Minutes IUMS General Assembly Sydney, Australia Sunday, 15th August,1999, 9.30am - 12.30pm
1 Welcome: The President, P Helena Mäkelä, welcomed National Delegates to the General Assembly
2 Delegates: Representatives of the following National Committees and Member Societies were present:
Argentina Australia Belgium China Egypt Finland France Germany India Israel Japan The Netherlands New Zealand Norway Portugal Russia Singapore Slovenia South Africa Spain Turkey United Kingdom USA
The Secretary General explained the new voting procedures and the number of votes to be cast under the existing statutes
3 Minutes of the previous General Assembly, Prague, 1994 Appendix 1
Copies of the previous minutes (published in the World Journal of Microbiology & Biotechnology, Vol 10, IUMS News No 6) had been circulated to delegates and were adopted as correct
4 Report of the President P H Mäkelä Appendix 2
P H Mäkelä summarized the developments since the General Assembly held in Prague in 1994. She characterized this period as the beginning of the postgenomic era. She mentioned that IUMS activities in this period has been
The President concluded by summarizing the changes that have occurred in the IUMS umbrella organization, ICSU, and underlined the change of focus in the funding structure with emphasis on the funding of projects and collaboration between Unions, an emphasis which IUMS should take into account in its future activities. The report was adopted
5 Report of the Treasurer S G Bradley Appendix 3a & b
Presentation of the Report: S G Bradley reported that IUMS finances are in a critical situation due to the reduction of ICSU grants (from US$25 000 to the present level of US$ 7 000), the reduced amount of IUMS dues, notably France, United Kingdom and Russia and the lack of contributions from industry. He also stated that income derived from IUMS International Congresses was significantly down - the Jerusalem Congresses having sustained a loss of US$ 15 000
Proposed Amendment to the By-Laws
Section VII Dues. B20
The Treasurer proposed that in order to improve the collection of IUMS dues, an amendment of the IUMS statutes by deleting Bylaw B 20 which puts a 25% maximum of total dues to be paid by any one country be adopted Appendix 3c The amendment was adopted by a majority of voting delegates
Appointment of auditors. Three auditors from among the delegates were appointed to review the Treasurer’s reports: K Kurtzman (USA), G Greening (New Zealand) and Lim Chor Kiang (Singapore)
6 Report of the Secretary General M H V Van Regenmortel Appendix 4
The Secretary General presented his report and drew attention to the following:
Membership:
Since 1994, when the membership of IUMS was 92 full member societies and 26 associate members from 60 countries, the membership now stands at 81 full member societies and 29 associate members from 68 countries. In the period 1995-1998, the following societies have been admitted as full members:
The following societies have ceased to be members of IUMS:
The present membership list is attached Appendix 4.1
Organizational Matters:
The Executive Board of IUMS held its 1996 annual meeting in Jerusalem, 16 - 17 August, during the International IUMS Congresses. At that time, the Executive Board considered the bids received from five countries to host the IUMS Congresses in 2002 and Paris, France was unanimously elected as the venue for these Congresses.
Sponsored Meetings
IUMS sponsored 20 meetings between 1995-1998
In view of its decreasing financial resources, the IUMS Executive Board decided in 1997 to reallocate its resources to a few major projects such as the Microbial Diversity program, DIVERSITAS, the Species 2000 project involved in the establishment of taxonomic databases, the Pneumococcal Molecular Epidemiology Network and the short term IUMS/UNESCO and SGM fellowship program
Publications
The World Journal Of Microbiology & Biotechnology (WJMB) published by Chapman Hall was the official journal of IUMS from 1991-1996. Items of interest published in WJMB are:
In 1996 IUMS terminated its contract withThe World Journal Of Microbiology & Biotechnology (WJMB) and came to an agreement with ASM News whereby IUMS News items are published in ASM News. At present IUMS pays for the mailing of 52 copies of ASM News to IUMS member societies underserved with journals.
Societies now receiving ASM News: Appendix 4.2
The Secretary General gave a list of IUMS News items that have appeared in ASM News, 1996-1999
Journals which fall under the auspices of IUMS:
IUMS Brochure and Directory
IUMS published a Brochure and Directory in 1997. Copies were sent to individual members of IUMS member societies. The Brochure and Directory have since been updated and the latest information is available on the IUMS Website.
