IRPA - Rules and Procedures

As amended by the Executive Council of IRPA, 32nd Meeting, June 29, 1990 in Anaheim (USA). Revised and adopted at the 41st Executive Council meeting, April 1997, Washington (USA)
and the 47th Executive Council meeting, May 2001, Recife, (Brazil).

1. DEFINITION

IRPA Regional Congresses are Congresses organised by two or more Associate Societies in the same geographical region to discuss all aspects of radiation protection and enhance international co-operation among professionals.

2. SUPPORT OF REGIONAL CONGRESSES BY IRPA

IRPA Regional Congresses may be entitled to sponsorship by the Association on the basis of demonstrated need and within the limits set by the availability of IRPA funds for such purposes. They require approval by the IRPA Executive Council and whenever practical, the annual IRPA Executive Council meetings are held in association with such Regional Congresses. Where IRPA funding is requested to aid in the organisation of or subsidise attendance at such Regional Congresses, the budget of the Congresses must be approved by the IRPA Executive Council.

According to the situation, financial support may be given in exceptional cases as a direct grant to cover special expenses or more generally, as a loan to meet expenses before the anticipated income to be derived from the congress has been accrued. The issue of such funds and the conditions of issue will be settled by the Executive Council of IRPA after it has examined the proposal and the recommendations of the Regional Congresses Co-ordinating Committee (RCCC).

3. APPLICATION FOR APPROVAL OF A REGIONAL CONGRESS

A written application from the Associate Society which proposes to organise the meeting must be received by the Chairman of the RCCC at least 18 months before the date of the event. The Chairman of the RCCC will, in turn, send the recommendation of his committee to the Executive Council of IRPA for its final decision, which will then be sent to the applicant associate society by the Executive Officer of IRPA no later than 6 months after the date of the application.

4. INFORMATION REQUIRED IN AN APPLICATION

All applications must provide the following information:

The names of the host society
The names of the Societies associated to the event
The dates and place of the Regional Congress
The persons responsible for the organisation of the Regional Congress and the planned arrangements for the setting of the Programme Committee which will have to include members from more than one society.
The purpose and amount of any financial support requested from IRPA (If a financial support is requested the applicant must then provide a Provisional budget of the Regional Congress)
The languages to be used for the conduct of the Regional Congress (if two or more languages are to be used, one must be English).

5. OBLIGATIONS OF THE HOST ASSOCIATE SOCIETY

All printed materials related to the Regional Congress must show the IRPA logo and contain the words IRPA Regional Congress in the title of the meeting (for example: First African IRPA Regional Congress on Radiological Protection ). At least one officer of the IRPA Executive Council must be invited to participate in the meeting to inform the participants on the on-going activities of the Association. IRPA Refresher Courses must be part of the Scientific Programme and whenever possible an IRPA Associate Societies Forum should be organised to give the opportunity to representatives of participating Societies to discuss issues of common interest for the Association. While multiple Regional Congresses may be acceptable in years other than a IRPA International Congress year the times and locations should be reasonably separated to avoid conflicts that would affect their success.