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OCNS Director Elections

OCNS is a member-based society with an elected Board of Directors (see OCNS Bylaws). Each year several directors are elected in the Fall for a three years mandate, starting on January of the next year. On this page we provide information on candidacy, voting and rules governing the elections. The following roles are to be filled this year:

  • Travel awards,
  • webmaster,
  • tutorials,
  • member approval,
  • workshops,
  • social media,
  • education, training & EDI

New Directors will act as deputy chair in their roles by shadowing the current Chairs for a year, and then take over when the current Chairs finish their terms. All Director duties are described here.

If you are considering applying, feel free to contact our EDI chair Eirini Mavritsaki ([email protected]) for a short informational meeting about joining the board. For any other issues/queries regarding the self-nomination procedure, you may contact Alberto Mazzoni ([email protected]).

Calendar for 2025

Submit your nomination
  • September 29: Candidate submissions opens on OCNS website (self-nominations only).
  • October 22: Submissions close
  • October 29 - November 9: Nomination Committee evaluates candidates.
  • November 13: Candidate list will be made public on OCNS website.
  • November 17 - December 8: Voting by members.
  • Mid-December: Results evaluated and candidates contacted.

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 should work in the same laboratory and candidacies may be refused if elections can cause this to happen. Current Directors and Officers whose mandate ends December 2025 may apply.

NEW: this year, three positions will be reserved for postdocs and students. Each voter will be asked to vote both for faculty candidates and student candidates.

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

The application is done after login on the OCNS website and requires

  • a picture
  • a general introduction (max 500 characters)
  • describe research interests (max 350 characters)
  • describe past contribution/participation in computational neuroscience (max 350 characters)
  • statement of motivation (max 500 characters)
  • relevant expertise (optional; for webmaster and social media roles - max 200 characters for each)

The Nomination Committee evaluates and encourages candidates if needed. The aim is to have more than 10 candidates representing a wide range of gender, geography, seniority, experience, and scientific interest.

Elections

Members who paid their dues and with approved OCNS membership status will be able to login on the OCNS website to vote. A list of Candidates is presented with links to information about each Candidate.

Voting is anonymous. One can vote for as many Candidates as one likes, and we advise to vote for multiple candidates. Once the vote is submitted it is final.

Results

  • Votes for each Candidate are computed and Candidates are ranked according to the number of votes they receive and the top Candidates are elected. We will ensure that at least three student/postdoc member (if there are any) is present among the elected members, and adapt 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 the elected Directors will be made public, but detailed results will not be communicated. Election results with an indication of how well they fared in the election will be communicated to all Candidates in private.

Nomination Committee

The 2025 Nomination Committee consists of:

  • Alberto Mazzoni (chair)
  • Shailesh Appukuttan
  • Robert McDougal

  • Eirini Mavritsaki