European Astronomical Society
e-Newsletter  5
February 2018

News from the Geneva Office

For many years Marc Türler has served the Society enthusiastically and conscientiously in a range of roles. He was Chair of the LOC for EWASS 2014 in Geneva and more recently organised the website and helped to run and record the Council meetings. Marc's versatility and commitment have contributed enormously to the growth and success that has been achieved in recent years. Marc now has a new role at the Swiss National Science Foundation where we wish him every success.

Martine Logossou-Jacot, who has been the leading administrator of the Society for many years, has decided to cut down the time she can spend on EAS business but we expect that she will remain as the Society's Financial Officer. We look forward to continuing to work with Martine in her modified role.

Last year the Society decided to seek an Executive Secretary to take on the central role in organising our activities. It took some time for the process to reach a conclusion, however, I am delighted to report that Marc Audard has accepted the position of Executive Secretary and started on 1 January 2018. Marc joins us part-time, as he spends the rest of the time as a senior researcher at the University of Geneva on the Gaia processing of variable objects. His research field is star and planet formation, with an emphasis on episodic accretion in young stars and with expertise from X-rays to radio. Marc will continue to be supported by Marie-Claude Dunand who deals with many of the issues relating to membership and subscriptions. He attended the recent Council meeting in Amsterdam - welcome to the Society, Marc!

The office has much to do as we expand our activities and the office staff are thus extremely busy. In an attempt to lift some of the administrative burden Lara Maisey, my executive assistant in Oxford, will attend Council meetings and take the record. Welcome Lara!

News from Council

The role of Secretary of the EAS Council is a crucial one in organising and directing the business of the Society. Serena Viti has carried out the responsibilities of this role with dedication and distinction since 2012. Serena has indicated to me that she wishes to stand down as Secretary from July 2018 when new Council members take up their positions.

The role of Secretary is filled for a term of four years and in July 2018 Serena will have served two years of her second term. In these circumstances the Council itself nominates a successor to serve out the remainder of the term and I am delighted to report that Emmanouil Angelakis, from Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy in Bonn has agreed to take on this role. Emmanouil (Manolis) is an experienced Council member who I'm sure will guide the Society skilfully.

At the Amsterdam meeting Council adopted the recommendations of the Ethics Working group (see EAS Ethics Statement and Guidelines for Good Practice) and I am delighted to report that Coralie Neiner will be the Council member taking responsibility for this topic for the remainder of her term.

Roger Davies
EAS President

Council appointed a Nominating Committee tasked to prepare a balanced slate of candidates based on nominations put forward by the membership. The proposed slate of candidates (in alphabetical order) consists of:

• Andreas Burkert (Germany)
• Athena Coustenis (France)
• Milan S. Dimitrijević (Serbia)
• Arunas Kučinskas (Lithuania)
• Nikos Kylafis (Greece)
• Sara Lucatello (Italy)
• Stephen Serjeant (UK)
• Charlotte Vastel (France)
• Silvia Zane (UK)

Council strongly encourages EAS members to cast their vote in this election. Ordinary Members may vote for the number of candidates needed to fill the three vacant posts or fewer, but not more. There is no form to complete. Members can vote electronically simply by sending an email to eas @ unige.ch stating the candidates they wish to support. The candidates receiving the largest number of votes, will be considered to have been elected. The deadline for the voting is 18 February 2018. 

A summary of the present composition of Council can be found at this web page.

In January 2017 the Working Group identified Professor Mike Bode, recently retired Director of the Astrophysics Research Institute of Liverpool John Moores University, as an ideal candidate. Mike had, for example, been on EAS Council until 2016 and prior to that had led the development of the ASTRONET Infrastructure Roadmap for European astronomy. He formally took up the Special Representative role in May 2017 on a part-time basis under a partnership agreement. This initially runs until the end of 2018, with a six-month gap until the end of March 2018 while he undertakes a previous commitment as a Visiting Professor in Southern Africa.

On taking up his role in May 2017, Mike undertook extensive background work on the EU, European Commission and European Parliament. In order to foster closer ties with the European Physical Society, which has similar ambitions to those of the EAS, discussions were held in Brussels with the EPS Secretary General and their own representative to the EU, with follow-up co-operative actions resulting. In discussions with the EPS and others, including the Acting Executive Secretary of the Royal Astronomical Society, EuroPlaNet, the Director of the UK Research Office in Brussels and the First Secretary for Research and Regional Policy of the UK Permanent Representation to the EU, a list of prime contacts in the Commission and Parliament was compiled and introductions made.

Through this, meetings have now been held with senior officials in the European Commission including a Senior Advisor to the Commissioner in the Research, Science and Innovation Directorate and a Senior Economist/Policy Advisor in the International Cooperation and Development Directorate. Invitations for such senior officials to attend EWASS 2018 have been issued and it is hoped that at least some will be able to attend this, the "showcase" event of the Society.

Among other actions undertaken so far, the EU "Transparency Register" process has been completed which means that the EAS is now a recognised lobbying organization of the EU and is automatically receiving alerts on consultation exercises etc. One of those that is imminent is on the draft proposals for the Framework 9 programme which is an area of particular concern for the Society and its representative. It also quickly became clear that it would be very valuable to have a short brochure to highlight the wider impact of astronomy. The process of producing such a brochure, in cooperation with other major astronomy-related organisations and projects in Europe, has been initiated and is being actively pursued by EAS Council. Readers who feel that they have relevant expertise and would like to be considered to join the Working Group on the wider impact of astronomy are encouraged to contact the EAS president Roger Davies.

On his return from his Visiting Professorship at the beginning of April, Mike will resume his role to coincide with EWASS where he is also a co-organiser of Special Session 17 "Making the case for European astronomy and space science: public and political engagement". Over the following months he aims to apply for accreditation with the European Parliament; follow up further contacts in the Parliament and Commission; foster even closer working relationships with the EPS, EuroPlaNet, ASTRONET and others, and give consideration to a possible half-day Special Session at the European Parliament which could, for example, centre around the launch the proposed brochure on the wider impact that our subject undoubtedly has.

Council wishes to express its gratitude for the work that the Working Group, chaired by Sara Lucatello (INAF, Italy), has put into this very clear and complete document. It recommends and hopes that this document will help the European astronomical community to take the different aspects of ethics into full consideration. Council also announces that the Statement and Guidelines will apply in the context of the EWASS conference.

Council strongly urges all EAS members, as well as non-members, to read the document and to make it widely available, including within their organisations.