President

This page contains the information a candidate for President of the IAPS Executive Committee (EC) needs to know. Be sure to first read what any EC candidate needs to know.

Note: regarding the office description, it is important to know the tasks of EC members for a given year, considering what is defined in the Charter and Regulations, are proposed by the EC of the previous year. This proposal may be the object of changes during the Annual General Meeting (AGM) at which the EC members are elected by decision of AGM participants, either due to a specific proposal or as a result of Charter or Regulations changes.

Tasks

The IAPS EC proposed the following tasks for the President:

  • Chair the EC meetings
  • Ensure that the association functions in a fair manner
  • Chair the Special Governance Council, as outlined in the IAPS Strategic Plan
  • Charter a move to become an Observer of IUPAP
  • Direct the work of the EC
  • External Relations
  • Direct the preparations for General Meetings and the Delegate Day
  • Direct the preparations for the IAPS workshops
  • Manage and represent IAPS

Useful skills

  • Availability, as a lot of people will want to talk to you, so be sure to manage your time well
  • Leadership ability, involving hearing other points of view and finding consensus
  • Capacity to chair a meeting in an effective and fair manner
  • Proper and versatile communication, both in terms of the managing of external relations with other organisations with which IAPS collaborates and of public speaking contexts due to the potential need to present IAPS to several different audiences
  • Travel readiness, because the office involves usually going to a few extra different meetings throughout the year
  • Multitasking, as you should be able to handle your own tasks while overviewing the work of the whole EC

What to expect right after the AGM

  • Your first official EC meeting, still during ICPS, including the outgoing EC – remember this meeting is chaired by the President-elect
  • Your handover meeting with the outgoing President
  • Presenting the new EC to the ICPS participants and saing a few words about the coming year at the ICPS Closing Ceremony

What to expect during the year

  • Preparing EC meetings, as you are in charge to draft the agenda including suggestions
  • Directing the preparations for the annual meeting in Mulhouse and staying in contact with the European Physical Society
  • Making decisions when the EC split on a topic, as the President has the casting vote
  • Leading the preparations for the Delegate Day, the Annual General Meeting and the preparations for the IAPS Workshops
  • Signing documents, considering all binding IAPS documents need to be signed by you and one other EC member
  • Following reimbursement forms, sent to the President for signing, making sure these find their way to Mulhouse for archiving

Are you ready to run? Go back here and check how you announce your candidature.

As Spiderman’s uncle Ben once said, “With great power comes great responsibility.” This is the office of IAPS President.