Our Mission

• To oversee the organisation of the European Drosophila Research Conference and other meetings
• To promote Drosophila research in Europe
• To promote educational initiatives explaining the value of the Drosophila model
• To advocate for Drosophila research and represent the interests of the European Drosophila community to national and international institutions
• To promote cohesion and cooperation among Drosophila researchers worldwide and to support common infrastructure
• To promote interactions between the European Drosophila community and other scientific communities

Our Values

The European Drosophila Board is driven by a number of values/principles

• To defend the value of basic science driven by the curiosity of independent investigators
• To promote a better representation of diversity in the scientific community in terms of gender, country and ethnicity
• To encourage the use of Drosophila to address environmental and societal issues (loss of biodiversity, insecticides, global warming, human and veterinary diseases….)
• To promote solid and reproducible research with the highest standards
• To advocate that the benefits of science are shared among the whole community
• To favour the sharing of knowledge and open access communication
• To promote the educational role of science and the communication with the lay public
• To favour the development of common resources for the community

The European Drosophila Board (EDB) was established following a special discussion session at the European Drosophila Research Conference in Lausanne in September 2019. This is an interim charter which will be modified and expanded following the first election and discussion with EDB members.

Responsibilities of the EDB

The primary functions of the Board are:

1. To oversee the organisation of EDRC and ensure its continuity. This includes selecting the host city and local organisers. To administer the EDRC funds, primarily for the purpose of underwriting the advance costs of organising the EDRC.

2. To serve as advocates for the European Drosophila research community and represent community interests to funding agencies, other scientific organizations, and the general public.

3. To facilitate a free and productive relationship between the European research community, and other communities such as those in America and Asia-Pac, the administrators of FlyBase, leaders of community resource and information projects, and the Directors of the Stock Centers.

Composition of the European Drosophila Board

Initial membership for an interim EDB will be co-opted before election can be held in 2023. The aspiration of the EDB is to represent the whole European fly research community (taking EMBO’s definition of Europe). For any suggestions on this topic or any EDB/EDS issues, please get in touch.

The composition of the EDB will be finalised by discussion among interim board members and the wider community, but may include the following:

• 5-6 from larger communities (e.g Germany, UK, France, Spain, Italy, Switzerland, Portugal)
• 2-3 from smaller communities (e.g Scandinavia, Israel, Benelux, Italy, Hungary, Ireland, Czech Republic…)?
• There will be no more than three board members who work in the same country.
• Ex Officio representatives from European infrastructure (VDRC, Flybase, etc)
• European representative to American fly board.
• US/Asia-Pac Drosophila community representatives

Elections

The term of office for EDB members will be four years (two EDRC cycles) to ensure continuity. Elections will occur on a yearly basis and will be announced on this web site and by communication to European Drosophila group leaders through the EDB mailing list.

If it is not possible to find two interested candidates in a region, a single candidate may instead be appointed by the board. The board is open to potential changes in international representation, or differences in the manner of selection of international representatives.

Once elections are open, we will invite you to nominate people who you think would do a great job representing the fly community. Self-nominations are welcome. Although you must live and work in the region you represent, you can nominate individuals for any region and you can vote for representatives from all regions in the final elections.

Board meetings

EDB meetings will be held at each EDRC meeting, and a dial-in meeting will be held in non-EDRC years. Board members will be in regular email contact between meetings.

The Board's discussions of community issues benefit from input from the entire community. It is the responsibility of the board members to canvas Drosophila researchers residing in their regions so input can be obtained on major issues of concern. Advice from the ex officio members is invaluable and will be solicited on all Board issues.

Communication

The EDB maintains an email list for occasional communication with fly researchers. If you want to be included in the Fly Board’s email list please sign up here.

Each year the EDB has important information to share with the Drosophila community. This communication is important, not only so that members can stay abreast of important resource developments and community elections, but also in unusual cases where the community needs to be mobilized for advocacy purposes.

Every effort will be made to limit emails, but these will include information about:

• EDB election announcements
• News from the EDB President
• Time-sensitive critical advocacy or Drosophila resource information