Principles

  • Minimal organisation.
  • Limited terms of office.
  • Except where noted otherwise in these bylaws, the ultimate authority for all policy and decisions rests with the EIC-Canada Investigators.
  • Except for changes to these bylaws, a simple majority is required for decisions requiring a vote.
  • The number of cast votes must meet the quorum of 2/3rds of the Investigators, or in the case of a Board vote 2/3rds of the EIC-Canada Institutes.
  • Changes to these bylaws require at least 2/3rds of all Investigators voting for the change.
  • Regionally balanced representation:
  • The Spokesperson and the Deputy Spokesperson shall not have the same institutional affiliation.
  • No more than two elected officers shall have the same institutional affiliation.

Org Chart

General Meetings

General meetings are held at least once per year. General meetings are advisory to the board.

Typical activities:

  • Progress reports on research activities
  • Future research activities
  • Organisational matters

Board of Institute Representatives

  • The Board consists of one representative for each of the EIC-Canada Institutes. In case of four or fewer EIC-Canada Institutes, the Board shall consist of one or two representatives for each of the EIC-Canada Institutes, at each Institute’s discretion.
  • The Board is chaired by the spokesperson, who is a member of the Board and counts as the representative of an institute.
  • The Board is responsible for the grant request prepared by members of EIC-Canada under the coordination of the spokesperson. The spokesperson reports on this to the Board
  • The Board has ultimate authority in the decision of the division of funds between institutes.
  • The Board ratifies all financial sharing
  • The Board is responsible for the sharing of responsibilities among the institutes.
  • The Board can decide to distribute some of its responsibilities to topical working groups, each led by a working group convenor.

Advisory Board of Associate Members

  • The Advisory Board consists of one representative for each of the Associate Member Institutes. In case of fewer than four Associate Member Institutes, the Advisory Board shall consist of one or two representatives for each of the Associate Member Institutes, at each Institute’s discretion.
  • The Advisory Board serves in an advisory role to the Board in matters such as (but not limited to) new institutional members and theoretical guidance.

Spokesperson of the Board

The Spokesperson represents EIC-Canada and takes initiatives and decisions to implement the policy decisions taken by the Board. The Spokesperson consults the Board on important decisions and keeps the Board informed.

Typical responsibilities:

  • Represents EIC-Canada in EIC management.
  • Represents EIC-Canada in NSERC.
  • Coordinates and signs grant requests for EIC-Canada.

Terms of office:

  • Period of office is 2 years, from July 1 to June 30. Consecutive terms are allowed.
  • Spokespersons are elected by all Investigators per the Elections Procedure below.
  • As much as possible, there should be rotation from one institute to another.
  • The Spokesperson and the Deputy Spokesperson shall not have the same institutional affiliation.

Deputy Spokesperson

The Deputy Spokesperson assists the Spokesperson in ensuring that important managerial meetings be attended by EIC-Canada.

The Deputy Spokesperson reports to the Spokesperson.

One Deputy Spokesperson is elected by all EIC-Canada Investigators.

Terms of office:

  • Period of office is 2 years, from July 1 to June 30. Consecutive terms are allowed.
  • Deputy Spokespersons are elected by all Investigators per the Elections Procedure below.
  • As much as possible, there should be rotation from one institute to another.
  • The Spokesperson and the Deputy Spokesperson shall not have the same institutional affiliation.

Working Groups

The Board can choose to delegate some of its operations to topical Working Groups. Working Groups can be created or dissolved by a simple majority vote by the Board. Before a Working Group can start to operate, a Working Group Convenor must be elected.

Working Group Convenors

Working Group Convenors coordinate activities of topical working groups in EIC-Canada.

Working Group Convenors report to the Spokesperson.

Terms of office:

  • Period of office is 2 years, from July 1 to June 30. Consecutive terms are allowed.
  • Working Group Convenors are elected by a simple majority vote by the Board.
  • As much as possible, there should be rotation from one institute to another.

Election Procedure

  • Prior to any election, the Spokesperson (or their designate, if they wish to stand for election) will appoint a Chair of a Nominating Committee. This Chair will then form a Nominating Committee. Nominations will be called for by the Nomination Committee from all EIC-Canada Investigators. Any member of EIC-Canada may nominate any other member, including themselves.
  • In the first round all candidates including the Incumbent Candidate (IC), if standing, are on the ballot. If a candidate other than the IC has an overall majority, or if the IC has a 2/3 majority then they are elected.
  • If no one is elected in the first round then the candidate with the lowest number of votes is removed from the ballot for a next round of voting. In the case of a tie for the lowest number of votes, a coin toss will be used to decide who is removed from the ballot. This procedure is repeated until a candidate is elected or there is a final vote with just two candidates on the ballot. In the event of a tie in a runoff between the two candidates, the voting is redone. In the event of a second tie in a runoff between the two candidates, a coin toss will be used to decide who is elected.

Definition of EIC-Canada Investigators

EIC-Canada Investigators are all those who signed on to an active EIC-Canada grant, active EIC-Canada proposal, or active EIC-Canada notice of intent, plus those who are EIC authors or qualifying EIC authors and have been deemed by NSERC to be grant eligible.

EIC-Canada investigators who have not signed the previous group grant request cannot vote on issues related to the spending of that grant.

Definition of Associate Investigators

Associate Investigators are researchers who have been deemed by NSERC to be grant eligible and who are members of the EIC User Group, but are not EIC-Canada Investigators.

Bylaw issues not covered in this document

Specific instances not covered by the above should be referred to the documents describing the EIC User Group bylaws.