European Society for Photobiology

Meeting held on 8 September 2009 in Wroclaw, Poland

Minutes by Lesley Rhodes

1. K Berg (ESP President 2007-2009) opened the meeting.
A total of 55 members of the society were in attendance. Kristian Berg (President 2007-2009), Miguel Miranda (President 2009-2011), Francesco Lenci (Past President 2007-2009), Evelyne Sage (President-Elect 2009-2011), Francesco Ghetti (Treasurer), Angelika Rück (Secretary 2007-2009), Lesley Rhodes (Secretary 2009-2011), Norbert Lange (Officer 2009-2011), Paola Taroni (Officer 2007-2009), Piotr Ziolkowsky (Chairman Local Organising Committee ESP 2009), Giulio Jori (Auditor, Editor of Book Series), Jacques Piette (Chairman of PPS Ownership Board), Rex Tyrrell (PPS Editor-in-Chief, Photobiology Section), Sarah Ruthven (Managing Editor  PPS) were present.

2. Strategy Plan: Summary of Progress Report 2007-2009.
K Berg summarised his Strategy Plan and the progress made. Full information is presented in a 6 page documentalso including terms of reference for elected members, workgroups and committees. Certainpoints are clarified and/or reiterated below.

2.1: Membership and promotional activities:
A new agreement with RSC has been established where the royalty has been reduced from 5 to 2%, but ESP does not any longer pay for the members’ electronic version of the Journal PPS. This agreement provides the ESP with better flexibility with respect to the membership fee. New strategies are being developed to increase promotional activities for the society.

2.2:  Strengthening the Society Journal, PPS, and the Book Series:
J Piette has been appointed as the new ESP Chair of the PPS Ownership Board for a period of 4 years.

2.3: Affiliation of the Asia and Oceania Society for Photobiology (ASOP) and the Korean Society of Photoscience (KSP) with owners of PPS: 
Contact has now been established between these societies and an agreement has been signed, which will need to be renewed after 2010.

2.4: ESP Basic Photobiology Textbook:
It is proposed that the Society writes a book on basic photobiology, suitable for people commencing in photobiology from all directions of the field. Pursuit of these plans was supported by the attendant membership.

2.5: ESP Sponsorship Workgroup: 
ESP Sponsorship Workgroup was established with co-ordination by A Rück (ESP Secretary 2007-2005), L Rhodes (ESP Officer 2007-2009) and P Ziolkowsky (Chairman of the ESP 2009 local organizing committee). Sponsorship was scarce in the current economic climate. It was recommended that this workgroup would continue and will step-up its activities.

2.6: Scientific Advisory Board (SAB):
Scientific Advisory Board had contributed significantly to establish the scientific programme for the ESP 2009 congress, and aimed to optimally integrate new topics in photobiology. The SAB also contributed to the programme for the ESP Photobiology School.

2.7: Relationship with other Photochemical and Photobiological Societies: 
A further agreement has been signed between the ESP and ASP for joint reciprocal symposia, continuing on an alternate year basis. This year’s ESP (2009) has also been organised in collaboration with the European Platform for Photodynamic Medicine (EPPM) conference and joint symposia with ESPD, EPA and the Photostability group have also been continued.

2.8: Photobiology School: 
The 2010 Photobiology School is scheduled for 21st – 26th June 2010 in Brixen, South Tyrol, Italy. The University of Padua has premises there which it is able to provide at very economical cost. A programme has been devised of 3 ½ days of basic topics, followed by 1 ½ days of more specialised areas within the same fields as the basic topics. It is planned to be optimal as part of a PhD programme. If this is successful in terms of attendance and feedback, then it is planned that this would continue on an alternate year basis, during non-Congress years.

