DMS Bylaws

[Unofficial translation: Stephen Wessels, 2012]
Adopted by the general meeting on February 1, 1963, with amendments approved by general meetings on November 17, 1987, January 13, 1993, February 10, 1994, March 20, 2013.

OBJECTIVE:

§1. It is the objective of the Danish Microbiological Society to promote and communicate microbiological research and to promote the interests of Danish microbiologists nationally and internationally.

(2) The Society is a member of the International Union of Microbiological Societies (IUMS). The Society’s Board constitutes the national committee. The Society is associated with the Federation of European Microbiological Societies (FEMS).

(3) Delegates to international organisations are nominated, or appointed, according to the following procedure: The Society’s scientific divisions propose delegates for their respective fields to the Board. The Board appoints delegates for those fields that are not represented by the scientific divisions and submit a coordinated proposal to the respective organisations.

§2. As its members the Society can accept both Danish and non-Danish microbiologists who agree to the Society’s objectives.

§3. A request for membership is done by filling the registration form at the homepage of the Society or by sending an e-mail to the committee or secretary of the Danish Microbiological Society. Admission of honorary memberships is described in § 5.

§4. If a member wishes to surrender his or her membership, the member must submit a written request to this effect to the Board prior to January 1 of the year to give up the membership.

(2). The Board is empowered to delete a member from the Society’s list of members if the person has not paid membership dues for two consecutive years, despite written warnings.

§5. By decision of a general meeting, and subsequent to a proposal by the Board or by at least ten of the Society’s members, the Society can award honorary membership. Such members do not pay membership fees but have the same rights as the Society’s ordinary members.

§6. The Society is managed by the Board consisting of nine members: a president, a vice-president, a treasurer, and a secretary, as well as five other members. The composition of the Board shall reflect the Society’s divisions.

(2). The president is elected directly by the general meeting (cf. §13), while the Board is to appoint the vice-president, treasurer, and secretary and the remaining five from among its members.

§7. The Board members are elected for 2 years at a time, but re-election can take place. The incumbency of the president is, however, limited to 3 consecutive election periods. After leaving the office of president, she/he may be elected to the Board again, though not for the office of president. After two years’ absence from that office, she/he may be re-elected as president.

§8. The Society’s accounts are to be audited by two accountants who are elected from among the members at the ordinary general meeting. However, one of the accountants may be a state-authorized public accountant who is not a member of the Society. Re-election is permitted.

(2). The audited account must be made available for general viewing at a place to be announced by the Board at least 8 days prior to the general meeting.

§9. The Society’s year is the calendar year.
§10. Payment of membership dues is to be announced in January of each year. The size of the dues is to be determined by the Board and must be approved by the general meeting.
§11. Meetings in the Society are to be announced in writing to each member, and if possible and appropriate in the relevant scientific publications. Such announcements are normally to be made public at least 7 days before the meeting in question.
(2). All written announcements from the Board are to be accompanied by the Society’s full address.
§12. For presentation at the general meeting, the Board is to prepare an annual report, that contains a brief overview of the Society’s activities the past year.

GENERAL MEETING. AMENDMENTS TO BYLAWS AND DISSOLUTION OF THE SOCIETY:
§13. The Society’s general meeting is to be held once a year in the first quarter of the year.

The agenda is to contain the following topics: 1. Election of meeting leader. 2. Annual report of the Society’s activities the past year. 3. Presentation of the audited financial summary of costs for approval. 4. Proposals from the Board or from members. 5. Election of Board. 6. Election of financial auditors. 7. Other topics.


§14. Extraordinary general meetings may be held if the Board finds it necessary, or if at least ten members submit a written request to the Board for one. The latter must take place three weeks or less after the request was sent (date of postmark).
§15. Proposals or subjects to be discussed or acted upon under Topic 4 at an ordinary general meeting must be submitted to the Board in writing and must be received by the Board before the general meeting.
§16. The general meeting must be announced in writing at least 8 days before the meeting (date of postmark). The agenda must be announced, cf. §18.
§17. The general meeting is to be led by a person elected by hand count. The general meeting makes its decisions by simple majority of vote, except for those given in §§ 4, 18, and 19.
(2). All elections (except for that of the meeting leader) shall take place by secret, written ballot, if just one member so wishes. Decision in the case of equal votes is made by draw.
§18. Amendments to these bylaws may only be made following approving vote at an ordinary general meeting. The full wording of the amendment is to be sent out to all members and accompanying the announcement of the general meeting.
(2). A proposed amendment may only be voted upon if it was made known to the members upon announcement of the general meeting.
(3). Approval of the proposed amendment is only valid when two-thirds of the members present at the meeting vote for the proposal.
§19. Dissolution of the Society can only take place if based on a proposal from the Board or on a written and motivated proposal that has been submitted to the Board by at least twenty members. The proposal must first be debated and approved by an ordinary general meeting, and subsequently, by an extraordinary general meeting. The latter must take place at least three weeks after, and at the most two months after, the ordinary general meeting. To be valid, the proposal must be approved by both general meetings by a two-thirds majority. In the case of the dissolution of the Society, the final general meeting determines the disposition of the Society’s capital and other actives.

