SRF Terms of Reference

SRF Grants and Membership Committee: Terms of Reference

The remit for the Grants and Membership Committee is to provide oversight and leadership for the Society’s membership and disbursement of scholarships, grants, prizes and other sources of funding or support.

Committee composition, attendees and reporting:

The Grants and Membership Committee is a committee of the Council and reports directly to Council.

The Chairperson of the committee shall normally be the General Secretary.

The committee shall typically consist of not less than three Council members, appointed by Council in addition to the Chairperson. However, non-council members may be co-opted to the Committee by appointment from the Chairperson and agreement of the Council.

All Committee members are expected to assist in the reviewing of applications submitted to the Committee in a timely fashion, provide the Chairperson, or appropriately nominated alternative, with their scores and comments and be available at Council meetings for the discussion and agreement on applications made to the Society for funding.

The committee will typically meet three times a year.

Main duties of the Committee:

To review applications for new membership, and have oversight and administration of Travel Grants, SRF Research Grants, Vacation Scholarships, the Stewart Rhind Communication Prize and other appropriate Society schemes, taking into account the charitable objectives of the society.

To carry out periodic reviews of all grants and report to Council on proposed changes, including but not restricted to their scope, remit, award value, eligibility criteria and frequency. This shall be conducted in consultation with other Committees, Council members and Society members as appropriate.

To review applications for Society support for courses and workshops and provide resources and support for educational activities deemed appropriate by the Committee, Council and where appropriate the wider Society.

To oversee the Society’s obligations with respect to public benefit and other statutory reporting as regards to grants.

SRF Finance Committee: Terms of Reference 

• To review the income, investments and expenditure of the Society twice annually.
• To advise, discuss and make recommendations to Council on changes to income, investment and expenditure streams.
• To ensure financial prudence of support for SRF members in professional activities including conference attendance, event sponsorship, grants and awards.
• To facilitate annual audit or independent examination of financial accounts with secretariat and auditor.
• To report on financial matters at Council and AGM.
• Individual members on Finance and Committee to conduct all activities as above with no conflict of interest for personal gain.
• To make recommendations to Council on fiscal areas to include honoraria and membership fees.

SRF Investment Policy

SRF Programme Committee: Terms of Reference

The role of the SRF Programme Committee is to oversee the organisation of scientific meetings and other programmes that the Society support and to liaise with other societies in the same or related field for organising joint meetings.

 Committee composition, attendees and reporting:

• The Programme Committee is a sub-committee of the SRF Council and reports directly to Council.
• The Chairperson of the committee shall normally be the Programme Secretary
• The committee shall typically consist of not less than three Council members, appointed by Council in addition to the Chairperson. However, non-council members may be co-opted to the Committee by appointment from the Chairperson and agreement of the Council.
• The committee will meet in full at least twice a year immediately preceding the SRF Council meetings.

Main duties of the Committee:

• To assist and advise Council on the smooth running and strategic development of the society’s scientific meetings calendar.
• To develop and deliver high quality, internationally competitive scientific conference programmes that attract national and international participation that is within reasonable financial commitments of the society.
• To engage and work with other societies in the same or related field in the development and organisation of joint meetings.
• To manage the reviewing of short communication abstract submissions to independent and joint-conferences for quality and scientific rigour, including the recognition of excellence in early and mid-career scientists through student and post-doctoral competitive prize sessions.
• To recognise long-standing commitments to the Society and internationally acclaimed contributions to reproductive science by managing the annual nominations process for the Distinguished Lecturer Anne McClaren awards and the New Investigator award.
• To review annually the Committee’s terms of reference and its own effectiveness and convey any recommendations to Council.

SRF Education and Public Engagement Committee: Terms of Reference

The remit for the Education and Public Engagement Committee (EPEC) is to provide oversight and leadership for the Society’s public dissemination of information related to reproductive biology.

The overall goal of the EPEC Committee is to raise the profile of The Society, and to meet our charitable objective to promote reproductive biology to members of the public (people of all ages or key target audiences) and stakeholders in the UK and internationally.

Committee composition, attendees and reporting:

• The Education and Public Engagement Committee is a committee of the Council and reports directly to Council.
• EPEC has two Co-Chairs; an education lead and a public engagement lead.
• The committee shall typically consist of five Council members including the two Co-Chairs. Additionally, one non-council Early Career member will be co-opted to the Committee by appointment from the Co-Chairs and agreement of the Council.
• The committee will typically meet every 2 to 4 weeks.

Terms of Reference

To organise ‘reproduction and fertility’ based public events and prepare educational resources that engage the public about the importance of reproductive biology to society, and which showcases the important contribution of SRF members to the field. This will involve any or all of the following formats:

• Public lectures, panels, debates or other events
• Webinars, blogs or podcasts
• Outreach workshops and activities
• Educational leaflets or e-books
• Animated videos

To coordinate the dissemination of relevant information by:

• Developing, overseeing and reviewing the Society’s interactions and communications with members, key stakeholders and the public in relation to education and public engagement.
• Identifying areas of public policy related to reproduction that may impact The Society or its members, and to respond accordingly.
• Coordinating the Society’s response to policy consultations, working closely with other Committees and organisations as appropriate.

Journals Committee Terms of Reference (ToR)

Journals Committee Remit

The major roles of the Journals Committee are to support the EICs in their management of the SRF Journals, provide a forum for discussions with EiC’s of the societies journals in the absence of the publisher, and to serve as a point of communication between the journals and the Council. The Journals Committee also oversees the handling the appointment’s process for new EiCs, which is covered in a separate document. Day to day editorial functions and all editorial decisions remain the responsibilities of the editors.

The Journals committee should meet a minimum of three times a year. Topics of discussion are not limited to but could include:

• Strategic development
  • Monitor competitive position of publications
  • Develop strategies to increase international distribution, outreach and impact
  • Review publication strategies and policies and report to Council
• To review marketing opportunities and strategies
• To review and agree contracts between the SRF and the EiCs
• To carry out financial and editorial oversight of processes
• To oversee performance of the publishers
• Monitor Publisher agreements & raise issues if necessary

 Composition of the journal committee

• SRF Chair – will Chair the JC.
• SRF Treasurer
• EiCs – Reproduction & RAF
• Regular member of Council who is a trustee. Serves a 4 year term. Volunteered and confirmed by the SRF council.
• An Ex-EiC member. Serves a 4 year term. Selected by the SRF council.

Council Code of Conduct,

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