An ERA-EDTA Working Group (WG) must follow the rules listed below, which must be part of the ERA-EDTA Council Regulations. 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.

For the foundation of a working group, the Council must receive a list of at least 50 ERA-EDTA members supporting the creation of the same WG. This list must include the names of the Board members.

Official Working Groups will have their own logo, which however must include the official ERA-EDTA logo. The “Candidate WG” should present its proposals to the ERA-EDTA Secretary-Treasurer, who must then submit it to Council for final approval. 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 Board for another maximum one mandate, after this he/she can become an ordinary member.

The Chairman is the official representative of the WG with the ERA-EDTA Council.

In case of a tie vote, the Chairman has the casting vote.

SECRETARY

The Chairman will propose the name of the Secretary, that should be a Board member, and is elected by the Board. 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, after this he/she can become an ordinary member.

The Secretary is responsible of verifying the ERA-EDTA membership of all the WG Board members.

Board meetings must be organized by the Secretary who must inform all Board members about the eventual venue and time of the meeting at least one month before.

The Secretary will prepare Minutes of the Board meetings, which must be approved by Board members and sent to the ERA-EDTA Secretary-Treasurer. They should also be posted on the ERA-EDTA web-site, in a dedicated area for the WG, in a special restricted area, so that all the WG Board members can view them. Annually the Secretary will send the ERA-EDTA Secretary-Treasurer a report to be submitted at the Fall/Autumn Council. This report must also include a budget for the following year.

The Secretary is also the person responsible for making sure that the following regulations are followed by the WG.

The Secretary is the person responsible for following the election process of the Board members.

BOARD

The board is composed by 7 to 10 members including the Chairman and Secretary. The Founding Board of WGs must be confirmed by the Council. All WG Board members, including the Chairman and the Secretary, must be ERA-EDTA members, exceptions are possible only for non-nephrologists.

From the fourth year on, new Board members will be elected by the current Board members. To be eligible for election in the Board a member must have been an ordinary member of the WG for at least 3 years and an active ERA-EDTA member: exceptions to this rule can only be made for non-nephrologists. These elections will be made during a WG meeting, whether in person or by teleconference. 

Candidates for Board membership must send their application to the Secretary, as well as supporting letters from two members (ordinary or Board), at least 1 month before the election date. The Secretary will be in charge of verifying the eligibility of the candidates and informing the Board members at least 2 weeks prior to the meeting in which the election will take place.

Notice of any Board vacancy must be sent to all members, at least two months prior to the election date, by the Secretary.

TRANSITIONAL NORM

Only for the first elections, in order to make sure that not all the WG Board members leave at the same time, 1/3 of the originally elected Board members must leave after their 4th year; another 1/3 after their 5th year and, the remaining 1/3 after their 6th year of service on the Board (this rule does not apply to the Chairman or the Secretary). Each time Board members leave the Board, newly elected members must replace them. The decision on who should leave the board should preferably be done by the Board members who wish to leave, however, in case of problems, the Board will vote on who will have to leave the Board upon a proposal with a list of names prepared by the Chairman.

No member can remain on the Board, including the Chairman and the Secretary, more than 9 consecutive years: after this time a minimum break of at least 3 years is required before he/she can be re-elected as a Board member.

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.
• 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.

ORDINARY WG MEMBERS

• Ordinary WG members must be persons 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. 

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 an annual report to the ERA EDTA Secretary (see above). The WG’s progress 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 at its Fall/Autumn Meeting, and should at least cover the costs of one annual meeting and secretarial support.
• Fund raising is welcome; raised funds will be managed by the ERA EDTA Council, with a special account created for the WG.