3.   Results of the EC election and short presentation of members of the new EC (M Miranda (ESP President 2009-2011) and K Berg): 
A number of nominations were received although later some of these had to be discarded; in future those making nominations should check that the nominee is both a member of the ESP and willing to take up the position if appointed. Ultimately, there were 2 standing nominations for President-Elect, 1 for Treasurer, 1 for Secretary, 4 for 2 positions as Officer and 2 for 2 positions as Auditor. A call for otes was made on 1st July 2009 witha deadline of 31st July 2009 which was extended to 11th August 2009. The results were as follows:
President-Elect – E Sage 51, A Young 42
Treasurer – F Ghetti 82
Secretary – L Rhodes 78
Officers – N Lange 50, A Rück 41, P Taroni 38, T Duki 35.
Auditors – J Cadet 76, G Jori 76
Thus E Sage takes position as President-Elect, F Ghetti as Treasurer, L Rhodes as Secretary, N Lange and A Rück as Officers and J Cadet and G Jori as Auditors.

4.   Strategy Plans for 2009-2011 (M Miranda): 
M Miranda has drafted a detailed strategy plan and this information appears on the website. Key points included a significant trend in declining membership; there are proposals to set up a Membership Workgroup to deal with this issue.

5.   Report on the ESP’s Journal Photochemical and Photobiological Sciences (PPS) (R Tyrrell, PPS Editor-in-Chief, Photobiology):
The membership should refer to the report prepared by Editor-in-Chief, R Tyrrell, which will appear on the ESP website. Key points were presented by R Tyrrell.
• The Journal is doing well with a current impact factor of 2.1.
• The Journal is still in a growth phase with manuscripts easily filling a complete issue each month and is also starting to become profitable.
• Scholar One has been launched as the primary site for submitting manuscripts. This is almost at the end of its transition phase and will make it easier to submit manuscripts.
• Approximately 100 manuscripts were submitted in 2009 so far, with 30% accepted.
• Handling time was 55 days in 2007, increasing to 66 days in 2008 but this reflects Professor Minuro’s illness.
• PDT (incorporating all facets of topic) accounts for 25% of the manuscripts; this will be documented differently in future to include photosensitisation as a separate area.
• B Diffey, V Reeve and C Wan Lee are commencing as associate editors on the Journal and there are proposals for M Wainwright who also joined the board.
• P Soon Song resigned end of 2008 as Editor in Asia.
 
6.  Report of the status of Comprehensive Book Series in Photochemical and Photobiological Sciences (G Jori, Auditor, Editor of Book Series):
A full report can be seen here. The book series editors are D Haeder and G Jori. Two books are produced annually and there are 10 books published so far. The basic Photobiology book is currently the topic of focus.

7.  Treasurer Report (F Ghetti, Treasurer 2007-2009):
 The Treasurer’s report 2008-2009 will appear in full on the website.
• The ESP account is now 250K Euro, mainly held as bond and a minority banked.
• Declining membership is a concern with the total number in 2009 at 250 compared with 300 in 2007, 420 in 2005, 540 in 2003 and 660 in 2001. The co-incidence of the ESP and ICP meetings in Europe this summer has not helped and some recovery is anticipated in view of this. The Membership Workgroup will be established to investigate the reasons for this, which may include aspects related to the Journal and also that the Website is not credit card safe. Suggestions made included to give a 1 year free membership to invited speakers.

8. Report of the Chairman of the Education and Training Committee (M Miranda):
Four x 4 week fellowships were granted in 2008-09, each of 1500 - 2000 Euros to attend photobiology related meetings. Seven congress fellowships were granted of 300 – 800 Euros each for the purposes of visiting the ASP or other meetings including the IID, IUPAC. In 2008 an award of 600 Euros was also made for the ESP Lecturer in Brazil (A Young) and 500 Euros was granted for the best university graduation thesis in Photobiology presented in the last 2 years in Italian Universities. For the current Wroclaw 2009 congress, 25 persons received a waived registration fee and 150 Euros to assist with costs and the Young Investigator Award was bestowed jointly to C Flors and G Cosa from a total of 4 nominations.

9. Summary of the preliminary report on the 13th ESP congress (P Ziolkowsky):
It was reported that arrangements had gone according to plan, although more exhibitors were needed, and afternoon coffee had been abandoned due to costs. A fuller report will be forthcoming.

10. 13th ESP congress in 2011 (M Miranda & N Lange): 
The next congress of the ESP, its 25th Anniversary since the founding meeting, will be held in Geneva, Switzerland. An attractive presentation was made by N Lange relating to various aspects of the venue and its surrounds. It was emphasised that good value as well as luxury accommodation will be available and that the city has excellent transport links and all manner of facilities, as well as excursions for partners of delegates.

