Bylaws of the Japan Neuroscience Society

Enacted April 25, 1974
Last revised July 9, 2008

(Name)
Article I

The name of the society shall be the Japan Neuroscience Society (Nihon Shinkei Kagaku Gakkai) (hereinafter, the Society).

(Location of Offices)
Article II

The offices of the Society shall be situated in a location to be determined by the Board of Directors.

(Objectives)
Article III

The Society’s objectives shall be to facilitate the synergistic development of research and education in all areas of neuroscience.

(Activities)
Article IV
The Society shall conduct the following activities in order to achieve the objectives stipulated in the preceding Article

1. The Society shall hold an Annual Meeting to provide an opportunity for its members to present and discuss their achievements, and shall also hold ad-hoc events such as presentation meetings, academic lectures, workshops, etc., as required.
2. The Society shall publish newsletters, journals, and other publications, and shall also be engaged in other public relations activities.
3. The Society shall join the International Brain Research Organization and other international neuroscience academic research organizations as a corporate member.
4. The Society shall engage in all relevant domestic studies, implement activities of benefit, and promote international exchange in order to achieve the objectives stipulated in the preceding Article.

Article V

Membership of the Society shall consist of Regular Members, Student Members, Associate Members, Honorary Members, and Supporting Members.

Regular and Associate Members shall consist of individuals currently involved in the neuroscience or related fields and who agree with the tenets of the Society. All Regular and Associate Members shall be recommended by one Regular Member who is qualified to make such a recommendation, and be registered with the Society. The requirements for Regular Members who are qualified to make such a recommendation shall be prescribed separately. Members not holding Japanese citizenship and residing outwith Japan can be considered to be Associate Members.

Student Members shall be enrolled in graduate school or university or college and engaged in studying neuroscience or a related fields. Said members shall be recommended by one Regular Member who is qualified to make such a recommendation, and be registered with the Society.

All members stipulated herein shall pay all applicable enrollment and membership fees as prescribed by the Society.

Members adjudged to have made an exceptional contribution to the field of neuroscience or development of the Society may be elected as an Honorary Member of the Society following a vote taken by the Board of Directors. Honorary Members shall be exempt from payment of all applicable membership fees.

Supporting Members shall consist of individuals or organizations interested in the activities of the Society. Supporting Members shall be recommended by one Regular Member who is qualified to make such a recommendation, and who is registered with the Society. Supporting Members shall pay all applicable fees.

Procedures for readmission following cancellation of membership shall be prescribed separately.

Article VI

Membership of the Society shall be lost when a member notifies the Society of his or her intention to cancel membership, or upon death of a member. Membership shall also be deemed lost when a member fails to pay all applicable membership fees for two consecutive years.

Members shall be exempt from payment of membership fees while undertaking a leave-of-absence from the Society. The procedures for such leave-of-absence shall be prescribed separately.

(Election of Directors)
Article VII

Regular Members shall belong to one of the panels established by the Society. The directors of the panels (hereinafter, Panel Directors) shall be elected from eligible candidates based on voting by Regular Members. The Board of Directors shall authorize the candidates for Panel Directors based on recommendations from the Nominating Committee or Regular Members, or through self-recommendation. Regular Members may elect all Panel Directors. The number of Panel Directors shall be prescribed separately. The term of office of each Panel Director shall be three years, and each Panel Director may be elected up to a maximum limit of two consecutive terms. The term of office of the Meeting Director and of the Recommended Director shall not be regarded as being a Panel Director’s term of office.

(Appointment of International Directors and Journal Director)
Article VIII

Members appointed to the Board of Directors or to the executive committee of the International Brain Research Organization or affiliated organizations may be appointed as International Directors of the Society. The editor-in-chief of the journal Neuroscience Research shall be appointed as the Society’s Journal Director.

(Appointment of Meeting Directors)
Article IX

Chairs of the Society's Annual Meeting for the previous, current, and subsequent years shall be appointed as Meeting Directors.

(Appointment of Recommended Directors)
Article X

The President of the Society may appoint a number of Recommended Directors on the authority of the Board of Directors in order to promote appropriate administration of the Board of Directors. The term of office of the Recommended Directors shall be three years, and Recommended Directors may be elected for a maximum of two consecutive terms.

(President of the Society)
Article XI

The President of the Society shall serve as the representative of the Society and be responsible for all management and administration of the Society.

(Vice-President of the Society)
Article XII

The Vice-President of the Society shall act as a proxy of the President of the Society and serve as the representative of the Society in case the President is not able to perform the duties.

(Election of the President of the Society)
Article XIII

The President of the Society shall be elected from among the regular members by a vote taken from the Panel Directors as stipulated in Article VII, the International Director and Journal Director stipulated in Article VIII, and the Meeting Directors stipulated in Article IX. The President's term of office shall be three years, and the President may be elected for a maximum of two consecutive terms.

(Election of the Vice-President)
Article XIV

The Vice-President shall be appointed by the Board of Directors with recommendation by the President of the Society.

(Meeting Chair)
Article XV

The Chair of the Society's Annual Meeting shall be responsible for planning and organization of the Annual Meeting of the Japan Neuroscience Society under instruction of the President of the Society.

(Appointment of the Meeting Chair)
Article XVI

The President of the Society shall appoint the Chair of the Annual Meeting with the authority of the Board of Directors.

(Honorary President)
Article XVII

With the authority of the Board of Directors, the Society may bestow the title of Honorary President on members who have served as president of the Society or as chair of the Annual Meeting, and who have been judged as having made an exceptional contribution to the development of the Society.

(Establishment of Committees)
Article XVIII
The following committees shall be established within the Board of Directors.

