Rules and Regulations

Index:

Selection of the Myron Gordon Awardee
Selection of the Seiji Memorial Lecturer
Principles of Rotation
Procedure for Election of Officers
Duties of IFPCS Officers
Guidelines for IFPCS Sponsorship of Scientific Meetings
Establishment of the H.S. Raper Medal
Guidelines for International Pigment Cell Conferences
Ex Officio Members of the IFPCS Council
Establishment of the Takeuchi Medal
Reimbursement of travel expenses for IFPCS Officers and webmaster, attendance to IFPCS council meetings by telephone or video conference
The Aaron B. Lerner/PASPCR Special Lectureship (*)

 

Rule #1 – Selection of the Myron Gordon Awarde

  1. The President of the IFPCS will write to the President of each member Society to receive their nominations for the Myron Gordon Award; each Society will choose how they wish to foster such nominations. Nominations for the Myron Gordon Award may also be submitted by petition of 10 members of any of the federated Societies.
  2. The President will then forward the list of nominees to the IFPCS Awards Committee. The IFPCS Awards Committee will consist of all previous Myron Gordon Awardees who have remained active in the field, the most recent Awardee will act as the ad hoc Chair of this Committee. The IFPCS Awards Committee will select the Myron Gordon Awardee; if the Committee is unable to resolve a winner, the IFPCS President will cast the deciding vote.
  3. The IFPCS Awards Committee will then inform the IFPCS President of the name of the Myron Gordon Awardee and the President will announce their selection.
  4. The IFPCS Awards Committee should communicate to IFPCS President the selected candidates at least six months before the IPCC. If not, the IFPCS President will reactivate the process together with the IFPCS Council.
  5. The Secretary/Treasurer of the IFPCS will have a diploma made in due course, the cost being borne by the IFPCS. At the time of the official banquet of the International Pigment Cell Conference (IPCC), the IFPCS President will present the diploma to the Myron Gordon Awardee.

approved November 12th, 1992
amended Sept 26th, 1993
amended Sept 4th, 2003
amended August 27h, 2017

 

Rule #2 – Selection of the Seiji Memorial Lecturer

  1. The President of the IFPCS will write to the President of each member Society to receive their nominations for the Seiji Memorial Lectureship; each Society will choose how they wish to foster such nominations. Nominations for the Seiji Lectureship may also be submitted by the IPCC Chair.
  2. The President will then forward the list of nominees to the IFPCS Awards Committee, as defined in Rule & Regulation #1. The IFPCS Awards Committee will select the Seiji Memorial Lecturer; if the Committee is unable to resolve a winner, the IFPCS President will cast the deciding vote.
  3. The IFPCS Awards Committee will then inform the IFPCS President of the name of the Seiji Memorial Lecturer and the President will announce their selection.
  4. The IFPCS Awards Committee should communicate to IFPCS President the selected candidates at least six months before the IPCC. If not, the IFPCS President will reactivate the process together with the IFPCS Council.
  5. The Secretary/Treasurer of the IFPCS will have a memorial diploma made in due course, the cost being borne by the IFPCS.
  6. At the time of the official banquet of the IPCC, the IFPCS President will present the memorial diploma to the Seiji Memorial Lecturer.
  7. IFPCS will cover the costs required for the awardee to attend the IPCC (at least the meeting registration fee and Gala Dinner and, if possible, 2-night accommodation fee and a contribution to the travel expenses).

approved November 12th, 1992
amended Sept 26th, 1993
amended Sept 4th, 2003
amended August 27h, 2017

 

Rule #3 – Principles of Rotation

  1. To ensure equitable distribution of responsibility and representation by the member Societies, events and appointments determined by the IFPCS will be subject to rotation between them. The pattern of rotation will follow the sequence: JSPCR, ESPCR, PASPCR, ASPCR. On acceptance, new member Societies shall be inserted into this sequence at a position determined by the Council. Normally no major responsibility should fall immediately to the new member.
  2. Officers of the IFPCS Council, President, Vice-President, Secretary and Treasurer shall be nominated for the following triennium at the IPCC in accordance with Rule 3.1. Officers of the IFPCS shall not normally succeed themselves in the same or another office.
  3. The appointment of the Editor-in Chief of PCMR and the composition of the Editorial Board shall be subject to the agreements signed with the Publisher.

approved November 13th, 1992
amended Sept 26th, 1993
amended Dec 4th, 1995
amended Oct 29th, 1996
amended Sept 4th, 2003
amended May 7th, 2008