11. Change in Article 3 of the Bylaws. 
With reference to:
“The term of office in the Executive Committee is two years, beginning of January 1st after the election.”
This statement is in contrast to current practice and is suggested to be replaced by:
“The term of office in the Executive Committee is two years, beginning after the General Assembly that follows the election and no later than January 1st in the following year”
This was approved .

12. Other matters arising:
There were no matters arising.

Meeting held on 5 September 2007 in Bath, UK

Began: 17²⁰ p.m. Ended: 18¹⁵ p.m.

Minutes by Angelika Rück

1. Introductory remarks
Francesco Lenci, the President for the period 2005-2007, opened the meeting and welcomed all participants. He thanked especially Rex Tyrrell and Helen Thame and the whole local organizing committee for efficiently handling the ESP 2007 congress.

2. Strategy plans and summary of progress report for the period 2005-2007
Francesco Lenci gave an overview of the strategy plan 2005-2007 and the progress made. He thanked the Editors and Associate Editors of the journal PPS; the impact factor is now over 2.4, which is the highest of all photochemistry and photobiology journals. The possible involvement of other Photochemistry and/or Photobiology Societies was discussed. Collaboration with ASP should improve in the future. Francesco Lenci expressed his personal and all ESP members` gratitude to the Education group components and its Chairman, Kristian Berg.

3. Report of the status of Photochemical & Photobiological Sciences
Janet Bornman`s responsibility as Editor in Chief ended 2006. Since January 2007 Rex Tyrrell is holding this position. He reported on the present status of the journal PPS, underlining the high impact factor. Acceptance rate of submitted papers is actually 35 %. There are scientific fields which are not very well presented, for example PDT, which however improved this year. Following Rex Tyrrell, there is a need for more technical contributions. Appropriate persons will be identified and contacted. Suggestions to Rex Tyrrell from all ESP members are welcome.

4. Treasurer Report
The treasurer Francesco Ghetti informed the members about the income from bonds, royalties, membership fees, sponsorships, etc. The actual treasure of ESP is about 250.000 €. Income and payments are balanced. The expenses which have been done were dedicated to training and education, to the ownership board of the journal and to the organisation of the congress. Unfortunately membership went down in the last years.

5. Report of the chairman of the Education & Training Committee
Kristian Berg gave a precise report of the goals achieved, on fellowships for lab visits, fellowships to attend the congress, young investigator award, etc. He mentioned that 43 fellowships were given to researchers to attend the ESP 2007 congress and that for the Young Investigator Award Virginie Lhiaubet-Vallet was selected.

6. Presentation of the members of the new executive committee (EC), 2007-2009
Francesco Lenci, the past president warmly welcomed the new president Kristian Berg traditionally with a bottle of Champagne. Kristian Berg informed about the results of the elections and presented the members of the new EC. The election was web-based and only 6 votes out of 138 were by e-mail. The results of the election were:
President Elect: Miguel Miranda
Treasurer: Francesco Ghetti
Secretary: Angelika Rück
Officers: Paola Taroni and Lesley Rhodes
Auditors: Jean Cadet and Giulio Jori

7. Main aims of the Strategy plans for 2007 - 2009
President Kristian Berg gave an overview of the main Strategy Plan 2007-2009. In detail the following points were discussed:

a) Membership and promotional activities: The aim is to find out why membership is going down.

b) The next congress will take place in Wroclaw (Poland), with Piotr Ziolkowsky as local organiser.

c) Strengthening the society journal, PPS. Possible involvement of other Photochemistry and/or Photobiology Societies. See point 2) and 3)

d) Education and Training Committee: See point 5)

e) Sponsorship Work Group: Matters to improve sponsoring for ESP in the future were discussed. A new sponsorship work group will be established, chaired by the Secretary Angelika Rück

f) Establishing a Scientific Advisory Board (SAB): A SAB will be established to provide inputs and suggestions at large on all scientific matters where this is required for the Executive Committee and the Congress Organizing Committee to provide optimal services to the ESP members. One of main goals of establishing the SAB is to assure a high scientific quality of the ESP congress by providing the congress Organizing Committee with recommendations for plenary speakers, symposia topics, and chairpersons. However, the function of SAB is not restricted to the organization of the congress, but should also provide recommendations on other scientific matters when requested. The members of the SAB should together cover all the main scientific fields of interest to the members of ESP.

