National and/or International Biophysics Congress Organizing Guidelines

1. Scope of the Directive

This guideline has been prepared to determine the place and time of the National and/or International Biophysics Congresses held every year, the rules to be followed and the procedure to be followed in determining the Congress President, Congress Organizing Committee and Scientific Committee President and members, in forming the Advisory Board and the duties and authorities of these committees.

2. The authority to organize the Congress belongs to the Board of Directors.

The Board of Directors of the Turkish Biophysics Association is authorized to determine the place, time and the Chairman of the Congress Organizing Committee of the National Biophysics Congresses held every year and to make changes when necessary.

The Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Turkish Biophysics Association is also the Chairman of the Congress. The Chairman of the Board of Directors may, if he wishes, transfer the duty and authority of the Congress Chairmanship to another member with the approval of the Board of Directors. The Chairman of the Congress ensures that the Board of Directors, Scientific Board, Organizing Board and Advisory Board work in harmony and comply with this Directive, and makes requests for invitations and assistance from abroad on behalf of the Association and the Congress.

In the congresses held every year, the Board of Directors decides on the place and time of the next congress after consulting with the members of the Association. If necessary, the Board of Directors may raise the status of the Congress to ” International Participation ” or ” International ” level, and may take initiatives to organize a joint congress in Turkey or another country with the international organizations of which it is a member.

The members of the Board of Directors and the Scientific Board may ask the Scientific Board for their opinion on proposing a lecture to a maximum of two of our retired members, or, depending on the nature of the Congress to be held that year, to some distinguished scientists from related fields and/or foreign scientists. The Chairman of the Board of Directors may only forward this proposal to those approved by the Scientific Board.

3. Establishment of the Congress Organizing Committee

The Board of Directors assigns a member of the Turkish Biophysical Society to the Congress Organizing Committee after receiving his/her personal approval. The other members of the Organizing Committee are determined by the Chairman of the Organizing Committee. However, since it is required for applications to some support organizations, a member of the Turkish Biophysical Society Board of Directors is also included in the Organizing Committee.

4. Establishment of the Scientific Committee of the Congress

The Congress Scientific Board consists of 5 or 7 members, who are members of the Turkish Biophysics Association, and whose personal approvals have been obtained from among the professors who are members of the Turkish Biophysics Association, and who are determined by the Board of Directors. One member representing the Board of Directors takes part in the Congress Scientific Board. The Board of Directors assigns one of the members elected to the Scientific Board as the Chairman of the Scientific Board. Members of the Congress Organizing Board cannot take part in the Scientific Board. If deemed necessary, the Board of Directors may add a maximum of two distinguished scientists from similar scientific fields or foreign nationals, who are not members of the association, to the Scientific Board with their approval.

5. Establishment of the Advisory Board

The Advisory Board consists of 15 people, determined by the Board of Directors, from among all professors who are members of the association and associate professors who are department heads. Those on the Board of Directors cannot be on the Advisory Board. If deemed necessary, the Board of Directors may add a maximum of four people from related scientific fields and a maximum of eight distinguished foreign scientists to the Advisory List, who are not members of the association.

6. Duties of the Congress Organizing Committee

The Congress Organizing Committee, in order to announce the congress and provide all kinds of infrastructure and technical conditions required for the scientific and social activities to be carried out during the congress, makes negotiations and agreements with the relevant institutions and organizations, if necessary by taking the opinion of the Board of Directors, and ensures that the congress is held in an orderly and harmonious manner. It determines and announces important dates and periods regarding applications, proposals, registrations and scientific evaluations, by taking the opinion of the relevant boards, and ensures that the congress preparations proceed in accordance with this calendar.

The President of the Congress Organizing Committee or a member he/she designates shall forward to the President of the Scientific Committee the scientific activities deemed appropriate by the Organizing Committee or any conference, panel and paper proposals submitted to the Congress Secretariat and include these activities in the program in accordance with the decisions of the Scientific Committee.

The Congress Organizing Committee determines the flow of the Congress in consultation with the President of the Scientific Committee and the President of the Congress.

When the deadline for sending papers is over, the list of our members who have registered for the congress is reported to the Congress President. Session Presidents are determined by the Board of Directors based on this list.

The Congress Organizing Committee takes the opinions of the Board of Directors into consideration when determining the participation, donation, etc. fees to be collected for these activities.

At most two months after the end of the congress, the President and Treasurer of the Turkish Biophysics Association shall submit all income-expense status related to the scientific and social activities of the congress, together with the relevant documents. During these activities, it is preferred to transfer some amount from the congress budget to the association budget. However, if the expenses exceed the income, the entire difference or a portion of it may be covered from the association budget, according to the decision of the Board of Directors.

Duties of the 7th Congress Scientific Committee

The distribution and sharing of tasks of the Congress Scientific Committee is carried out by the President of the Scientific Committee.

i. Determination of conference and panel topics and presenters: The Congress Scientific Committee evaluates and decides on the proposals for conference and panel presentations submitted to it within the dates specified in the Congress booklet or invitation messages. These proposals should include information such as topic title, summary content, speakers and duration and should be accompanied by a short cover letter stating the importance of the topic. An invited conference proposal made by one of the members of the scientific committee may be included in the program, provided that this committee approves and the speaker’s transportation and/or accommodation expenses are covered by the speaker or the association management.

ii. Determination of oral and poster presentations : The abstracts of oral and poster presentations that reach the Congress Secretariat within the specified dates and are forwarded to the Scientific Board Chair are evaluated by at least two members of this board and a decision is made by this board. The Scientific Board may, when necessary, convert an oral presentation request into a poster presentation or request that a study proposed as a poster presentation be presented as an oral presentation by obtaining the opinions of the researchers. A Scientific Board member cannot evaluate the abstract of a presentation that includes his/her name. The Scientific Board may, when necessary, benefit from Advisory Board members during evaluations.

iii. Determination of awards for oral and poster presentations : The award evaluation specified in the Congress booklet is made by the Scientific Committee according to the procedures and principles determined by them, primarily scientific content and correct use of Turkish. A Scientific Committee member cannot evaluate or give points for a presentation that includes his/her own name. If the number of Scientific Committee members attending the Congress is less than 5, the Board of Directors completes the Award Evaluation Committee to 5 members by making an appointment from among the Advisory Committee members who attended the Congress.

iv. Self-introduction presentations for associate professor candidates: If associate professor candidates are willing and notify the Organizing Committee or the Scientific Committee of their wishes, a presentation session may be allocated for them to introduce themselves to all members. The summaries of these presentations, which will not exceed 15 minutes for each candidate, will not be included in the congress booklets.

8. Duties of the Congress Advisory Board

Advisory Board members express their opinions on issues submitted to them for evaluation by the Scientific Board.

9. Registration Fee Exemption

Association members do not have the privilege of not paying a registration fee under any circumstances. It is not possible for any member to give a conference, be a panelist, or present an oral or poster presentation without paying a registration fee. Exemption from the registration fee may be possible for invited speakers who are not members of the Association, and the exemption of those will be determined by the Board of Directors, after consulting the Organizing Committee Chair and taking into account which section the expenses will be covered from.

10. The Board of Directors of the Turkish Biophysics Association is authorized to find solutions to conditions that are not included in this Directive or that have changed.

11.  The President of the Turkish Biophysics Association shall execute this directive.