 

Rule #4 – Procedure for Election of Officers

  1. The member Societies will announce their panel of delegates for the new IFPCS Council in advance of the Council meeting to be held at the commencement of the IPCC.
  2. The IFPCS Council will invite new delegates to join this meeting as non-voting observers for normal items of business.
  3. The final item of business will be the election of the new IFPCS Officers for which the new IFPCS Council members have a vote while retiring members of the Council are ineligible to vote.
  4. The representatives of each member Society should nominate one candidate from the IFPCS Council for each of the posts of President, Vice-President, Secretary, and Treasurer in accordance with the rules previously agreed regarding eligibility and rotation. The panel of nominations will be announced without attribution of their source by the President at this meeting.
  5. The members of the new IFPCS Council will vote for the new Officers by secret ballot and the result will be announced by the retiring President.
  6. The composition of the Officers and Council for the next triennial period will be announced publicly at the IPCC banquet and the outgoing President will present the new President with the Gavel of Office to signify the transfer of responsibility to the new Council.

approved Dec 4th, 1995
amended Oct 29th, 1996
amended Sept 4th, 2003
amended May 7th, 2008

 

Rule #5 – Additional Duties of the Secretary-Treasurer

  1. The Secretary-Treasurer shall be responsible for preparing plaques to be presented at the official banquet of the IPCC to the Myron Gordon Awardee, the Seiji Memorial Lecturer, and IFPCS Special Awards. The Secretary shall also prepare plaques and certificates to be presented to retiring IFPCS Officers and Council members, respectively.
  2. The Secretary-Treasurer follows these guidelines regarding IFPCS Officer and Council member expenses: (1) expenses for telephone, FAX, and postage by Officers and Council members may be reimbursed, preferably with receipts. (2) No reimbursement for other expenses will be made without prior approval by the Secretary-Treasurer. (3) Officers and Council members should adhere to the principle that office expenses as a Council member are a part of honor and obligation.

approved June 30th, 1994
amended June 30th, 1994
amended Nov 1st, 1996
amended Oct 8th, 1997
amended Sept 4th, 2003

 

Rule #6 – Guidelines for IFPCS Sponsorship of Scientific Meetings

  1. The IFPCS is willing to sponsor and promote scientific meetings outside of the International Pigment Cell Conference, provided that the organizers of such meetings petition the IFPCS Council for such sponsorship well in advance of the meeting and are able to supply the following evidence as a minimum:
  2. That the meeting under consideration is in full accordance with the aims and scope of the IFPCS and that it is intended to foster scientific, rather than commercial, goals.
  3. That the meeting is a bona fide scientific meeting with an independent Program Committee composed of qualified scientists in the appropriate disciplines.
  4. That the meeting will be held at a satisfactory venue and date and that it is not in competition with other events sponsored by the IFPCS or its constituent Societies.
  5. That the meeting organizers have sufficient financial resources to host the meeting as planned.

approved Dec 4th, 1995

 

Rule #7 – Establishment of the H.S. Raper Medal

The H.S. Raper Medal is an Award selected by the ESPCR as an international recognition of outstanding contributions to the biochemistry and molecular biology of pigmentation.

The selection process is as follows:

  1. The ESPCR Awards Committee will write to the President of each member Society to receive their nominations for the H.S. Raper Medal; each Society will choose how they wish to foster such nominations.
  2. The ESPCR Awards Committee will select the H.S. Raper Medal Awardee.
  3. The ESPCR Awards Committee will then inform the IFPCS President of the name of the H.S. Raper Medal Awardee and the President will announce their selection.
  4. The ESPCR will have a memorial medal made in due course, the cost being borne by the ESPCR.
  5. At the time of the official banquet of the IPCC, the IFPCS President will present the H.S. Raper Medal to the Awardee.

approved Dec 4th, 1995
amended Sept 4th, 2003

 

Rule #8 – Guidelines for International Pigment Cell Conferences

Guiding principles for the organization and execution of International Pigment Cell Conferences should note that the IFPCS was established to facilitate interactions of its constituent Pigment Cell Societies to assure continued improvement in the scientific disciplines of pigment cell research. Therefore, the IPCC sponsored by the IFPCS should be international in participation but at the same time reflect the influence of the sponsoring Society. Therefore, under the broad oversight of the IFPCS and the general guidance of the sponsoring member Society, the Organizing Committee will exert control over the planning and execution of the agenda, and the scientific and social character of the meeting, as follows:

  1. Every attempt must be made to include broad participation of members from all the Societies as speakers and as chairpersons.
  2. No person will present more than once from the platform, in a poster discussion, as a workshop presenter, or as a chair of a major Symposium.
  3. Each major Symposium will have at least two organizing co-chairs, representing the different member Societies.
  4. Chairpersons of poster discussions or workshops will be evenly distributed among the membership of the constituent Societies.
  5. Abstracts for competitive platform presentations or poster discussion sessions will be selected solely on scientific merit. The chairs and co-chairs of the major Symposia will participate in the ranking of all abstracts but the final decision as to inclusion and placement in the IPCC will be made by the Scientific Program Committee.
  6. The Scientific Program Committee in charge of selecting speakers and Symposium topics should consist of the IPCC Chair, the IFPCS President, three members from the IFPCS Council to be selected by the IPCC Chair, and additional members from outside of the IFPCS Council to be selected by the IPCC Chair. All members of the Scientific Program Committee should play active roles in the design of the Scientific Program of the IPCC.
  7. All submitted abstracts will be published and presented at the IPCC in some form; only in case of scientific irrelevance, poor quality of abstract presentation, inadequately documented findings, absent data, plagiarism or suspected fraud will an abstract be declined.

approved Oct 29th, 1996
amended Nov 1st, 1996
amended Sept 4th, 2003

 

Rule #9 – Ex Officio Members of the IFPCS Council

  1. The Chair of the next International Pigment Cell Conference, if not already a member of the IFPCS Council, will be an ex-officio nonvoting member of the IFPCS Council.
  2. The Editor of the IFPCS sponsored journal, if not already a member of the IFPCS Council, will be an ex-officio nonvoting member of the IFPCS Council.

approved Oct 29th, 1996
amended Nov 1st, 1996

 

Rule #10 – Establishment of the Takeuchi Medal

The Takeuchi Medal is an Award dedicated to the memory of Prof. Takuji Takeuchi and selected by the JSPCR as an international recognition of outstanding contributions to the molecular biology of pigmentation. The selection process is as follows:

  1. The JSPCR Awards Committee will write to the President of each member Society to receive their nominations for the Takeuchi Medal; each Society will choose how they wish to foster such nominations.
  2. The JSPCR Awards Committee will select the Takeuchi Medal Awardee.
  3. The JSPCR Awards Committee will then inform the IFPCS President of the name of the Takeuchi Medal Awardee and the President will announce their selection.
  4. The JSPCR will have a memorial medal made in due course, the cost being borne by the JSPCR.
  5. At the time of the official banquet of the IPCC, the IFPCS President will present the Takeuchi Medal to the Awardee.

approved Oct 29th, 1996
revised Oct 8th, 1997
final approval, Aug 15th, 1998
amended Sept 4th, 2003

 

Rule #11 – Reimbursement of travel expenses for IFPCS Officers and webmaster, attendance to IFPCS council meetings by telephone or video conference

On a needs basis only, travel for the President, Vice President, Treasurer and Secretary as well as the Webmaster can be reimbursed; members not in attendance are invited to participate by telephone or video conference.

approved March 31st, 2011
amended Sept 24th, 2012

 

Rule #12 – The Aaron B. Lerner/PASPCR Special Lectureship (*)

The Aaron B. Lerner/PASPCR Special Lectureship is sponsored by the Johnson & Johnson Consumer Companies, Inc and is awarded annually. The lecturer will be an active and outstanding researcher who is currently making a significant impact on the field of pigment cell research. The lecturer does not need to be a member of the PASPCR or any other pigment cell society. The selection process is as follows:

  1. The PASPCR Awards & Nominations Committee proposes a list of candidates for consideration.
  2. The PASPCR Awards & Nomination Committee and PASPCR officers select the Aaron B. Lerner/PASPCR Special Lectureship awardee from the proposed list.
  3. Each lecturer will be given a plaque of recognition following presentation of his/her lecture at the PASPCR/IFPCS meeting. An officer of the PASPCR and a representative of the Johnson & Johnson Consumer Companies, Inc. will present the plaque to the lecturer and will deliver to the membership in attendance a synopsis of the accomplishments of the lecturer that lead to his/her selection for this honor.

added to the IFPCS web site June 19, 2014

(*) The Aaron B. Lerner Lecture is awarded annually, at each PASPCR and IPCC meetings. Only IPCC awardees are listed in the IFPCS web site, for a full list of awarded scienstists with this PASPCR distinction please visit this web page.