1. NAME
   The name of the Society shall be the International Society for Neuroethology.
    
2. PURPOSE
   The purpose of the Society shall be to advance the understanding of the neural bases of behavior in all animals, vertebrate and invertebrate.
    
3. MEMBERSHIP
   The Society shall consist of six types of members: regular, special, life, post-doctoral, student, and emeritus. Application for membership in one of these categories shall require submission of a completed, current application form Applications will be evaluated for authenticity and appropriateness and approval granted by a Membership Committee that is a sub-committee of the Executive Committee.
    
   1. Regular members. Scientists and educators who express interest in the purpose of the Society. Regular members may vote and hold office in the Society.
       
   2. Life members. Regular members may opt to convert to life membership by paying the one-time dues established for this category of membership. Life members enjoy the same privileges accorded to regular members.
       
   3. Special members. Scientists qualified for regular membership but unable, owing to economic and/or political conditions in their countries of residence, to pay regular dues. Applications for this category of membership shall be judged by the Executive Committee on a case-by-case basis, with respect to published lists of developing and economically disadvantaged nations. Dues of Special Members may be paid on a voluntary basis by other members of the ISN, or may be waived by the Executive Committee. Special members may vote and hold office in the Society.
       
   4. Post-doctoral members. Individuals who are not faculty members and express an interest in the purpose of the Society.  Post-doctoral members may only vote for the early-career representatives on Council (PhD students/Post-doctoral fellows). 
   
   
   5. Student members. Bona fide undergraduate or graduate students doing research interested in the purpose of the Society.  Student membership shall terminate at the end of the calendar year in which student status terminates, at which time such individuals become eligible for post-doctoral or regular membership according to the same criteria and procedures that apply to other scientists. Student members may only vote for the early-career representatives on Council (PhD students/Post-doctoral fellows). 
   
   
   6. Emeritus members. Regular and special members who are retired from their primary positions and who have been active members of the Society for at least 10 years may apply for emeritus membership. Emeritus members enjoy the same privileges accorded to regular members, but are not required to pay dues.
       
4. DUES
   The Executive Committee shall set the annual dues of members. The membership shall be by calendar year, with dues payable in advance. If a member's dues are unpaid one year after the normal notice of dues payable, she/he shall receive notice of imminent forfeiture of membership with the next year's notice, and sixty days after that her/his membership shall lapse unless both years' dues are paid. Reinstatement may be approved upon application.
    
5. MEETINGS
   The Society shall organize an International Congress, ordinarily every two years, as determined by the Executive Committee and Council. The Society may also organize or sponsor smaller meetings or symposia anywhere in the world, provided that these meetings have the approval of the Executive Committee. A business meeting, open to all members of the Society, shall be held at each International Congress.
    
6. EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE AND OFFICERS OF THE SOCIETY
   The ordinary running of the Society within policies determined by these articles or by the Council shall be the responsibility of the Executive Committee, comprising the officers of the Society. There shall be four elected officers: President, President-Elect, Past-President, and Secretary. There shall be one appointed officer, Treasurer. A candidate for Treasurer shall be nominated by the President, who shall seek input from the Executive Committee and Council concerning qualified individuals, and approved for appointment by majority vote of the Council. An outgoing Treasurer may vote on the appointment of a successor, but may not vote on his or her own reappointment. Appointment shall be for a period of one Congress interval, commencing at the end of the calendar year of the ISN Congress. However, the outgoing Treasurer shall work closely with the incoming Treasurer through May 15th of the following year and assume the primary responsibility for filing tax and other reports to the United States Internal Revenue Service and to state agencies that require such reports for the year of the Congress. There is no limit to the number of times a Treasurer may be reappointed, but reappointment must be recommended by the Executive Committee and approved by the Council.
   
