the following positions on the Executive Council, on the form available at a link to be provided as soon as possible.:

  • President Designate
  • Secretaries General (there will be two after adoption of the New Statutes)
  • Associate Secretary General
  • Vice-President at Large with responsibility as Treasurer, to become Treasurer on the adoption of the New Statutes
  • Vice-President at Large with responsibility as Gender Champion
  • Vice-President at Large with responsibility for Members: Relations and Development
  • Vice-President at Large with responsibility for Outreach and Ethics
  • Vice-President at Large with responsibility for the Centenary Celebrations

  Nominees for the above positions should consult the President for information on the likely workload.

  Now that the Vice-Presidents at Large have defined responsibilities they should note that the positions now have a non-trivial workload attached. The workload pattern will be very uneven, but it should be expected to add up to about 6 weeks a year.

  Questions about the responsibilities of the Vice-Presidents at Large should be directed to the President.

  The responsibilities and workload be outlined in a document to be provided as soon as possible.

• Review by the Nominations Committee of Executive Council, and Executive Council
  • The Nominations committee referred to above will recommend to the Executive Council the five Vice Presidents to be elected from the Commission Chairs, and for the five Vice Presidents to be elected at large.
  • The committee may, on behalf of the Executive Council, make additional nominations for the positions of Vice Presidents at Large.
  • The President, the Past President, the President Designate and the Secretary General will recommend to the Executive Council nominees for President, President Designate, Secretaries-General, and Associate Secretary General, making additional nominations if necessary.
  • These recommendations will be discussed by the Executive Council, modified if necessary, and provided as the slate of nominees to the General Assembly on 19 October 2021, before the first day of the General Assembly.

The General Assembly devotes some of each of its three days to the election of new members of Commissions and of the Executive Council

• Receipt of the slate of nominees

  The slate of nominees is simply the list of Commission members, and Executive Council members, which the Executive Council recommends to the General Assembly. Only people who have been nominated by Liaisons, Commissions, or the Executive Council, as described above, can appear on the slate.

  The slate of nominees will be received by the General Assembly the day before its first day. The personal details of the nominees, whether or not they are placed on the slate, are confidential to the delegates to the General Assembly, and to members of Commissions and the Executive Council.

  Access to the nomination papers which contain those details is restricted to the above, and will be available from the presentation of the slate on 19 October 2021.

  Liaisons may of course note that some of their nominees are not on the slate. They may note their special concerns during the discussion on the first day, and indicate an intention to re-nominate.

  Chat room facilities will be provided during day 1 for the slate to be varied by negotiation. One nominee for a Commission listed on the slate, may be replaced by another nominee for that Commission, not originally listed on the slate, if the exchange is agreed to by the leaders of the delegations of representing the nominating members for each, and the Chair of the Commission and the President Designate.

• Re-nominations
  Early on the second day of the General Assembly, people who were not placed on the slate may be re-nominated by the member or Commission which originally nominated them. If this re-nomination is supported (seconded) by an additional member, the person who is re-nominated and seconded will be added to the slate, which will then have more names on it that the number of members of that Commission, thus requiring a vote.
• Election and ballot for positions on Commissions
  If the slate for any Commission now contains more names than there are positions on the Commission, in the voting period at the end of the second day of the General Assembly a secret ballot will be held to elect the members of that Commission. In the ballot the leader of a members’ delegation will cast the number of votes held by that member.The voting on the composition of a Commission, if required will occur in the voting period at the close of day 2.

  If the slate for any Commission now contains a number of names equal to the number of positions on the Commission, on the third day of the General Assembly those members will be declared elected without any ballot.

• Election of members of the Executive Council
  The General Assembly elects the next Executive Council by a procedure completely equivalent to the above procedure for elections to Commissions.