INTRODUCTION
The dielectric properties of materials have come to play a fundamental role in the description of physical phenomena in many branches of modern science, technology, and engineering. Over the last several decades, the dynamic range covered by dielectric spectroscopy has been expanded by a variety of experimental techniques, so that various relaxation and resonance processes of dipolar, ionic, and many other materials can be measured over an extremely wide range of characteristic times or frequencies, covering 1 year to the THz regime.
As a result, these techniques now occupy a special place among numerous modern methods used in physical and chemical analyses of materials. Since dielectric spectroscopy measures the amplitude and time evolution of material polarization, this technique provides access to properties such as permittivity and conductivity and can reveal intermolecular interactions and their role in molecular and ionic cooperative processes. Therefore, dielectric spectroscopy provides a link between the microscopic structure and motion of the individual constituents of a complex material and its bulk properties. The recent developments of time-domain and nonlinear dielectric spectroscopy have significantly broadened the role of this technique as an effective tool for structural and dynamical investigation in solids and liquids on different spatial scales.
GOALS OF THE INTERNATIONAL DIELECTRIC SOCIETY
The International Dielectric Society (IDS) aims to serve the community of researchers interested in the promotion, development, and application of broadband dielectric spectroscopy and related techniques.
Goals:
- To provide a forum for the exchange of ideas, knowledge, data, and techniques in the research area of dielectric and conductive materials, dielectric spectroscopy, and their applications.
- To stimulate and support experimental and theoretical research in the field of dielectrics.
- To promote the use and the recognition of dielectric research and its application beyond the dielectrics community.
These goals are to be achieved via the following activities:
- Conferences:
Organizing periodical international conferences and workshops that will be focused on: dielectric properties of various materials, the versatility of dielectric instrumentation, and the development of novel dielectric techniques and applications. - Research:
Encouraging research from fundamental aspects to applications in the field of dielectrics, and supporting the crossing of boundaries between theory and experiment. - Education:
Educational programs for young scientists and support for careers in the field of dielectrics and for improving scientific awareness and scientific literacy in general. Dissemination of the progress and applications of dielectrics research. Maintaining a website with links related to data and publications from different scientific sources. - Funding:
To provide travel grants and financial support for young scientist and researchers from developing countries for participation in the IDS meetings. - Outreach:
To act as an effective link between academia and industry. To encourage research and scholarly activities that are beneficial to society and global sustainability.
IDS WEBSITE
Information regarding the activities of the International Dielectric Society is provided via its website: http://the-dielectric-society.org. Main features of the website are the announcements of upcoming meetings, contact and deadline information, an overview of previous meetings, a collection of slideshows of tutorial talks as downloadable PDF's.
ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE
President
The President is responsible for the IDS operating to achieve its goals. The board votes one of its members into the position of President every 4 years. The elected President remains member of the board for the 4 year term of that service.
Secretary
The Secretary assists the president in her/his work. The board votes one of its members into the position of Secretary every 4 years. The elected Secretary remains member of the board for the 4 year term of that service.
Treasurer
The Treasurer takes care of the financial affairs of the IDS, maintaining a bank account, and reporting to the Secretary and President. The Treasurer shall be a member of the board and is voted into that position by the board every 4 years for a 4 year term of that service.
Board Members
The governing board shall consist of 15 regular members. In special cases, the board may include additional honorary members with no term limit, proposed and elected by the board. The society membership elects board members for a 6 year term, such that the number of 15 regular board members is maintained.
Conference Chairperson
A conference chairperson is appointed by the board to chair the next conference at the board meeting of the present conference. If not already the case, a designated conference chairperson becomes an additional board member. A conference chairperson will serve, at a minimum, for one conference term beyond the conference that she/he chairs, even if this extends her/his tenure as a board member.
A conference term is defined from the end of one IDS conference meeting to the end of the next IDS conference meeting. There is one official board meeting at each conference, organized by the conference chairperson and attended by all board members present at the conference.
