Statutes of the Vacuum Science and Technology Division

Article 1 - Name

The organization shall be known as the Vacuum Science and Technology Division of the International Union for Vacuum Science, Technique and Applications (IUVSTA), registered in Brussels, Belgium.

Article 2 - Objectives

The objectives of the Division are to promote, encourage and develop the science and technology associated with Vacuum Science and Technology in all countries, mainly through the following means:

A. The Division will liaise with national and international bodies active in the field of vacuum science and technology with the particular aim of effective coordination, at the international level, and act to relay information on local national meetings.

B. The Division will be concerned with the organization of technical sessions at the International Vacuum Congress and other international conferences, topical conferences, summer schools, workshops, short courses, educational activities and exhibitions.

C. The Division will promote the publication of scientific papers in proceedings, scientific journals and books in the field of vacuum science and technology.

D. The Division will contribute to other activities of the IUVSTA, in particular those of interest to the Vacuum Science and Technology Division.

Article 3 - Membership

All members from countries which have Vacuum Societies or National Committees that are members of IUVSTA can take part in planning the activities of the Division and influencing policy decisions.

Article 4 - Divisional Committee

The Divisional Committee is the nucleus of the Vacuum Science and Technology Division and decides upon all scientific and technical matters of Divisional interest. The Divisional Committee will have an elected Chairperson, Vice-Chairperson and Secretary/Treasurer.

Article 5 - Structure of the Division, Nominations and Elections

A. Each National Committee within IUVSTA is invited to nominate one Divisional representative, chosen for his or her special interest in the subject of the Division. The nominated representatives for the Vacuum Science and Technology Division will act as the Divisional Electoral College. In the event of death or permanent incapacity of such a representative, the National Committee, which had nominated this delegate, shall nominate a new delegate as member of the Divisional College.

If the membership of the Divisional College exceeds 10 in number the members of the Divisional College will elect from their own ranks seven (7) members of the Divisional Committee. The election of the future Divisional Committee will be organized and conducted by the Secretary of the present Divisional Committee under the direction of the Chairperson of the present Divisional Committee. The election of the Divisional Committee is carried out by voting by correspondence. Each representative votes for seven (7) members; those representatives who get the highest number of votes are elected as members of the Divisional Committee. Each Electoral College member should give an order of preference in casting votes for the Divisional Committee; if and only if there is a tie vote (for the last member), the order of preference will be used to decide who will be elected. If there is still a tie situation then all those members in the tie shall serve on the Divisional Committee and the Committee will have more members for that triennium. In the case of resignation, death or permanent incapacity of a Divisional Committee member, that person shall be replaced by the member of the Divisional College who received the greatest number of votes among those not elected in the original vote by correspondence.

B. The elected Divisional Committee members may, in turn, co-opt three (3) other members. The co-opted members would be experts in the field; membership of national Committees is not required. It is suggested that the immediate past chairperson be considered for a co-opted member to provide advice and guidance. In the final Divisional Committee, normally no more than two persons domiciled in the same country shall be members.

C. The Divisional Committee should elect a Chairperson, a Vice-Chairperson, and a person to act as both Secretary and Treasurer from its own members who are also members of the Divisional College. Co-opted members may be Divisional Officers only when elected members refuse to take the position. Each member of the Divisional Committee will indicate his or her preference among the Committee membership for these three positions; the person with the highest preference will be elected Chairperson, the positions of Vice-Chairperson and Secretary-Treasurer will be filled from the next two highest preferences.

On acceptance of these statutes by the IUVSTA Executive Council, the Vacuum Science and Technology Division will abide by the following procedure in the selection of co-opted members of the Divisional Committee.

The Divisional Committee may extend by majority vote to the Divisional Chairperson the right to select persons to become co-opted members of the Divisional Committee. It is suggested that this item be placed on the ballot when the Divisional Committee votes for Divisional Officers.

It is further suggested that, at the time of the ballot, the Divisional Committee members may be asked to suggest persons for consideration by the Chairperson for co-opted status.

D. The same person may be the national representative for more than one Division, but may be a member of no more than two Divisional Committees.

E. All members of the Divisional Committee and the Divisional College will serve for a three year term; normally no member shall serve for more than six consecutive years. An exception to this rule is allowed for a previous Chairperson of the Committee who may be co-opted as suggested in Article 5.B. In general, the three year term will start at the ordinary General Meeting held during the triennial IVC meetings. The election procedure for the Divisional Committee should be completed two months before the ordinary General Meeting. The existing Divisional Committee will remain in charge until the next ordinary General meeting.

F. On the first working day of the 5th calendar month before the date of any Ordinary General Meeting the Chairperson of the Division shall arrange with the Secretary/Treasurer of the Division to initiate the electoral processes for the new Committee. The Chairperson shall announce the election results by correspondence to the members of the Divisional College.

