OCNS Director Elections

OCNS is a member-based society with an elected Board of Directors (see the OCNS Bylaws). Each year several directors are elected in the fall for a three-year mandate, starting in January of the following year. This page provides information on candidacy, voting, and the rules governing the elections.

The following roles are to be filled this year:

• Membership Chair
• Deputy Sponsorship Chair
• Deputy Newsletter Chair
• Deputy Website/Infrastructure Chair

The deputy chair roles will shadow the current chairs for a year, then take over when the current chairs finish their terms. All director duties are described here. Directors are expected to remain available throughout the full three-year mandate.

If you are considering applying, feel free to contact our EDI Chair, Nada Yousif ([email protected]), for a short informational meeting about joining the board. For any other questions about the self-nomination procedure, contact Shailesh Appukuttan ([email protected]).

Calendar for 2026

Self-nomination

Candidacy

All members with active OCNS membership status (all dues paid before the application deadline) can self-nominate, provided they:
(i) have been a member of OCNS for a minimum of 12 months,
or
(ii) have attended an on-site CNS conference in the past.

Candidates must demonstrate prior involvement in the field of computational neuroscience. No two directors may work in the same laboratory, and candidacies may be refused if an election would cause this to happen. Current directors and officers whose mandate ends in December 2026 may apply.

This year, one of the four elected positions will be reserved for a student/postdoc, provided that there are at least two student/postdoc candidates vying for that position. Note that students/postdocs are eligible for all positions, not just the one reserved for them. As in the past years, each voter will be able to cast their vote for multiple candidates, including student and postdoc candidates.

We strongly encourage members with all degrees of seniority to consider candidacy for these elections. OCNS is committed to a wide diversity among its directors — across research areas, gender, abilities, career experience, geographic location, and personal background — and this is possible only if a broad range of members apply. OCNS strives to be a diverse group and encourages balanced, inclusive representation of women in leadership positions within the organisation.

The Nomination Committee evaluates candidates and encourages applications as needed. The aim is to have several candidates representing a wide range of gender, geography, seniority, experience, and scientific interest.

Elections

Members who have paid their dues and have approved OCNS membership status will be able to log in on the OCNS website to vote. A list of candidates is presented with links to information about each candidate.

Voting is anonymous. You may vote for as many candidates as you like, and we advise voting for multiple candidates. Once a vote is submitted, it is final.

Results

• Votes for each candidate are counted and candidates are ranked by the number of votes received; the top candidates are elected. We will ensure that at least one student/postdoc member (if any are contesting a position with at least two candidates) is among the elected members, adapting the selection procedure accordingly.
• A candidate must receive votes from a minimum of 20% of the OCNS members who participated in the voting process.
• In the case of a tie for the last position, the Nomination Committee will select the elected candidate based on balancing gender, geography, seniority, experience, and scientific interest.
• The list of elected directors will be made public, but detailed results will not be communicated. Election results, with an indication of how well each candidate fared, will be communicated to all candidates privately.

Nomination Committee

The 2026 Nomination Committee consists of:

• Shailesh Appukuttan (chair)
• Demian Battaglia
• Adam Newton
• Trang Anh Nghiem