g) Relationship with other Societies: The cooperation with EPA, AOSP/KSP and ASP will be continued. Also coordination of photobiology congresses concerning other societies is planned.

h) Photobiology school: To establish a photobiology school will be considered. A questionnaire will be send out to the members of ESP. Comments from members on this topic are welcome. Please respond to Kristian Berg.

8. Preliminary report on the 12th ESP congress (the local chairman Rex Tyrrell)
Financial situation is very good for ESP, even fellowships were covered. The total number of registered delegates was 375.

9. 13^th ESP congress in 2009
The next congress will take place in Wroclaw (Poland), with Piotr Ziolkowsky as local organiser. He presented the facilities and surroundings of the venue. Wroclaw is a beautiful old traditional city with an eventful past.

10. Other matters
Kristian Berg thanked all delegates for coming and Rex Tyrrell, Francesco Lenci for their efforts in organising the ESP 2007 congress. He also thanked Piotr Ziolkowsky for organizing the next congress. No other comments were made, and the meeting was closed.

Meeting held on 6 September 2005 in Aix-les-Bains, France

Minutes by Angelika Rück

1. Introductory remarks
   Jacques Piette, the President for the period 2003 - 2005, opened the meeting and welcomed all participants.
2. Strategy plans and summary of progress report for the period 2003 - 2005
   Jacques Piette gave an overview of the strategy plan 2003-2005 and the progress made. The main points are listed below:
   1. Establishment of the official journal of ESP "Photochem. Photobiol. Sci (PPS)"
      The journal PPS already runs well, although all ESP members are strongly encouraged to promote the journal whenever possible. The impact factor is actually 1.8, which is very good.
   2. Promotional activities to increase ESP membership
      A new website was developed by the Istituto di Informatico e Telematica, Pisa. The website is good. However, there is still room for improvements.
   3. Congress organisation
      The organising committee for the ESP 2005 congress worked very well.
   4. Educational and funding opportunities for young scientists
      This has been done in the form of workshops, exchange between research institutions and fellowships to attend congresses. This year (2005), all the money was spent on Fellowships mainly for young scientists to attend the ESP Congress in Aix-les-Bain.
   5. Dissemination of information
      Dissemination of information should be now mainly done through the new website. This website should improve the dissemination of information among the members.
   6. Sponsorship and fund raising
      Sponsorship and fund raising was not very successful and needs more effort in the future. Improvements are expected, as the new ESP website can be used as a platform for companies wishing to advertise.
3. Presentation of the members of the new executive committee (EC), 2005-2007
   Francesco Lenci, the incoming President, presented the members of the new EC, with special congratulations to the President-Elect Kristian Berg:

   Voting members:	Jacques Piette (Past-President)
   	Francesco Lenci (President)
   	Kristian Berg (President-Elect)
   	Francesco Ghetti (Treasurer)
   	Angelika Rück (Secretary)
   	Neil Gibbs (Officer)
   	Thierry Doucki (Officer)
   Non-voting members:	Giulio Jori (Vice-Chairman, Ownership Board PPS)
   	Janet Bornman (PPS, Photobiology Section, Editor-in-Chief)
   	Rex Tyrrell (Auditor)
   	Paola Taroni (Auditor)
   Representatives:	Janet Dean, Jamie Humphrey (Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC))

4. Main aims of the Strategy plans for 2005 - 2007
   President Francesco Lenci gave an overview of the main Strategy Plan 2005-2007:
   
   The next congress will take place in Bath (England), with Rex Tyrrell as local organiser.
   
