held in the lecture hall C of pavillion E of the Brno BVV Trade Fair Area, Brno, Czech Republic on Tuesday July 11th 2000, 16.30 - 19.30 hrs.

Members of the EMS Executive Board:
P. Hawkes (President), J.L. Carrascosa (Acting Vice-President), E. Wisse (Secretary), H. Gross (Treasurer), J.R. Günter, I Herrera Calvet, K. Kovacs, W.M.A. Hax (FEI)

Members of the IFSEM Executive Board:
A. Howie (President), A. Maunsbach (Past President), D.J.H. Cockayne (Secretary), A. Engel,

Societies represented (number of votes in brackets):
Austria (2): H.P. Karnthaler, Belgium (2): D. Schrijvers, D. Van Dyck, Bulgaria (1): -, Croatia (1): -, Czech Republic and Slovakia (2): L. Frank, P. Schauer, France (2): P. Hawkes, Germany (2): H. Rose, R. Reichelt, H. Kohl, J. Zweck, W. Probst (LEO), Greece (1): -, The Netherlands (2): L. Ginsel, Hungary (1): K. Kovacs, Ireland (1): -, Israel (2): R. Sperling, R. Coleman, E. Skutelsky, Italy (2): M. Vittori Antisari, L. Dini, Latvia (1): -, Poland (1): A. Czyrska-Filemonowicz, Portugal (1): -, Rumania (1): -, Russia (2): T. Sukhanova, Scandinavia (2): H. Hebert, Slovenia (1): M. Ceh, Spain (2): J.M. Carazo, J. Gonzalez Calvet, Switzerland (2): K. Pulfer, R. Guggenheim, Turkey (1): -, United Kingdom (2): J.L. Hutchison, Lynne Joyce, Yugoslavia (1): J. Vukovic.

Agenda of the meeting:

1. Confirmation of the agenda of this business meeting.
2. Confirmation of the representation and voting.
3. Minutes of the CESM business meeting, held during ICEM-14 in Cancun, Mexico on Thursday September 3, 1998.
4. Financial report and appointment of auditors.
5. Report on the organization of the EUREM XII meeting in Brno.
6. The Ernst Ruska Prize.
7. Venue of the next European Congress for Microscopy.
8. Proposal for the EMS constitution (distributed by email and available at the web site).
9. Election of a General Council and Executive Board.
10. New members.
11. Prospect on EMS activities.
12. Any further matter to be discussed.
13. Closing of the meeting.

The business meeting is chaired by P. Hawkes.

1. The agenda is accepted as proposed

2. The presence of representatives of 17 societies is recorded, 8 societies are not represented, the number of votes per society is approved.

3. The minutes of the CESM business meeting held during ICEM-14 in Cancun on September 3rd 1998, are approved without discussion.

4. The financial situation is described by the Treasurer. He reports that the amount of money received from the Secretary is still in the bank, a total of SF 2242 or Euro 1450.

5. A report on the Brno meeting was presented by L. Frank. He reports that 1984 pre-registrations had been received, that were effectively followed up by real registrations of 754 scientific participants, 35 accompanying persons and 220 exhibitors. During the congress, 303 new registrations were recorded. 163 participants belonged to the group of invited speakers, chairmen and invited guests, not paying the registration fee.

   • The International Scientific Advisory Board met about one year in advance in Bratislava and has played a crucial role in building the basic structure of the scientific program.
   • The local Organizing Committee has been assisted by an Exhibition Committee, a Proceedings Committee and a Programme Committee with divisions for Biological Sciences, Physical Sciences, Instrumentation and Methodology.
   • In total, 18 biological sessions, 16 physical sessions and 17 sessions on instrumentation and methodology were organized. In addition, 8 keynote lectures, 6 tutorials, 3 workshops and 17 open labs were organized. In the sessions, which regularly consisted of two 40 min (invited) lectures, followed by four 15 min contributions, a total of 295 oral contributions were given.
   • The sessions were paralleled by poster presentations with a total number of 497. A large separate hall was reserved to display the posters, this hall was situated on a level between the exhibition (ground floor) and the lecture halls (third floor). The posters were on display for the whole week. Regrettably, several poster panels remained empty.
   • The total number of planned and registered scientific contributions (including keynote lectures and tutorials) was 806.
   • The list of participants, including email addresses, is available on the web site:
     < http://www.eurem2000.isibrno.cz >.
   • The exhibition consisted of 42 booths with a total surface of 810 m². A variety of new instruments and electron, optical and scanning probe microscopes and accessories were on display. The exhibition attracted numerous visitors. Industry offered several evening parties with food and drinks to the participants.
   • On Thursday evening a beautiful and much-appreciated concert (Dvorak, Stabat Mater by the Brno Philarmonic Orchestra and the Czech Philarmonic Chorus of Brno) was offered to the participants by the Organizing Committee in the Janacek Theatre.
   • The proceedings consist of three well-printed volumes that were available at the beginning of the congress, together with a CD Rom containing all contributions on one CD. The total number of papers is 806. A volume IV of the proceedings will be produced after the congress, and this booklet will contain the lectures of the Ernst Ruska Prize winners and late scientific contributions.
   • Although the financial situation was not yet clear, the organizers expect and hope to have no financial losses.
   • The chairman thanks the organizers of the congress for the excellent job they have done, which is followed by the enthusiastic applaus of the delegates.
   