   The elected offices shall be held for a period of one Congress interval. Elections to these offices shall take place by electronic ballot or in exceptional cases where this is not possible, by postal ballot, before the end of the calendar year of the International Congress. A slate of candidates shall be announced at the Congress, prior to balloting. A special election may be held if an office becomes vacant, but in the case of Secretary in the latter part of a term, the Council may elect an interim officer. The President shall become Past-President, and the President-Elect shall become President, at the end of the Society's business meeting at the International Congress. The former Past-President shall remain on the Executive Committee until the new President-Elect takes office. The terms of office of the Secretary and new President-Elect shall commence immediately upon the announcement of the election results. 
    
7. COUNCIL
   

   Major policies and commitments shall be determined by a Council comprising the Executive Committee and sixteen elected Councilors, including 2  early-career neuroethologists (normally, one PhD student and one Post-doctoral fellow). In addition, the Chairpersons of the International Congress Committees and the Chairpersons of the Local Organizing Subcommittee of upcoming Congresses shall serve as appointed Councilors from the time of their appointments until the conclusions of their respective Congresses.  The President shall preside, convene meetings, and consult and poll the Council by mail, email, or fax, but the President shall vote only in case of a tie.  Eight elected Councilors shall be replaced at each election, including one of the two early-career representatives. Elected Councilors thus serve for two Congress intervals. Election of the eight new Councilors by electronic ballot or in exceptional cases where this is not possible, by postal ballot, will occur before the end of the calendar year of the International Congress. A slate of candidates shall be announced at the Congress, prior to balloting. The early-career neuroethologists will be elected by student and post-doctoral members only.

8. CONGRESS COMMITTEES
   The International Congress shall be organized by the Congress Program Committee and the Local Organising Subcommittee according to ISN's policies for Congress management. The Program Committee shall be responsible for planning and implementing the scientific and social programs of the next International Congress, as well as for fund-raising in support of that Congress, whereas the Local Organizing Subcommittee shall be responsible for all local arrangements for the Congress. The Chairpersons and membership of the Committee and its Subcommittee shall be determined by the Executive Committee of the Society in consultation with the Council. Advice and/or logistical assistance will be requested, as deemed necessary, of the ISN management firm in: the selection of meeting sites; arrangement of special room, meal, and meeting room associated rates for the Congress; registration for the Congress; printing of the Congress Program; and other business-related matters pertaining to the running of the Congress.
    
9. NOMINATING COMMITTEE
   In preparation for each regular election, a Nominating Committee appointed by the Executive Committee shall prepare a slate of candidates for the elective offices of President-Elect, Secretary, and seven elected Councilors. The Nominating Committee shall consist of five Regular or Emeritus Members. The Past President and the President-Elect shall be members ex officio, and the remainder shall be members-at-large, all with equal vote. The Past president shall normally serve as Chairperson. The Nominating Committee shall be appointed by the President, after consultation with the Executive Committee and the Council. At the time they are appointed, the three members-at-large shall not be officers, Councilors, or Chairpersons of Standing or ad hoc Committees. The slate of nominees shall be determined, with proper diligence to ensure representation of diverse scientific and geographic areas, prior to the International Congress and announced at the business meeting at the Congress. Proposals for the slate of nominees may be submitted by members of the Society no later than thirty days before the Congress and shall be considered by the Nominating Committee in formulating the slate of candidates. The slate ordinarily shall have not fewer than two, nor more than three, names for each vacancy. The Nominating Committee shall ascertain in advance the willingness of nominees for President-Elect, Secretary, and Councilors to serve if elected.
    
10. OTHER COMMITTEES
    The President or the Council may create other committees as appropriate, designated Presidential or Society Committees, respectively. They shall not be permanent and shall expire unless re-authorized within six months after each election.
     
11. ADOPTION AND AMENDMENT OF BY-LAWS
    On recommendation by a majority of the Council or by a written proposal signed by not fewer than fifty regular members, these By-laws may be adopted or, thereafter, amended by a simple majority of votes cast in an electronic or a mail ballot of voting members. Written notice of the text of proposed amendments must be distributed to all members along with the ballot. Changes in the By-laws shall go into effect upon closing and counting of the ballots.
     

Bylaws last revised October 2010