Code of conduct

Code of Conduct for Europlanet Society Members

            1. Preamble

According to Clause 11 of the Europlanet Society Constitution:

  • The Board shall decide on a Code of Conduct which shall be openly published. Members shall be required upon joining the Society to commit to the Code. Annual renewal of membership will imply agreement to adhere to the Code.
  • The Board may unanimously and for good reason terminate the membership of any individual or organisation member that may have acted materially in contradiction to this Code or has otherwise engaged in conduct likely to bring the Society into disrepute, provided that the individual concerned or the appointed representative of the member organisation concerned (as the case may be) shall have the right to be heard by the Board within a period of time determined by the Board, accompanied by a third person of their choice, before a final decision is made.

            2. Acceptance of the Code of Conduct

By becoming or continuing to be a member of the Europlanet Society, Members are bound to the Code of Conduct for Europlanet Society Members.

            3. Member Conduct

Members must observe the provisions of the Constitution of the Society and must conduct their activities honourably, with integrity and to the highest professional standards. They should act to preserve the interests of the Society in its efforts to further European planetary science and exploration and other closely related subjects.

            4. Professional Conduct

Members should be kind to and respectful of all individuals encountered when participating in the activities of the Society.

Members should uphold commitment to diversity and at all times ensure that their actions do not discriminate against any individual on the basis of their gender, disability, ethnicity, religion or belief, sexual orientation, marital status, age, nationality or socioeconomic background, or other protected characteristic.

The Society expects a diversity of views and opinions to be welcomed by open and constructive criticism of ideas rather than personal attacks on individuals. Harassment, bullying, discrimination or intimidation will not be tolerated in any setting (online or face-to-face), and anyone asked to stop unacceptable behaviour is expected to comply immediately. Harassment includes but is not limited to:

  • Inappropriate or intimidating behaviour and language;
  • Unwelcome jokes or comments;
  • Unwanted touching or attention;
  • Offensive images;
  • Photography without permission;
  • Stalking;
  • Offensive comments related to gender, gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, disability, mental illness, neuro(a)typicality, physical appearance, pregnancy status, political affiliation, marital status, body size, age, ethnicity, national origin, nationality, immigration status, language, religion or lack thereof, or other identity marker;
  • Unwelcome comments regarding a person’s lifestyle choices and practices;
  • Verbal intimidation or threats of violence.

            5. Conduct at EPSC and Europlanet Society meetings

Whilst attending meetings organised or sponsored by the Society, including the Europlanet Science Congress (EPSC), Members are bound by the Code of Conduct for Attendees of the Europlanet Science Congress and Europlanet Society Meetings (Appendix 1).

            6. Handling of complaints

If you have experienced or have witnessed behaviour which is contrary to the Europlanet Code of Conduct at a Europlanet meeting/event or on a Europlanet online platform, please contact the Europlanet administrators by completing this form.

Members should work with the Chair of the Executive Board, with the support of Diversity and Regional Committees where appropriate, to resolve informally any complaints about the conduct of Members of the Society, Organisational Members or the Secretariat. If the problem cannot be resolved to the satisfaction of all parties by such informal means, or if the matter is so serious as to risk compromising the overall stability, reputation or probity of the Society, the complaint or dispute shall be resolved by means of an investigation of the allegation by the Board and, if there is a case to answer, a hearing by the Board. On receipt of an allegation, the Board shall notify the complainant and the person(s) against whom the allegation has been made, of the formal procedures that will be followed in resolving the dispute.

If the person you wish to report is a member of the admin team, Executive Board or any Europlanet Committee, they will not be involved in handling or resolving the incident. The admin team will respond to any complaint as promptly as possible. If you do not get a timely response (for example, if no admins are currently online) then contact the admins through media@europlanet-society.org. Please put your personal safety and wellbeing first.

Code of conduct for attendees of the Europlanet Science Congress (EPSC) and other Europlanet Society Meetings

The Europlanet Society is committed to providing a safe, welcoming and inclusive experience for participants of its meetings, including the Europlanet Science Congress (EPSC). Participants including organisers, speakers, volunteers, sponsors, staff and other attendees are expected to abide by this code of conduct.

            1. General

  • Smoking is prohibited in the entire building except in the areas designated for smokers.
  • It is prohibited to copy any presentation from the desktops in the lecture rooms.
  • Please switch off any mobile phones in the lecture rooms.

