The European Polar Board is financed by its Member Organisations and has a Secretariat based at the European Science Foundation. It meets in plenary at least once a year.

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EPB Executive Committee

Carlo Aberto Ricci CV

The Board forms a non-governmental body under the auspices of the European Science Foundation. It has an Executive Committee, consisting of a Chairperson and five Vice-Chairpersons.    

Chairperson:

Prof Carlo Alberto Ricci, President of the Italian National Scientific Committee for Antarctic Research,  Italy  

Vice-chairpersons:

Prof Anders Karlqvist, Swedish Polar Research Secretariat Director, Sweden

Prof Alexander Guterch, Poland

Prof Jan Stel, The Netherlands

Dr Hanne K. Petersen, Danish Polar Center Director, Denmark

Dr Gerard Jugie, IPEV Director, France

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EPB Terms of Reference

EPB Terms of Reference sets the general framework in which it conduct its activities and develop new initiatives. A pdf version of EPB’s Terms of Reference can be downloaded here

1. OBJECTIVES

• FORUM  to bring members together to share information, identify common problems and to seek collective positions and endeavours for European Polar Science.
• STRATEGY to identify and priorities scientific and technology issues of strategic importance, where relevant in close association with the European Commission.
• VOICE to express a collective vision for the future European Polar Science and Technology in relation to developments in Europe and worldwide and to improve the public understanding of science in this field.
• HARMONISATION  to give European added value to the EPB members national programmes as well as being consistent with relevant international programmes; to interact with any relevant international scientific organisation and to facilitate the shared use of research facilities. 

2. STRUCTURE

There shall be one board, a non-governmental body and associated committee under the office of ESF, to be known as the EUROPEAN POLAR BOARD (EPB) – Subsequently referred to as the board – which may have ad-hoc links to other components of ESF as and when appropriate.

3. MEMBERSHIP

Countries shall have one official organisation and one official representative on the board except in the case where this creates difficulties, when exceptionally two representatives per country may be permitted. The representative to the board should normally be nominated buy the Member Organisation contributing the funds to the EPB.

The member organisations will normally designate a senior member of their major polar institute or mangers of major national programmes to the board.

4. ORGANISATION

The Executive Committee (EPBX) of the board shall consist of a chairperson and five vice-chairpersons elected from its members. Term of office of the chairperson shall be three years with the possibility of re-election for a second term.
The board shall be free to organize itself in the most efficient way regarding the rules of operation and the implementation of initiatives.
The board may invite additional experts or observers, to assist in their deliberation and activities. The board may establish specialised working groups and networks to promote and undertake particular activities on the board behalf as necessary. A representative of the European Commission shall be invited to attend board meetings.
When the chairman is unable to be present, the nest senior member of the EPBX may take the chair. The quorum of the EPBX shall be four members. Should a member be unable to attend an EPBX meeting, he/she should appoint an alternative.

5. SECRETARIAT

The EPB Secretariat will support the work of the board and assist its officers in the execution of their business. The secretariat shall consist of an independent scientific secretary with appropriate support. The secretariat may be located at ESF or at the HQ of one of the member organisations, or may rotate between different member organisations.

6. FINANCE

 A contribution shall be paid annually by each member organisation. If this is not paid, after appropriate consultation the membership of this organisation will be deemed to have lapsed. At the discretion of the board, a lapsed member may be kept in touch with EPB activities with a view to be re-joining at a later date.

An annual budget shall be constructed by the board In the framework of an ESF a la carte activity. The funds shall be collected in accordance with the normal procedures of ESF and assigned to an EPB account. Any additional support could be obtained from the European commission or from any other source in accordance with ESF statute. The budget shall cover the expenses of the activities as decided upon by the board or its executive committee, and the running cost of the secretariat. The ESF shall provide the infrastructure needed for the operation of the secretariat such as office and meeting rooms, so long as the secretariat is located at the ESF headquarters. The expenses for attendance at Board and Executive committee meetings shall not be a call upon the EPB budget. The costs of board meetings shall be borne by the host country of the meeting wherever possible.
The ESF will oversee the auditing of the accounts.

7. RELATIONSHIP WITH OTHER BODIES

The board shall seek to establish and maintain constructive working relationships with other European and international bodies and shall try especially to avoid any duplication of activities.

8. DURATION

The institutional membership shall be on a three year basis. The board shall review its activities periodically in consultation with ESF and the member organisations.

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