   Regarding improvement of sponsorship, this task will be coordinated by the President-Elect Kristian Berg during the 2005-2007 period and further discussed during the meeting of the new executive committee. One of the most important aims for the future are fruitful negotiations with other Societies from Photobiology and Photochemistry. This point was demonstrated in detail by Janet Bornman (see below).
5. Report of the status of Photochemical&Photobiological Sciences
   Janet Bornman reported on the present status of the journal PPS. Approximately 170 articles have been submitted in 8 month. 41% of the papers belonging to the field of photobiology were rejected and 59% of the papers with a photochemical background. The impact factor of the journal is high: 1.8. It has to be noted that special issues have a much lower rejection rate. The following special issues were published or are expected for the future:
   
   Biological Photosensors, edited by Silvia Braslavski
   Issue from the ESP 2003 congress, edited by Jacques Piette
   Highlights from the 14th International Congress on Photobiology 2004, edited by Janet Bornman and Pill-Soon Song
   Photosynthesis, edited by Peter Nixon and coming out 2006
   Photodamage of the skin, edited by Franz Trautinger and coming out 2006
   
   In their continuing efforts to promote and strengthen PPS, the members of the executive committee 2003-2005 recommended the agreement between ESP/EPA and KSP/AOSP for KSP/AOSP becoming affiliated with PPS. The agreement was finally accepted by all the voting members of the executive committee 2005-2007. The logos of AOSP and KSP will be added to the PPS cover. An Asian Editorial Office will be established from January 2006.
6. Treasurer Report
   Francesco Ghetti informed the members about the high income from bonds and royalties. The treasure of ESP is now more than 300.000 ?. The expenses which have been done were dedicated to training and education, to the ownership board of the journal and to the organisation of the congress. ESP membership will automatically include the electronic version of PPS; electronic plus hard copy is still offered as an option. 100 - 150 ESP members still want to receive a hard copy of PPS. Membership without receiving the journal is not possible.
   
   Francesco Ghetti noticed a slightly decreasing number of memberships during the last years.
7. Report of the chairman of the Education & Training Committee
   Denis Valenzeno, Kristian Berg, Frank de Gruijl and Francesco Lenci as chairman were responsible for this task. There were 72 applications for the 300 ? fellowships to attend the ESP congress 2005 and 40 fellowships were awarded. There were also three 1250 ? fellowships awarded to attend the international Photobiology Congress 2004 in Korea. A 1600 ? donation from Paul Donald Forbes was gratefully acknowledged. ASP recently established the Frederick Urbach Memorial Travel Award for ASP Associate Members to attend the ESP 2005 meeting.
8. Preliminary report on the 11th ESP congress
   The Local Chairman of the congress, Jean Cadet made some preliminary remarks concerning the 11th ESP congress. So far, the congress has been running well and many delegates had already registered. Delegates came from different countries as Africa (4), North America (62), South America (7), Asia (26), Western Europe (260), Eastern Europe (42) and Oceania (8). The total number of registered persons was 420.
9. 12th ESP congress in 2007
   Franceso Lenci informed the audience about the decisions made with respect to the venue, which will be Bath in England. The organizing committee will consist of the 3 Presidents (Jacques Piette, Francesco Lenci, Kristian Berg), the Treasurer (Francesco Ghetti), the Chairman of the previous congress (Jean Cadet) and the Chairman of the local committee, represented by Rex Tyrrell.
   
   Rex Tyrrell presented a short overview of the facilities and surroundings of the venue. Bath is a UNESCO World Heritage City with a famous Georgian architecture and Roman Bath. The reception will be in the Roman Bath. Beautiful gardens are found in the surroundings of Bath. Every delegate can be accommodated in the Campus of the University, there is no need to go to an expensive hotel.
10. Other matters
    The next International Congress of Photobiology (ICP) will take place in Düsseldorf in June 2009. During the ESP 2005 congress Herbert Hönigsmann was approached and informed that the European society wish to organize its own congress in 2009, independently of ICP, but that ESP will be as cooperative as possible with ICP organizers.
    
    Tomas Moore invited people to attend the ASP congress, which will be held 8-12 July in Puerto Rico.
    
    Francesco Lenci thanked all the delegates for coming and Jean Cadet and Francesco Ghetti for their efforts in organising the ESP 2005 congress. No other comments were made, and the meeting was closed.