UK JSPS Alumni Association

Articles

ARTICLES OF THE UK JSPS Alumni Association

ARTICLE 1: Name and Location
  • The name of the organization shall be UK JSPS Alumni Association and shall hereafter be referred to as the Association.
  • The Association is located in London.
ARTICLE 2: Objectives

The objective of the Association is to promote scientific exchange between the UK and Japan. In pursuit of this objective, the Association will carry out the following activities:


  • Provide personal and expert guidance to young researchers under JSPS Postdoctoral Fellowships for Foreign Researchers Programmes and to support Japanese researchers working in the United Kingdom.
  • Exchange information amongst the Association members.
  • Conduct joint activities with academic institutions and science promotion agencies.
  • Collect and disseminate information regarding science, technology, society and culture.
  • Conduct other appropriate activities.
ARTICLE 3: Programme Year

The fiscal year for the Association Programme runs from 1 April until 31 March.

ARTICLE 4: Membership
  • There are three categories of membership; regular member, associate member, and honorary member.
  • All persons who have or will receive support from JSPS or STA are eligible for regular membership.
  • Associate membership may be granted to persons who have strong links with Japan. Consideration for associate membership will be by nomination or invitation by a member of the association or by the Executive Committee. The decision of membership will be by the Chair's action.
  • Persons who have a distinguished record of promoting scientific exchange between the UK and Japan are eligible for honorary membership.
  • Membership notification will be made in writing from regular and associate members.
  • The Association requires no fee for Membership, however the Association reserves the right to introduce a membership fee at any time.
  • Membership will be terminated in the following cases:
    • Death of the member
    • Submission of written withdrawal notice to an Association official by the end of the calendar year.
    • Expulsion from the Association.
  • A member whose actions are clearly deemed detrimental to the Association may be expelled by the decision of the Association Executive Committee. In such cases, an expulsion notice is to be sent to the member by registered mail with signed receipt of delivery. The member may appeal to the decision through a written letter addressed to the executive committee within a period of one month. The general assembly will render a decision on the appeal.
ARTICLE 5: Rights of Members
  • Each regular member is allotted one vote to cast in decision making mattociation.
  • A member may delegate in writing his/her vote to another regular member.
ARTICLE 6: Organization

The Association incorporates an executive committee and general assembly.

ARTICLE 7: Executive Committee
  • The executive committee comprises of four members; a chair, vice-chair, treasurer, and secretary. In addition the executive committee is permitted to appoint two additional members for period of 1 year to aid the committee with their duties. Only regular member are eligible to hold these positions.
  • The executive committee performs the following functions:
    • Draft Programme plans
    • Draft annual budgets
    • Other; Perform all functions not stipulated under these articles
  • A quorum comprises of the attendance of three core executive members.
  • Executive committee decisions may be made through the holding of meetings or by way of letter, telephone, fax or email.
  • All executive committee decisions will be recorded in the minutes.
ARTICLE 8: Officials
  • The term of office for Executive Committee members is two years. Until a re-election of the committee is held, the member is to remain in office. If a member resigns his/her post in mid-term, the committee will select another person to fill the remainder of the term.
  • Officials may be re-elected.
  • Elections will be held every 2 years at the General Assembly.
  • Officials will serve without remuneration.
  • Officials may be dismissed by a 75% vote of all the Association members, if they are found to act in a serious violation of these Articles.
ARTICLE 9: Duties of Officials
  • The chair presides over the Executive Committee and General Assembly, and is the official representative of the Association.
  • The vice-chair assists the chair, and supervises activities of the Association. He/she also performs the functions of the chair in the absence of the chair.
  • The treasurer is responsible for all the Association financial management functions.
  • The secretary performs public relations, advertising and other communications functions.
ARTICLE 10: General Assembly
  • The General Assembly comprises of all of the Association regular members.
  • The chair sends an individually addressed invitation by letter to each regular member at least two weeks before convening a meeting of the general assembly. The invitation is to include the meeting agenda established by the Executive Committee.
  • The general assembly makes the following determinations:
    • Election and dismissal of officials
    • Establishing and amending the Association articles
    • Dissolution of the Association
    • Rendering decisions on expulsion appeals
    • Nomination of honorary members
  • To vote on the above matters, a quorum of at least 30% of members are required, or represented by a written delegation of voting authority (this will include votes by e-mail).
  • Decisions are made by a majority vote (except in the case of dismissing officials).
  • When a written request is made by at least 10% of the members (including e-mails) or by at least three core executive members to convene a meeting of the general assembly, the executive committee must do so without delay. The request must be in the interest of the Association and include a clear explanation of the objective and reason for holding the meeting.
  • Minutes shall be taken of the General Assembly and all decisions made recorded in them. The minutes shall be signed by the chair and the person who wrote them.
  • If 30% of the regular members are in attendance, or represented by a written delegation of voting authority including votes by e-mail, and over 50% of the quorum votes in the affirmative, the general assembly may decide to enact matters of Association business (the only exception being the dismissal of officials).
ARTICLE 11: Programme Plan

The Association shall submit a Programme plan to JSPS London Office once a year.

ARTICLE 12: Accounting
  • The Association operational funding must be used in pursuit of the objective stipulated in Article 2.
  • The closing date of the Association fiscal year is 31 March.
ARTICLE 13: Dissolution of the Association

If the Association is dissolved or it objective abandoned, the Association assets shall revert to JSPS for use in carrying out scientific exchanges between the UK and Japan.


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