MESSAGE FROM
THE CHIEF EXECUTIVE
CONTENTS
Message from the Chief Executive
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Executive Summary
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Introduction
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Governance8
Membership10
Delivering Stategy
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2015 Highlights
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Publications
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New and Guest Editors
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Events18
Sponsored Meetings
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Grants21
Awards24
Finance and Funding
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The Microbiology Network
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Every year thousands of people across the microbiology community contribute their time
and energy to the scholarly and professional societies that support them in their working
lives. Researchers, educators, clinicians, science communicators and entrepreneurs – anyone
whose work is in some way linked to microorganisms – will volunteer as Trustees, Treasurers,
Grants Secretaries and Communications Chairs. Some organise symposia, workshops and
congresses, to bring early career researchers face-to-face with leading experts, and to provide
opportunities for mentorship and professional development. Others review manuscripts for
society journals, work as handling and commissioning editors, or take a leadership role as a
journal’s editor-in-chief.
Supporting a coalition of more than 50 such professional organisations based in and around Europe,
our goal at FEMS is to work closely with our Member Societies and their dedicated volunteers to build
our collective influence and direct that influence for maximum effect. To do this requires ongoing work
to understand the needs of our membership, build our combined capacity, set ethical and professional
standards and remove barriers to participation. This in turn means identifying and channeling new
resources to joint projects and programmes, alongside better connecting and facilitating Europe’s
longstanding microbiology network.
To this end we have been busy both visibly and behind the scenes in 2015. In the frontline we hosted
FEMS2015 in Maastricht – the first of our congresses to be organised in collaboration with our new
publishing partner, Oxford University Press (OUP). Less immediately visible, but just as critical, we
devoted significant effort to understanding our Members’ needs – conducting consultations on
issues ranging from membership and grants to publishing and communications – to help guide the
delivery of our collective goals. And we opened up two new positions, in business development and
communications, to evaluate how best both to expand our capacity and to help connect microbiology’s
truly international community.
The result has been another great year, making sure we don’t lose sight of what we’re already known
for, while delivering plenty of firsts – like, welcoming our first intern, an MSc student studying at
Leiden University who joined us for six months as part of his formal training in science-based business.
We also organised our first cross-society Joint Virtual Issue with the Infectious Diseases Society of
America (IDSA), the Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society (PIDS), International Society for Animal and
Human Mycology (ISHAM) and British Society for Antimicrobial Chemotherapy (BSAC). It’s a year that
wouldn’t have been possible without our own volunteers. The editorial boards and reviewers who
ensure the high standards of our journals; the Executive Committee and Council who oversee our
governance and lead our strategic development; our Grants and Awards committees who deliver these
essential services; and the Scientific Programme and Local Organising committees who organised the
fantastic Congress in Maastricht. Equally it’s a year that would not have been possible without the skill
and dedication of the FEMS staff who have worked so hard to take on the delivery of our new strategic
framework and have taken on their new roles with such enthusiasm. I’d like to thank them, and all our
volunteers for their efforts, and look forward to another successful year ahead.
Catherine Cotton
Chief Executive Officer, FEMS
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1 Released in June 2016
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