            2. Professional conduct

  • EPSC, and other meetings organised by the Europlanet Society, offer a professional networking experience and all attendees, including speakers, organisers, volunteers and sponsors, should be kind to and respectful of all.
  • The Europlanet Society and EPSC are committed to equality of opportunity to ensure the conference experience does not discriminate against any individual on the basis of their gender, disability, ethnicity, religion or belief, sexual orientation, marital status, age, nationality or socioeconomic background, or other protected characteristic.
  • The Europlanet Society and EPSC expect a diversity of views and opinions to be welcomed by open and constructive criticism of ideas rather than personal attacks on individuals.
  • Harassment, bullying, discrimination or intimidation will not be tolerated in any setting (online or face-to-face), and anyone asked to stop unacceptable behaviour is expected to comply immediately. Harassment includes but is not limited to:
    • Inappropriate or intimidating behaviour and language;
    • Unwelcome jokes or comments;
    • Unwanted touching or attention;
    • Offensive images;
    • Photography without permission;
    • Stalking;
    • Offensive comments related to gender, gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, disability, mental illness, neuro(a)typicality, physical appearance, pregnancy status, political affiliation, marital status, body size, age, ethnicity, national origin, nationality, immigration status, language, religion or lack thereof, or other identity marker;
    • Unwelcome comments regarding a person’s lifestyle choices and practices;
    • Verbal intimidation or threats of violence.

    Anyone that observes or is subject to any violations against these rules at EPSC should contact Copernicus on site, who will direct them to a specialist for advice and guidance. At other Europlanet meetings and workshops, the meeting organiser should be the first point of contact. If this is not possible, or you are not comfortable doing so, please contact the Europlanet administrators by completing this form.

            3. Recording by photo, film, or other means

  • It is prohibited to take photos or videos of scientific material shown in any oral or poster presentations unless the presenter authorises it. Presenters are encouraged to inform the audience if they welcome photos.
  • Press participants reporting on research presented at the conference may take photos of material for their own personal use, provided they do not report on the research or publish any of the recorded material without the author’s permission.
  • Recording via video, photograph, or other means of participants to EPSC and other Europlanet Society meetings is in general allowed as long as people are not shown in incriminatory or private situations and images are not used in a misleading or derogatory way. We do recommend obtaining permission of a person recorded if they appear in an identifiable way.

            4. Abstracts

  • The abstract body should be clear, concise and written in English with correct spelling and good sentence structure.
  • We encourage you to make it readable as a short scientific publication.
  • We recommend that the abstract is carefully compiled and thoroughly checked, in particular with regard to the list of authors, before submission in order to avoid last minute changes.
  • The submission of an abstract carries with it the obligation that it is actually presented at the meeting by the author or, at least, by one of the co-authors. By submitting an abstract, authors accept the licence & copyright agreement.
  • Submission of the same abstract to more than one session is not allowed. Duplicates identified by the Scientific Organising Committee will be rejected.
  • The content of abstracts is the responsibility of their authors. EPSC and the organisers of other Europlanet Society meetings reserve the right to reject abstracts that are not written in English, do not meet basic standards of scientific quality, or do not adhere to conventional standards of civil discourse and common decency.
  • The official language of EPSC is English. Simultaneous interpretation is not provided. It is therefore expected that authors are able to present their research more or less fluently in the English language. Unless otherwise specified, this also applies to Europlanet Society meetings.

            5. Social media

Europlanet and EPSC encourage open discussion on social media (Twitter, Facebook, etc.), blogging platforms during EPSC and other meetings/events. The following rules aim to provide means by which participants at EPSC and other Europlanet events/meetings can embrace social media while at the same time remaining respectful of presenting authors’ work and protecting their research output:

  • It is prohibited to take photos or videos of any scientific material at the conference. Never post any images or video online without the authors’ explicit permission.
  • The default assumption is to allow open discussion of oral and poster presentations on social media. However, please respect any request from an author to not disseminate the contents of their presentation. The following icon may be downloaded from the EPSC website for inclusion on slides or posters to clearly express when an author does not want their results posted on any social media networks or blogs.
  • If you will be presenting your work at a press conference after your scientific presentation, please ask those in the room not to post about your research until after the press conference has taken place.
  • The professional conduct outlined in this code of conduct is expected to be applied to social media.