Article 6 - Divisional College

Divisional representatives who form the Divisional College will elect the Divisional Committee (see Article 5). The Divisional representatives will serve during the three-year term as contact persons between their own national Committee and the Vacuum Science and Technology Divisional Committee. They will be kept informed of the Divisional Committee actions and, in turn, should ensure that their national committee is kept informed of those actions.

In cases of basic and important questions, all Divisional Representatives should be consulted by the Divisional Committee.

Article 7 - Duties of the Officers of the Division

A. The Divisional Chairperson shall represent the Division in meetings of the Executive Council of IUVSTA and will report on the activities of the Division in Executive Council Meetings. Outside the Union he/she will represent the Division especially with respect to interactions with other international or national scientific and technical societies.

B. The Divisional Chairperson will preside at all business meetings of the Divisional Committee and Divisional College.

C. The Divisional Vice-Chairperson shall carry on all duties of the Chairperson in the event of the Chairperson's absence, illness, resignation, or incapacity; he/she should carry out such other duties as may be assigned by the Chairperson.

D. The Secretary/Treasurer shall be responsible for the minutes of all Divisional Committee and Divisional College Meetings. He/she shall be in charge of all correspondence pertaining to the operation of the Division at the discretion of the Chairperson. The Secretary/Treasurer shall keep a strict accounting of all income and expenditures. He/she may pay out such funds as authorized by the Chairperson, or the Vice-Chairperson if the Chairperson is incapacitated, to meet all obligations of the Division. He/she shall issue a report of the financial standing of the Division at the business meeting of the Division or whenever required by the Chairperson. He/she should file an annual Divisional Treasurer's Report and a Request for a Budget for the following year with the Director of the Scientific and Technical Directorate of the Union at the preceding year's end.

E. The Officers of the Division (Chairperson, Vice-Chairperson and Secretary) should be members of the National Committee of the country where they have chosen their domicile.

F. In case of resignation of the elected Chairperson, the Vice-Chairperson will act as Chairperson for the remaining part of the three-year term.

Article 8 - Finances

Members of the Divisional Committee are encouraged to solicit support from their National Committees for travel to committee meetings. In general, no funds will be available for travel expenses of Committee members.

The Secretary/Treasurer of the Divisional Committee will be responsible for the administration of any income and expenditure.

Article 9 - Specified Activities

A. Triennial Congress

The Divisional Committee will nominate a number of members of the associated Divisional International Programme Committee (IPC) of the Congress. These nominees provide the international component of the IPC and will comprise mainly Divisional Committee members, although the Committee may wish to include other nominees to improve the scientific or national balance, making use particularly of other members of the Divisional Electoral College. The number of nominees will be decided by the Congress Chair but ranges from 3 for Divisions with few sessions in the Congress to 10 for those with many sessions.

The Divisional Committee will also nominate, from within its group of individual nominees, two alternative possible chairpersons for this Divisional IPC. One of these will be selected by the Congress Scientific Chairperson, bearing in mind the need for some national balance and the need for good communications. The IPC Divisional Chairpersons and the Congress Scientific Chairperson form the Scientific Organising Committee for overall programme decisions. The Divisional IPC will be responsible for nominating Invited Speakers and for the selection of contributed abstracts into oral and poster sessions. In the first round of information collection concerning the identification of possible Invited Speakers and session topics the IPC should seek the views of all members of the Divisional College.

An approximate timeline for these activities is:

a) Nominations of IPC members by Divisional Committees - 32 months

b) Final IPC membership) agreed - 30 months

c) Final lists of Invited Speakers/Session topics - 20 months

d) Abstract selection meeting - 6 months

A full set of guidelines is available in the IUVSTA Procedures Manual.

B. European Vacuum Conference

The Vacuum Science and Technology Division is responsible for the site selection and continuity of the European Vacuum Conference series (EVC). Proposals in written form in accordance with the protocol laid down in the IUVSTA Procedures Manual (Protocol for Decision on Applications to Host the European Vacuum Conference) should be in the hands of the Secretary of the Division two months before the first meeting of the Division in the calendar year three years before the year of the proposed EVC and will be considered at that Vacuum Science Division meeting. The Divisional Committee shall consider all applications and arrange for a ballot to be held to determine the most acceptable bid.

The Divisional Committee will nominate at least 3 (three) members of the Programme Committee of the European Vacuum Conference.

Article 10 - Amendments

These statutes may be amended by a majority vote of ballots cast by members of the Divisional College. A minimum of two-thirds of the total number of members of the Divisional College must participate in this balloting. Voting on amendments will be organized by the Secretary/Treasurer of the Divisional Committee.

Any such amendments are subject to confirmation by the Executive Council of the Union.

Any proposed amendments would be discussed with the Director of the Scientific and Technical Directorate, prior to submission to the members of the Divisional College.