Elections

Elections for all seven core members of EuPA’s Executive Committee will be carried out in 2026. All positions are elected for a three-year term, starting on 1 January 2027, and ending on 31 December 2029.

EuPA is now welcoming self-nominations from interested candidates for each of these seven positions.  A self-nomination should include a brief (max half page) CV and a motivational statement (max half page). Self-nominations should be emailed to the EuPA Secretary (eupa_secretary@eupa.org) and EuPA’s Elections Chair (Prof. Dr. Rainer Bischoff; r.p.h.bischoff@rug.nl) by the deadline of Thursday, 23 April 2026.

Do note that EuPA elections follow a two-step procedure, and that the self-nominations will be forwarded to EuPA’s National Societies, who will then choose independently which candidates to nominate for each position. Self-nominations may or may not be retained at this stage. Also note that the National Societies can opt to nominate candidates which have not self-nominated.

Timeline for EuPA’s elections

9 MARCH 2026 – Open the EuPA Executive Committee elections & call for self-nominations.

23 APRIL 2026 – Deadline for self-nominations to be send to EuPA Secretary and Elections Chair

27 APRIL 2026 – Self-nominations are sent to the EuPA National Societies for their information.

4 MAY 2026 – National Societies nominate their candidates (up to three nominees for each role; maximum one nominee per role from the own National Society) and send their nominations to the EuPA secretary and Elections Chair

11 MAY 2026 – Confirmation of nominated candidates for each role (top three nominees per role; ex aquo nominations can lead to more than three nominees for a role) and obtaining nominees’ formal approval to stand for election, and to accept post if elected.

18 MAY 2026 – Collect nominees’ motivational statements (where still necessary) and send all final documents to the National Societies for preparation of their votes.

18 JUNE 2026 – Online election meeting of the EuPA General Council, where each nominee is invited to very briefly (one minute) introduce themselves (11h00-14h00). Voting takes place online during the meeting.

Elected members are expected to join the current Executive Committee in their weekly online meetings from September 2026 onwards to ensure a smooth transition.

Position Description EuPA Executive Committee and Committee Chairs

EuPA President

The President of EuPA is personally responsible (in a very legally binding way!) for the correct operation of EuPA as an entity. The President also has an important role in driving the organisation forward, while informed, supported, and inspired by the Committee Chairs, YPIC representative(s), industrial sponsors, and by extension, the community at large. The President is also the key contact person within EuPA for HUPO, and for third parties interested in interacting with EuPA. The President sets the pace for the General Council meetings, and acts as facilitator at these meetings. The President should always be thinking ahead, and keeps the Executive Committee active, focused, and (most importantly!) thoroughly supported in their endeavours. The President signs all important documents (e.g., contractual obligations, General Council meeting minutes, MOUs with conference organisers), and therefore has prime responsibility to scrutinise these as well. Moreover, the President must also ensure that all EuPA business is conducted in an open and transparent way, is always documented in full, and is open to scrutiny by any interested community member at any time upon simple request! The President is, to borrow a phrase, also where the buck stops. Final decisions on some executive affairs rest with the President as this is also where the legal responsibility lies. Nevertheless, it must be emphasised that, rightly so, the President has only very limited power in EuPA. All major decisions are made by the General Council, in which the President does not even have a vote (unless the President should be the head of a National Society as well, but that, while not technically prohibited, is not a good idea for a variety of excellent reasons). To conclude, in order to maintain an engaged, inclusive, and transparent EuPA, the President has to do a lot of work, and constitutes a not to be underestimated commitment of time and effort.

EuPA Vice-President

The Vice-President shares the legal responsibility for EuPA with the President, and thus helps ensure the correct operation of EuPA as an entity. Moreover, the Vice-President takes over the functions of the President if the latter is not available. Historically, no specific task had been assigned to the Vice-President beyond these formal roles, but since recently, the EuPA Vice-President is also chair of the newly launched Mentoring Committee. This Committee aims to collect and communicate on best practices for mentoring, to support the creation of local and Europe-wide mentoring networks, and to foster the community in developing this important means of advice and mutual support.

EuPA Conferences and Communication Committee Chair

The chair of the Conferences and Communication Committee (CCC) is responsible for increasing the visibility and accessibility of proteomics for scientists and clinicians from the scientific community, for organizing crossover meetings with other scientific societies (ex. FEBS, EMBO, FEMS, ESCMID, etc.) and for communication with the presidents and representatives of the member National Societies. Develops and facilitates EuPA communication, maintains and updates the EuPA website, and is the data policy officer of the EuPA website. Helps to increase the visibility of EuPA on social media platforms, creates and keeps up-to date promo materials (slides, logos, video, etc.), and is the coeditor of the EuPA Newsletter being responsible for its appearance and content. He/She takes part in the work of scientific organizing committees of the EuPA and EuPA/HUPO conferences, coordinates between EuPA General Council, EuPA Executive Committee, HUPO and National Societies for EuPA congress organization, and helps spread the information about EuPA conferences and educational events among members. By coordinating the work of the CCC collects and evaluates the bids for EuPA conferences, takes part in EuPA Travel Grant evaluation and communicates the results with applicants. As a member of the EuPA Executive Committee participates in weekly meetings working closely together with other Executive Committee members, organizes and coordinates Thematic meetings fostering communication among the National Societies, and is the co-organizer of the EuPA Student Exchange Event. At the General Council meetings gives an update on the tasks and events organized by CCC and presents to the General Council the topics related to conferences and communications.

