EAMBES Council and Executive Board Meet in BrusselsThe second meetings of the interim Executive Board and Council of EAMBES took place in Brussels on February 19-20, 2004. Again we were able to make use of the excellent meeting facilities of the Royal Flemish Academy of Belgium for Science and Arts in the centre of Brussels. The attendance was good with only a few of the Council members sending their apologies for not being able to attend. Contacts with the Commission and Eucomed The day before the meetings began, some of us met with representatives of the unit "Future and Emerging Technologies" (FET / INFSO) to discuss how EAMBES could facilitate the formulation of the objectives and research themes of the 7th Framework Programme in the area of FET. The conclusion was that EAMBES could support them by:
On Thursday we continued our discussions with Dr. Richard Moore from Eucomed and he agreed to be a speaker of the opening plenary session in the Medicon conference in Ischia, Italy, August 1st. Registration of EAMBES We submitted our application to be registered under Belgian law as an international non-profit organisation in late 2003. Jos vander Sloten, our Secretary-General, had received the comments from the Ministry of Justice. The content of our Statutes seems to be OK. What is required, however, is to restructure that content in accordance with the Belgian requirements. Two small task groups were appointed for that work. One will meet with the Belgian officers and the other will revise the statutes. This was decided with the understanding that the required changes are only editorial in nature. The intention is to resubmit as soon as possible in order to have the registration approved by the time we meet in Ischia. Division of Fellows Helmut Hutten had worked out an initial draft for the statutes of the Fellows division. It was agreed that these will be further worked on by the task groups mentioned above and submitted for email balloting before our next Ischia meeting. Membership applications Invitations to submit a membership application to EAMBES were sent out in early February to appr. 750 addresses in Europe. These refer to the EAMBES website (www.eambes.org) where applicants can fill in the application form, print and sign it, and then mail it to the EAMBES Secretary-General, Jos vander Sloten. A reminder will be sent out to all in late March also asking when can we expect to receive the application and if any clarifications are needed before an application can be made. Elections will take place in Ischia In accordance with the EAMBES Statutes, the elections of the Officers and half of the Council members must take place annually. In connection with the Medicon conference in Ischia, Italy, the Council will be asked to elect the Officers of EAMBES for 2005. There will be four vacant Officer positions to fill, namely President, President-Elect, Secretary-General and Treasurer. This is the first time regular Officer elections have taken place. The procedure was discussed in the Council meeting with the following outcomes:
All organisations intending to become members of EAMBES have the right to nominate candidates for the election. In selecting nominees, please be sure that they are aware of the objectives and statutes of EAMBES and of the time commitments connected with these positions. The announcement inviting nominations can be found at the EAMBES website. The elections for the Council positions will take place late in 2004. In Ischia both Divisions will hold their General Meetings and elect their respective Nominating Committees. Multidivisional committees Three committees were created in the first Council meeting in mid-October 2003. These reported on their work and actions. Activities "Science"
Actions "Education"
Actions "Use of Medical Devices"
Niilo Saranummi
|