   
   

6. The Ernst Ruska Prize is awarded every four years to a young electron microscopist at a European Congress for Microscopy. The Prize money is provided by Leo (Germany), FEI/Philips-Germany and the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Elektronenmikroskopie. Two prizes of DM 5,000 each are awarded, one to a physicist, one to a (bio)medical candidate. Unexpected difficulties prevented the prize announcement from being made before January 2000. Nevertheless, nine candidates with very good dossiers were proposed. A jury of 10 colleagues, composed of members nominated by the Ernst Ruska Preis Förderverein and the Executive Board of EMS selected three candidates, one for the physics prize, whereas the (bio)medical prize was shared by two winners. The names of the winners are: Marian Mankos, Bettina Boettcher and Stephen Fuller. They gave plenary lectures at the opening session.
   There is general agreement that the next Ernst Ruska Prize should be announced at least two years in advance and that the prize should be announced in many European journals in the area of microscopy and also in periodicals of microscopy societies in Europe. The procedure laid down by the Ernst Ruska Preis Förderverein and the Executive Board of EMS should be exactly followed.

7. With regard to the next EMS congress in 2004, the chairman reports the receipt of a proposal by the Israel Society for Microscpy. He invites Ruth Sperling, chairman of the society to present the proposal to the delegates.

   • The proposal booklet (official bid) contains official invitation letters by the Israel Society for Microscopy, the Minister of Tourism, the Mayor of Jerusalem, the Minister of Science, culture and sport and the Minister of Foreign Affairs.
   • The very well-prepared offer contains details on the:
   • proposed Local Organizing Committee,
   • a description of the International Convention Center in Jerusalem with details of the facilities for lecture halls, posters and exhibition, in addition to the facilities offered by the nearby Crowne Plaza hotel,
   • a description on the computer services of the appointed Professional Congress Organizer (PCO), offering help in database management, abstract handling and internet connections,
   • a description of the assistance extended to young and East European scientists, i.e. free accommodation for 100 persons and waiving of the registration fee,
   • a description of sponsoring,
   • a time schedule with an opening session on Sunday afternoon and a closing session on Friday afternoon,
   • a detailed provisional budget of about Euro 800,000,
   • a description of the large capacity and pricing of hotels in Jerusalem in addition to a description of student accommodation,
   • a description of transport facilities, including a price list of air tickets from different destinations to Jerusalem,
   • and a plan to employ Kenes Organizers of Congresses to assist the Israel Society for Microscopy in organing this congress,
   • a proposed (pre)registration fee of Euro 320 for EMS-members and Euro 350 for non-members, students Euro 220, accompanying persons Euro150, late registration fee of Euro 400 for EMS-members and Euro 430 for non-members, Euro 250 for students.
   • a list of pre- and post-congress tours.
   The proposed date of June 27 to July 2nd 2004 elicits a discussion on clashes with semester activities (examination period) in some universities and leads to alternative proposals, one to start on July 18, the last one starting on August 22nd.
   The chairman proposes to vote for the proposal and the delegates unanimously support the proposal of the Israeli Society. With regard to the date, a second vote of 14 in favour decides to start the conference on August 22nd 2004.
   The chairman thanks R. Sperling for her efforts and those of the Israel Society for Microscopy.

8. The chairman introduces the final proposal to change the Constitution of the European Society for Microscopy, and proposes a point to point discussion on the different paragraphs of the proposal. These points include:

• the aims of the EMS,
• EMS basically consists of personal members, not of member societies (like CESEM)
• the quadrannual meetings,
• topical meetings or workshops,
• European extensions to regional (still multinational) meetings of societies for microscopy,
• the maintenance of a web site,
• the possibility to establishing an electronic journal,
• standardized printing of proceedings,
• the desirability of en-bloc membership of the members of national societies, which assist the EMS by collecting the annual fee,
• the financial planning, including a membership fee of 5 Euro, a contribution by every registered participant of an EMS meeting, and corporate membership,
• the structure of EMS including an Executive Board, a General Council and a General Assembly (as proposed by the German delegates),
• the relation to the EEC scientific and organizational funding system,
• the establishment of an office
• the spreading of EMS activities to different national societies, such as establishing an office in England (e.g. a secretary hosted by the RMS office), a printing center in France and a financial facility in Germany.
The discussion mainly concentrates on the payment of a yearly membership fee of Euro 5, which seems to be a large amount of money in the eyes of some societies. Other societies consider it to be quite impossible to ask that type of contribution from their members.
Another point is the support to be given to local organizers, the sharing of profits and losses by conference organizers, the involvement of professional congress organizers, etc.
The chairman asks the representatives whether they could support the general outline of the proposed constitutional draft and the audience unanimously approves of the proposal.
A working party consisting of P. Hawkes, J. Carrascosa, E. Wisse and H. Kohl will translate the proposal into a point by point legal document, which will be distributed as soon as possible.

9. Owing to the advanced hour of the meeting, the chairman proposes that the other points on the agenda should be dealt with by email contact with the delegates and secretaries of the European societies for microscopy within the shortest possible time, and closes the meeting.

This page was prepared by Petr Schauer, ISI ASCR, Brno, Czech Republic updated on February 20, 2001

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