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OCNS Director Elections

OCNS is a member-based society with an elected Board of Directors (see OCNS Bylaws). Each year 3-5 Directors are elected in the Fall for a 3 year mandate, starting on January of the next year. On this page we provide information on candidacy, voting and rules governing the elections. Five Directors finish their terms at the end of 2023. Therefore, five roles are to be filled this year:

  • Travels awards
  • Registration
  • Webmaster
  • Social Media
  • Sponsorship

New Directors will act as deputy chair in their roles by shadowing the current Chairs for a year, and then take over when the current Chairs finish their terms at the end of 2023 (except for the sponsorship chair role). All Director duties are described here. 

Calendar for 2022

  • October 01 - November 11 (extended deadline): Candidate submissions on OCNS website (self-nominations only).
  • November 11 - November 13: Nomination Committee evaluates candidates.
  • November 14: Candidate list will be made public on OCNS website.
  • November 14 - December 09: Voting by members.
  • Mid-December: Results reported to Members and Candidates.

Candidacy

All members with active OCNS membership status (all dues paid before the application deadline) can self-nominate, provided they: (i) have been a member of OCNS for a minimum of 12 months, or (ii) have attended an on-site CNS conference in the past. Candidates must demonstrate prior involvement in the field of computational neuroscience. No two Directors should work in the same laboratory and candidacies may be refused if elections can cause this to happen. Current Directors and Officers whose mandate ends December 2022 may apply.

We strongly encourage members to consider candidacy for these elections. OCNS is committed to have a wide diversity among its Directors---across research areas, gender, abilities, career experiences, geographic locations, and personal backgrounds, and this is possible only if a broad range of members apply. The OCNS strives to be a diverse group and encourages a balanced and inclusive representation of women in leadership positions within the organisation.

The application is done after login on the OCNS website and requires

  • a picture
  • a general introduction (max 500 characters)
  • describe research interests (max 350 characters)
  • describe past contribution/participation in computational neuroscience (max 350 characters)
  • statement of motivation (max 500 characters)

The Nomination Committee evaluates and encourages candidates if needed. The aim is to have more than 10 candidates representing a wide range of gender, geography, seniority, experience, and scientific interest.

Elections

Members who paid their dues and with approved OCNS membership status before application deadline will login on the OCNS website to vote. A list of Candidates is presented with links to information about each Candidate.

Voting is anonymous. One can vote for as many Candidates as one likes but we advise to vote for multiple candidates. Once the vote is submitted it is final.

Results

  • Votes for each Candidate are computed and Candidates are ranked according to the number of votes they receive and the top Candidates are elected. We will ensure that among the elected members, one student member (if there are any) is present and adapt the selection accordingly (depending on if the student was ranked in the first positions or not)
  • In the case of a tie for the last position the Nomination Committee will select the elected Candidate based on balancing gender, geography, seniority, experience and scientific interest.
  • The list of the elected Directors will be made public, but detailed results will not be communicated. Election results with an indication of how well they fared in the election will be communicated to all Candidates in private.

Nomination Committee

The 2022 Nomination Committee consists of:

  • Cengiz Gunay
  • Eirini Mavristaki
  • Shailesh Appukuttan