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Name and objects

Article 1. The Society shall be called "The European Society for Cognitive Psychology".
Article 2. The Object of the Society shall be to further scientific enquiry within the field of Cognitive Psychology and related subjects by stimulating collaboration and exchange of information between researchers world-wide and in different European countries in particular. The object shall be pursued by holding periodical scientific meetings, workshops, summer schools and such other activities as may be deemed appropriate.
Article 3. The Society shall publish a journal and the Secretary shall circulate a periodical Newsletter. A conference shall be organized at least once every two years.

 

Members

Article 4. Full membership is open to persons who are active and established researchers in some area of Cognitive Psychology. Such persons have a Ph.D. or equivalent, and recent publications in refereed journals of psychology and cognate subjects. Exceptionally, at the discretion of the Committee, persons not fulfilling these criteria may be admitted to Full membership. Persons having Full membership shall be known as "Full members".
Article 5. Associate membership is open to persons in the initial stages of their research careers who are active researchers in some area of Cognitive Psychology. Such persons would normally be working on their Ph.D. (or equivalent). Associate membership would normally be limited to a maximum of five years, unless the criteria for Full membership are not fulfilled. Any extension is at the discretion of the Committee. Persons having Associate membership shall be known as "Associate members".
Article 6. Full members who retire can request a status of Retired member. The Committee defines the modalities under which this status is granted.
Article 7. Each year, the Committee can elect a few full members for the status of Honorary member. This status can be granted to Full members who have been officers of the society and have contributed to the advancement of cognitive psychology in Europe. The duration of this status is limited in time. The Committee defines the modalities (duration, how many each year, fees, …) under which Honorary member status is granted.
Article 8. Proposals for membership should be made on forms obtainable from the Treasurer and should be returned to the Treasurer. A candidate for any type of membership should be proposed by one Full member of the Society. The Committee (or such Subcommittee as the Committee may determine) shall be responsible for processing applications.

 

Officers, committe and advisory board

Article 9. The Committee of the Society shall consist of the President and the President-Elect, ex-officio, and five elected members, all seven persons being known as elected Committee members. All Committee members must be Full members of the Society. Normally, not more than two elected Committee members should have their primary affiliation in the same country.
Article 10. The Editor of the journal is a co-opted member of the Committee. The Committee may co-opt up to two further members to deputise for Committee members who are unavailable, temporarily or permanently, or to assist the Committee with particular tasks. Co-opted members must also be Full members of the Society.
Article 11. The Committee shall meet with such frequency as to ensure the smooth running of the Society. The quorum for the Committee is a majority of elected or co-opted members.
Article 12. The Committee shall appoint the Secretary and the Treasurer. They may or may not be elected Committee members at the time of their appointment. Upon appointment they become members of the Committee.
Article 13. Only elected Committee members are entitled to vote at Committee meetings. This means, inter alia, that if the Secretary or Treasurer are elected Committee members at the time of a vote, they may vote, and if they are not elected Committee members they may not vote.
Article 14. The President's term of office is two years, after which he or she becomes ineligible for two years for election to the Committee, except as Editor. The President-Elect's term of office is two years, after which he or she becomes President. If the President-Elect is not available to become President, then the President may be elected in the same manner as other elected Committee members. The term of office of other elected Committee members is four years, after which they are eligible for election as President-Elect or President but are ineligible for immediate re-election as other elected Committee members. The Secretary and the Treasurer are appointed for two years, with eligibility for re-appointment for a maximal term duration of eight years.
Article 15. A year in office starts at January 1 of the year following the election and ends on December 31.
Article 16. The Advisory Board shall consist of minimally six and maximally 12 members, who have been Committee members of the society. The term of office for a member of the Advisory Board is four years. This term can be renewed once. The Advisory Board shall not hold formal meetings, but the Committee shall seek the advice of its members where appropriate, and in particular, for decisions about important changes or new initiatives. A member cannot be a Committee member and a member of the Advisory Board at the same time.