In memoriam - Lars Bogø Jensen

Lars Bogø Jensen died on October 2, 2020 (born 06. July 1961) after a valiant battle with cancer. Lars was a long-time member of the Danish Microbiological Society (DMS) and the president of the society from 2009 until he could not be reelected in 2015. In this period, the society developed a new strategy and managed to transform DMS from a small sleepy society to a vibrant society that successfully gathers hundreds of microbiologists working in Danish universities, clinical laboratories, and in the industry. After stepping back as president, Lars continued to work on the board of the society, making valuable new developments including taking the lead on organizing a highly successful biennial international conference (MIFFI) on microbial issues relating to food and feed design and production.
Lars was a highly respected and accomplished research scientist. He was energetic and kept his focus on the target and he will be deeply missed by his family, friends, colleagues, and all who knew him.

Lars obtained his master’s in chemical engineering in 1987 and his PhD in 1992 – both from the Technical University of Denmark. After he completed his PhD he worked as a research assistant at the University of Copenhagen, until he in 1996 was employed at the National Veterinary Research Institute, which later was merged with the Technical University of Denmark, where he stayed until his too-early death.
Lars was throughout his working life dedicated to understanding the spread and threat of antibiotic resistant bacteria in food, feed, and the environment, and their potentially harmful impact on human wellbeing. He was both contributing to this scientific area with well-cited papers in the international well-esteemed journals but also made his contribution to the systematic reporting from the Danish health authorities on the spread of antibiotic resistant bacteria. In addition, Lars was a dedicated teacher, engaged in teaching his field to the students but also in study politics by serving as Head of Education at the National Food Institute, Technical University of Denmark.
Lars died peacefully in a hospice surrounded by this closest family and our thoughts are with them.

On behalf of the board of the Danish Microbiological Society,
Carsten Suhr Jacobsen

Donation til DMS i 2022

Dansk Bioteknologisk Forum har doneret 50.000 kr. til DMS

Bioteknologi og mikrobiologi hænger uløseligt sammen. Der findes flere beskrivelser af, hvad bioteknologi er og en klassisk definition lyder: Bioteknologi er anvendelsen af naturvidenskabelig metode og teknologi på levende organismer samt dele, produkter og modeller heraf til at ændre levende eller ikke-levende materialer til produktion af viden, varer og tjenester.

Danmark har været et foregangsland når det gælder udvikling og industriel fremstilling af mikrobielle produkter, hvilket har haft stor betydning for det faglige og videnskabelige miljø samt videreudviklingen af den moderne bioteknologi.
Dansk Bioteknologisk Forum var især aktiv i perioden 1992 til 2008, hvor vi bl.a. arrangerede European Conference on Biotechnology 12 (ECB12) i 2005. I 2010 dannede vi Dansk Bioteknologisk Selskab sammen med IDA. Igennem årene havde vi et tæt samarbejde med Biokemisk Forening om at arrangere en årlig konference, som fandt sted på Munkebjerg ved Vejle.

DBF har i hele sit virke haft til formål at være netværksskabende indenfor bioteknologi i Danmark og fungere som brobygger imellem universiteter, forskningsinstitutioner og virksomheder. Det lykkedes os at genere et mindre overskud, som vi synes skal bruges på biotek-relaterede aktiviteter, der tilgodeser denne oprindelige hensigt.

Vi synes DMS arrangerer spændende møder med fokus på et højt fagligt indhold og på netværk. Derfor er det en fornøjelse for os at støtte selskabets aktiviteter.

Jens Gram, Anders Vagnø Pedersen og Lars Haastrup Pedersen, 2022