1. Executive Committee
2. Nominating Committee
3. Election Management Committee
4. Program Committee
5. Public Relations Committee
6. Future Planning Committee
7. Neuroscience Research Committee

Notwithstanding the committees stipulated herein, the Board of Directors can establish additional committees as deemed necessary to promote the activities of the Society as prescribed in Article IV.

Article XIX

The Board of Directors shall be responsible for managing the Society in addition to developing all policies and plans related to the Society. The Board of Directors shall also be responsible for administrating all of the Society's activities. The Board of Directors shall consist of the directors appointed in accordance with Articles VII, VIII, IX, and X, and the President and the Vice-President of the Society elected in accordance with Articles XIII and XIV. The Board of Directors shall designate three Directors, each of whom shall take responsibility for the Society's accounting, administration, and public relations activities, respectively. Said Directors shall be elected by the Board of Directors.

Article XX

Important issues related to the Society's activities and accounting, and any issues raised by the Board of Directors, shall be reported to, and deliberated by, the Society's General Assembly. The President of the Society shall, in principle, convene the General Assembly once a year. An Extraordinary General Assembly can be convened, however, following the approval of the majority of Directors. All resolutions of the General Assembly shall be made following their approval by the majority of attendees of the General Assembly (excluding Associate Members, Student Members, and Supporting Members). Any changes to regulations of the Society, however, shall only be made in accordance with Article XXIII.

(Revenue)
Article XXI

Society revenue shall be based on income from admission fees, membership fees, donations, and any other relevant income.

(Accounting Management)
Article XXII

The Treasurer shall be responsible for all Society-related accounting issues.

Article XXIII

The Bylaws of the Society shall only be revised following the approval of the General Assembly. Resolution of any revisions shall require approval by two-thirds of the members attending the General Assembly.

1. Admission fee for the Society shall be 3,000 Japanese yen (JPY). Membership fees shall be 9,000 JPY per year for Regular Members and Associate Members, and 3,000 JPY for Student Members. Associate Members who participate in the Society’s Annual Meeting as the first speaker can be exempt from payment of the Society’s admission fee and membership fee for three years, inclusive of the year of admission. In order to receive said exemption, Associate Members must submit a formal application. Associate Members who have been members of the Society for a period of more than three years may join the Society as a Regular Member following payment of the applicable fees. Irrespective of the stipulations of Article V of these Provisions, such Associate Members shall not require the recommendation of a Regular Member of the Society to effect this change to a Regular Member.
2. Members may take a leave-of-absence from the Society by submitting a leave-of-absence notification and having this approved by the Society. During the period of the leave-of-absence, the member shall be exempt from payment of membership fees, but shall be subject to restrictions regarding his or her membership rights. The member shall submit a notification of return when ending the leave-of-absence. In this event, no recommendation by a Regular Member or payment of a readmission fee shall be required.
3. A person who lost his or her membership can be readmitted to the Society following the payment of one year's membership fee equivalent to the membership category at the time of withdrawal and the payment required upon joining the Society, as a readmission fee. However, no recommendation by a Regular Member shall be required at the time of readmission. Regular Members who have been readmitted shall maintain their qualification to recommend new members during the current year.
4. To be eligible to recommend new members, Regular Members must have paid membership fees for the most recent two years, including the current year.
5. Regular Members shall belong to one of the four panels stipulated below.
   i) Molecular/Cellular Neuroscience, ii) Systems Neuroscience, iii) Clinical/Pathological Neuroscience, iv) Other
6. Fifteen directors shall be appointed to serve as Panel Directors. Of the fifteen directors, six directors shall be assigned to panels i), ii), or iii) with two directors to each panel. The remaining nine directors shall be assigned to each of the panels (i to iv) in proportion to the number of Regular Members belonging to each panel (as of April 1 of the year of election). The number of the directors for each panel shall be rounded off to the nearest whole number.
7. The Board of Directors shall establish the following permanent committees, as well as any additional committees as deemed necessary. The term of office of the committee members shall be three years, and committee members may be elected for a maximum of two consecutive terms.

(Permanent Committees)

1. Executive Committee
   The President of the Society shall chair the Executive Committee. The Committee shall consist of the President, the Vice-President, the Annual Meeting Director, the Director of General Affairs, and the Treasurer. The chairs of other committees shall be added to the members of the Executive Committee if deemed necessary.
   The Executive Committee shall be responsible for developing plans for the Society's activities, and submit these plans to the Board of Directors.
2. Nominating Committee (six members)
   The President of the Society shall chair the Nominating Committee. The Nominating Committee shall consist of members elected by the Panel Directors and the President of the Society. The Nominating Committee shall recommend candidates who serve as Panel Director (up to double or more of the number of Directors elected), as Recommended Director, and as committee members, to the Board of Directors. The Nominating Committee shall recommend candidates for various awards and prizes, and for review committee members of scientific research grants to the Board of Directors.
3. Election Management Committee (three members)
   The Election Management Committee shall be responsible for all elections administered by the Society, including election of the Panel Directors and members of the scientific research grant review committee.
4. Program Committee
   The Annual Meeting Director for the current year shall chair the Program Committee. The Program Committee shall consist of the Annual Meeting Directors of the current, previous, and subsequent years. The chair of the Committee can appoint additional committee members as deemed necessary. The Program Committee shall be responsible for planning all meeting programs.
5. Public Relations Committee
   The Public Relations Committee shall be responsible for planning and administration of publication of the Society newsletter and journal. This is in addition to all other public relations activities.
6. Future Planning Committee
   The Future Planning Committee shall be responsible for planning activities to facilitate the development of neuroscience and for proposing such plans.
7. Neuroscience Research Committee
   The Neuroscience Research Committee shall be responsible for editing and publishing the Society's journal, Neuroscience Research. The appointment of the members and the activities of the committee shall be governed by the bylaws stipulated by the Neuroscience Research Committee.