A Working Group (WG) is established as a WG of the ERA-EDTA according to the Council Regulation. WG’s are expected to encourage research, communication of knowledge, teaching and to participate in education.

The creation of a WG should be approved by the ERA-EDTA Council. Working groups should cover / refer to areas of large interest for nephrology.

Official Working Groups will benefit from a logo including the official ERA-EDTA logo. The “Candidate WG” should present its proposals to the Secretary-Treasurer of the Society. The financial support to individual WG’s will be decided by the Council on the basis of quality of proposals and on their value as related with the scope and the programs of ERA-EDTA.

• To foster communication among members with similar research interests, with various other WG’s (including ERBP) and with the ERA-EDTA at large;
• To collaborate to the organization of educational activities of the ERA EDTA in conjunction with already existing similar structures of the ERA EDTA;
• To foster communication with other Scientific Societies (WG’s with similar interests from other Societies – National / International), with other bodies that may support research in the field;
• To hold WG meetings. One meeting of the WG will take place in conjunction with the annual ERA EDTA Congress and will be included in the Scientific Program;
• An annual WG meeting focusing on educational themes and on research proposals (Scientific Ideas Fair) will be organized depending on ERA-EDTA and external funding.

COMPOSITION

The Working Group consists of a Chairman, a Secretary, Board members and ordinary members.

CHAIRMAN

The Working Group is directed by the Chairman. The Chairman is proposed by the WG Board and nominated by the Council. He/she serves for 3 years and represents the Working Group with the Council. The Chairman can be re-elected for another 3-year mandate. After the end of the tenure of office, the past Chairman remains a member of the working group for another maximum one mandate.

SECRETARY

The chairman will propose the name of the Secretary that should be a Board member. The Secretary will be in charge of the financial and organizational affairs of the Working Group. Similar to the Chairman, the Secretary can be re-elected for another 3-year mandate. After the end of the tenure of office, the past Secretary remains a Board member for another maximum one mandate.

BOARD

The board is composed by 7 to 10 members including the Chairman and Secretary. The Founding Board of WGs is established by the Council. To this end each proposal for the foundation of a working group should be accompanied by a list of at least 50 ERA-EDTA members supporting the creation of the same WG.

From the fourth year on, Board members will be elected by ordinary WG members and the Chairman will be in turn elected by Board members. These elections can be made either electronically or during a WG meeting. 

The function of the WG Board:

• To appoint the Chairman
• To advance proposals for the scientific and educational activities of the WG.
• The Board tenure is 3 years with the possibility for re-election for additional 3 years. No new member of the Board may be elected until serving as an ordinary member for at least 3 years.
• The Board will meet once a year at the Annual Meeting of the ERA-EDTA and will held distance meetings (by e-mail or by WEB conferencing) according to the activity plans prepared by the Chairman. A second meeting mostly devoted to research and science will be organized, possibly in conjunction with similar European / National initiatives.
• Minutes of the Board meetings will be prepared by the Secretary, approved by Board members and sent to the ERA-EDTA Secretary.

ORDINARY WG MEMBERS

• Ordinary WG members are ERA-EDTA members with a proven interest in the research area covered by the WG.
• Submission  for WG membership  should be addressed  to the Secretary of the WG  with a brief  CV. Non ERA-EDTA members with adequate scientific standing  can be proposed and co-opted  as ordinary members by the Board  but these should be approved by the Council.

REPORTS and APPROVAL

• When a new WG is formed, a mission statement and a three years project should be presented. After three years the Council should judge the fulfillment of the three year plan. Opinion from the SAB, external reviewers and Education WG are possible and may be useful for the final judgment by the Council.
• WG should present annually a report to the ERA EDTA Secretary and should be revised every three years by the ERA EDTA Council. The Council should renew the mandate every three years.
• Budget of the WG should be approved annually by the ERA EDTA Council, and should be at least covering the costs of one annual meeting and secretarial support.
• Fund raising is welcomed; raised funds will be managed by the ERA EDTA Council, with a special account of the WG.