EuPA Education Committee Chair

The chair of the Eupa Education Committee and his/her committee are responsible for introducing new ideas for educational activities and implementing them in order to keep our young members’ community spirit at its best. In this regard, during this mandate, the education committee has carried out a series of actions mainly dedicated to early career researchers (ECRs). To cite a few, we have organised online events including short presentations of outstanding young scientists (including EuPA ECRs awardees), we have run events around science slamming (online science slam sessions and educational webinar with professionals of scientific communication skills), we have introduced online job fairs to facilitate the connection between company job providers and young job seekers, … To further illustrate the openness and dimension that educational actions can take, in our case largely linked to our genderunbalanced committee, we have not missed any opportunity to celebrate the international days of women and girls in science with original ideas (women in proteomics photo-mosaic, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VBXt1oi3JIk). The EuPA education committee also holds the responsibility of maintaining the proteomics academy website up-to-date and appealing (we have for instance started referencing all available proteomics courses, …). From a more organisational perspective, the Education Committee Chair is the EuPA entry point for groups/national societies aiming at organising EuPA-sponsored winter and summerschools and shares the responsibility of travel grant attributions with the conference and communication committee chair. To conclude, chairing the EuPA education committee is an exciting adventure which requires a solid investment of time, but which is also fun and refreshing and has the advantage of being supported by a nice and efficient committee, of which a few members have already committed to continuing their involvement. A smooth hand-over is therefore already assured ;-).

The current priority goals of the EuPA Education Committee are:

Organize and host accessible training, discussions, and workshops to further educational processes in the proteomics community.

Organize European-wide workshops and courses to promote and enhance the quality of proteomics knowledge through the life sciences community, general public, and governmental bodies.

Setup and promote European-wide scientific exchange programs for young researchers to enhance their scientific career and promote cultural exchanges throughout Europe.

EuPA Funding Committee Chair

Purpose:
Provide strategic oversight of EuPA’s financial planning and sustainability, and monitor and interpret the European funding landscape relevant to proteomics and related life-science infrastructures. Translate key opportunities and risks into actionable recommendations for EuPA members, committees, and initiatives.

Core responsibilities
1) Strategic funding intelligence and landscape review

• Maintain an overview of relevant European and national funding programmes (e.g., Horizon Europe clusters, COST Actions).
• Produce a concise “Funding Landscape Brief” on a regular basis highlighting upcoming calls.

2) EuPA financing strategy

• Discuss EuPA’s financing strategy with the Executive Committee, focusing on diversified revenue streams (e.g., membership, conference surplus, sponsorship, grants/partnerships).
• Advise on prioritisation of EuPA spending and prioritize long-term stability.

3) Governance and financial oversight

• Work with the EuPA Secretary to ensure high-level transparency and traceability of transactions.
• Coordinate the annual accounts and audit process in collaboration with the external auditing firm (Audalis) and the EuPA Kassenprüfer, ensuring deadlines, documentation requirements, and approvals are met.
• Flag financial risks, compliance issues, and notable variances to the EC, and propose mitigations.

4) Committee leadership and reporting

• Chair meetings of the EuPA Funding Committee on a regular schedule (monthly or as defined by EuPA governance).
• Set a clear agenda and ensure follow-up, especially around funding opportunities and strategic recommendations.
• Report key outcomes and recommendations to the EC and EuPA General Council (GC), including periodic summaries of the funding landscape.

Main roles of EuPA Initiatives Committee chair are to :

• support existing European proteomics initiatives by providing funding and infrastructure and promoting their scientific and educational activities in a fair and transparent way
• improve visibility of EuPA initiatives during our meetings/workshops
• encourage the creation of new initiatives that value scientific excellence, equality, inclusion and diversity
• foster links between initiatives and stimulate interdisciplinary exchanges to favor scientific innovation
• communicate important information on initiatives during the general council meeting
• present initiatives annual reports and previsional budget for approval by the general council

The chair of the EuPA Industry Committee and his/her committee are responsible for managing and chaperoning the relationships of EuPA with its corporate sponsors, including Elsevier. The role includes the organization of regular meetings with the newly established industrial advisory board (IAB) and thus keeping close contact with our contact points in the industry. An important and exciting aspect is to channel feedback and new ideas from the industry for further discussion into the EC. One of the key responsibilities is the managing of existing and recruiting of new industry sponsorships. This role will therefore tightly link with the Education Committee to facilitate the connection between company job providers and young job seekers. The ideal candidate for the EuPA Industry Committee will have fun in engaging with industry contacts. The role will require a solid investment of time and is a key factor to ensure the future success of EuPA.

In case of any questions or observations related to elections, please contact Prof. Dr. Rainer Bischoff, EuPA Elections Chair.