Society Members
Any attendee of an IDS conference may become a member of the society by payment of the membership dues for a two year period. Membership ends after two years unless renewed by paying membership dues for the next term. A Conference Chairperson may elect to provide society membership on the basis of registration fee payment.
Voting processes:
The board members conduct a secret vote during the official board meeting to replace the president, secretary, or treasurer in case their terms expire. Extending terms of either position for another 2 or 4 years is permitted.
Every 2 year term, 5 regular board members will have their terms ending. Resulting vacancies shall be filled by votes from the IDS society members. The Secretary shall ask all society members by email to suggest 5 names for filling the upcoming vacancies by return email by a given due date.
Board members whose terms are not about to expire and who are thus ineligible for being voted into the board will be identified to the voters. Exiting board members can be re-appointed into the boards. The names with highest suggestion frequencies will be asked to join the board, and if that is declined, the next name down the list will be chosen. In case of a tie, a second email poll will be conducted. The voting process is to be conducted such that the results are finalized prior to the upcoming board meeting.
DEBYE PRIZE
The 'Peter Debye Prize for Young Investigators for Excellence in Dielectric Research' is established to encourage and support young scientists to continue research in the field of Dielectric Spectroscopy and its applications. The award is financed by IDS funds and/or other available sources. If the resources are considered insufficient, the prize will not be awarded for the period of time in question.
Award: The award consists of a certificate of achievement accompanied by a prize of 1500 euro.
Eligibility: Researchers of any nationality with not more than 6 years of experience in the field since the official award date of their first Ph.D. at the time of the award presentation can be considered for the Prize. The eligibility periods can be extended by up to 18 months in case of properly documented circumstances such as childbirth, long-term illness, or national service.
Nomination: Candidates can be nominated by any IDS member, self-nomination will not be considered. The nomination documents are composed of 1) a nomination letter including a summary in the form of a presentation statement about the scientific work of the candidate of up to 80 words length; 2) a standard Curriculum Vitae of the candidate including the official date of Ph.D. award, at least one title/year of a previous presentation in the BDS conference series, and the title of the submission to the upcoming BDS conference; 3) a complete publication list; 4) one copy of each of the up to three papers (published or in-press, where the nominee is either first or last/corresponding author) under consideration for the Debye Prize; 5) a brief statement of the candidates contribution to each of those publications; 6) documents supporting any extension of the eligibility terms.
The nomination documents should be submitted in electronic format as single or multiple PDF files. Details on the submission requirements and procedure, including contact information and deadlines, will be published on dedicated pages on the BDS conference or on IDS websites.
Award Committee: The Award Committee consists of 3 committee members: a chairperson and two members. The Award Committee chairperson shall be a Board Member and is appointed by the President. Together, the Award Committee chairperson and the President will select two Award Committee members, which shall be Society Members. Members of the Award Committee must be free of any direct relationship (personal, member of the same research team, etc.) to any of the nominees. The Award Committee is responsible for formulating the presentation statement on the scientific work of the winner of the Debye Prize, which will be present on the Prize certificate.
Evaluation: The Award Committee is responsible for the process for evaluation of the nominated scientific work and to verify the eligibility of the candidates. The final decision will be made by the Award Committee.
Timeline: The deadline for submission of the nomination documents shall be at least 16 weeks before the opening of the BDS conference at which the Prize will be awarded. Based on the list of the nominees, the President of IDS will appoint the Award Committee chairperson at least 14 weeks before the BDS conference. The Award Committee chairperson will formally notify the IDS Board of the winner of the prize at latest 5 weeks before the conference. The winner of the Prize will be officially notified at least 4 weeks before the opening of the BDS conference, and will receive the Prize certificate during an awarding ceremony organized within the BDS conference.
CHANGES OF GOVERNANCE DOCUMENT
Changes to this document require a motion from two Board members to be considered. Validation of changes requires a quorum of at least half of the Board and out of these a 2/3 majority of affirmative votes. In case of a vote by email, a minimum of a week to respond shall be allowed.
THE OFFICIAL DOCUMENT (in PDF format) can be accessed here.