 

Elections

Article 17. Every two years an election will be organized by mail ballot. Two months before the start of this election, the Secretary shall seek nominations for elected Committee members and shall set a deadline for receipt of nominations at the Secretary's address at least one month after the call for nominations has been posted to members. Nominations should be made in writing by one Full member of the Society, and seconded by at least three other Full members. The Secretary will refrain from nominating or seconding candidates. At least one of the seconders should have their primary affiliation in a country different to that of the person making the nomination. The candidate should give his or her written consent to being nominated. Nominations should indicate whether the nomination is for President-Elect, other elected Committee member or (in rare circumstances when this is needed) President. Members of the Committee are also entitled to propose candidates for the vacant offices.
Article 18. For the election of Committee members, all Full members are allowed to vote. Each Full member who is entitled to vote shall have one vote.
Article 19. In order to apply Article 9, which restricts elected membership of the Committee to not more than two members from any one country, the order of election to the Committee shall be deemed to be President, President-Elect and other elected Committee members, the latter in descending order of the votes they receive in an election. So, for example, if the persons elected President and President-Elect have their primary affiliation in the same country, this bars any further candidates from that country being elected as elected committee members. This rule is waived if, despite there already being two elected members from the same country on the Committee, all the remaining candidates are also from that country.
Article 20. Every four years, or whenever the effective size of the Advisory Board drops below six members, the Committee shall elect by majority new Advisory Board members in accordance with the criteria specified in Article 16.
Article 21. The term of offices becomes effective on January 1 of the year following the election. The elected member must agree to accept this office.
Article 22. The Editor is appointed by a majority vote of the Committee and must be a Full member. The term of office is four years. The Editor has sole responsibility for appointing the Editorial Board of the Journal. Members of the Editorial Board need not be members of the Society.

 

Business meeting

Article 23. A Business Meeting of which notice has been given to all members shall take place at every Conference. The notice of meeting shall be distributed by appropriate means and specify the time and place of the meeting and the general nature of the business to be transacted. The Chair of the meeting is the President, or in the President's absence, a member nominated by a majority of the Committee. At this meeting the Secretary, Treasurer, and Editor shall present reports. The quorum for the Business meeting is 20 Full members present. Motions (duly seconded and in order) shall be voted upon by show of hands, and carried by a simple majority of those present and voting.
Article 24. All members may attend Business Meetings of the Society, but only Full members, including Retired and Honorary members, are permitted to vote.

 

Subscription and finance

Article 25. Full, Associate and Retired members shall pay annual subscriptions. The amount of such subscriptions shall be determined by a Business meeting of the Society or via a Postal Ballot of all Full members. The journal shall be sent free to all members whose subscriptions have been paid.
Article 26. Subscriptions are due on the 1st January each year. If a subscription has not been paid by 1st April in any year, the Treasurer shall notify the Member concerned; and if, after a further reasonable period, the subscription remains unpaid, the Treasurer shall report to the Committee, which may then deem the member to have resigned. This decision will be conveyed in writing to the person concerned. No member shall be entitled to vote at a Business meeting or by postal ballot for so long as their subscription is in arrear.

 

Resignation

Article 27. A member may resign from the Society by giving written notice to be received by the Treasurer at least one calendar month before any subscription becomes due.

 

Alteration of rules

Article 28. These rules may be altered, revoked, amended or added to in any manner and to any extent at a Business Meeting. Rule changes may be proposed only by the Committee. Notice of a proposed rule change shall be sent to all Full members at least one calendar month in advance of the Business meeting.

 

Transition

Article 29. At the first election after the approval of this constitution, a President as well as a President-Elect will be elected as stipulated in Article 14. In line with the previous version of the constitution, the serving President shall then become Vice-President. During the following two-year term, the Committee of the Society shall consist of the President, the President-Elect, the Vice- President (i.e., the previous President), and five other elected members. At the next election, the last elected President shall leave the Committee and the President-Elect shall become President.

 

Last amended, September 1st, 2008.

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