IUMS Statutes
The new Nomination and Voting Procedures for the incoming Executive Board, proposed by the IUMS General Assembly Prague, 1994, were ratified by the Executive Board at the Jerusalem 1996 meeting. Following this, the IUMS statutes were altered and approved by postal ballot sent to all member societies. These procedures will be followed in the present election of the Executive Board. The IUMS revised statutes are available on the IUMS Website. Copies were sent to Member Society Secretaries in February 1999. The new voting procedures for the election of Executive Board members are attached Appendix 4.3
IUMS Congresses
Prior to 1996, the Virology Congresses were held at 3 year intervals and the BAM/Mycology Congresses at 4 year intervals. In order to strengthen ties between the Divisions it was decided at the IUMS General Assembly held in Berlin in 1990 to synchronize the various Congresses on a 3-year basis in a back-to-back arrangement over two weeks, with business meetings conducted in between. The first such back-to-back Congresses took place in Jerusalem in 1996 which followed on the Virology Congress held in Glasgow in 1993 and the BAM/Mycology Congresses held in Prague in 1994. In order to achieve synchrony the EB was elected in Prague for an exceptional five year term ie. until the Sydney Congresses in 1999. From 1999 onwards, the EB will serve for 3 year periods.
In 2002, the IUMS Congresses will be held in Paris over one week, 28 July - 2 August, 2002. The Paris Congress Center is able to accommodate both Virology and BAM/Mycology Congresses simultaneously (expected attendance: 5000 to 7000 participants) which will lead to a considerable savings in overheads.
The Paris Congress Center agreed to pay IUMS US$25 per participant (ie. full paying, invited and accompanying participants). They will also give IUMS 200 grants of US$ 600 and 400 grants of US$300 to help with the attendance of young scientists and participants from developing countries.
7 Divisional Reports
Bacteriology, Applied Microbiology Division D Woods Appendix 5
D Woods reported that BAM continues to be hampered in its activities due to lack of funding. The major source of income is derived from attendance at BAM International Congresses and the low level of attendance at the Jerusalem Congress adversely affected the Division. He further reported that the Division has continued to have problems in retaining links with its COMCOFs. The report was adopted
Mycology Division Report L Polonelli Appendix 5.1
L Polonelli delivered his report. He said that the Mycology Division should stress Medical Mycology in its future Congresses as this would attract more mycologists. He noted that France has many medical mycologists and that this should help with increased attendance at the Mycology Congress in Paris, 2002. He proposed that IUBS/IUMS should put on a joint IMA/Mycology Division Congress in Paris 2002 (to be decided by incoming Mycology EB representatives). Action: Mycology Division Representatives. The report was adopted
Virology Division Report J Almond Appendix 5.2
J Almond reported on the Division’s activities during the period August 1994 to August 1999 which included a report on the 10th International Congress of Virology, Jerusalem, 1996, the IUMS Web site, topics published in Archives of Virology of Virology Division News and the ICTV 7th Report. The report was adopted
8 Diversitas and Microbial Biodiversity Report R Colwell Appendix 6
Rita Colwell gave an overview of the activities of Diversitas and Microbial Biodiversity activities during the period 1994-1999. She will continue to act as the IUMS representative on the Biodiversity program. The report was adopted
9 Report: Transportation of Biological Materials : B Mahy, J Mackenzie Appendix 7
In accordance with the resolution adopted at the Prague General Assembly, 1994, B Mahy and J Mackenzie delivered a report on the transportation of Biological Materials. This report will be published on the IUMS Website and in ASM News. The report was adopted
10 Report: UNESCO, IUMS, SGM Fellowships B Nair Appendix 8
B Nair delivered his report. This report will be published on the IUMS Website and in ASM News. The report was adopted
11 Report of the Nomination Committe for the new Executive Board
Voting by IUMS delegates for the Election of: President, 2 Vice Presidents, Treasurer, Secretary General, 2 Members at Large. The Chairman (P H Mäkelä) presented the report: the following persons were proposed for the new IUMS Executive Board:
President: Brian Mahy (USA). Vice Presidents: Luciano Polonelli (Italy), W N Konings (The Netherlands)
Alternatives: A P J Trinci (United Kingdom), K Banerjee (India)
Treasurer: W A Hamilton (United Kingdom), Secretary General: J Mackenzie (Australia)
Members at Large: K Klugman (South Africa), Y Zeng (China)
Alternatives A Gosh (India) A K Vidaver (USA)
The proposed list was voted on by the delegates and the candidates proposed by the Nominating Committee were elected Appendix 9
12 Announcement: IUMS Congress Site: 2005
The President announced that the executive Board had selected San Francisco, USA, for the Congress site for the IUMS Congresses, 2005
13 Auditors Report on the Treasurer’s report
The appointed auditors, K Kurtzman (USA), G Greening (New Zealand) and Lim Chor Kiang (Singapore) reported that the Treasurer’s report was in order. The Treasurer’s report was adpoted
14 Report on IUMS Awards
The selection committee for IUMS Awards chose the following recipients for the IUMS Awards, 1999. The Stuart Mudd Award Dr Hilary Koprowski. The Van Niel International Prize Dr Kazuo Komagata. The Arima Award Dr Juan Francisco Martin. Information on IUMS Awards is included Appendix 10
15 Executive Board Handover Meeting
New Executive Board Members were invited to attend the Handover meeting on Sunday, 15th August: 2 - 4.30pm
