The 2021 virtual Annual Meeting was full of firsts for BPS and, although we’ve had two virtual Council meetings already, these were our first virtual Joint and New Council meetings. Joint Council, a combination of the current, the outgoing, and the incoming Council members, met virtually on 18 and 20 February. New Council, the current cohort, then met virtually on 2 March.
Outgoing Council members, Linda Columbus, Jenny Ross, David Stokes, and Pernilla Wittung-Stafshede, as well as Past-President David Piston, were recognized for their service and outstanding contributions to Council. Henry Colecraft, Kumiko Hayashi, Susan Marqusee, and Kandice Tanner, were welcomed as incoming Councilors along with Gail Robertson, who transitioned into the President-Elect position at the BPS Annual Business Meeting on Wednesday 24 February. Cathy Royer became Past-President at the Business Meeting as she passed the gavel (screen to screen!) to now President Frances Separovic.
At Joint Council, reports from the Editors-in-Chief of Biophysical Journal and The Biophysicist as well as from the Chairs of the Inclusion & Diversity (CID), Professional Opportunities for Women (CPOW), Early Careers, Education, Membership, and Public Affairs Committees were reviewed. Council agreed all the Committees have been very productive and engaged, with many delivering excellent virtual programming in support of members these past many months. Most of the Committees have additional programming scheduled for Biophysics Week, 22-26 March, and some have events planned for later this spring and summer as well.
A portion of the Joint Council meeting was dedicated to a review and update of the abstract categories for the Annual Meeting to ensure we are offering the most up-to-date research categories with the appropriate names as well as relevant techniques. The modifications will be implemented for the 2022 Annual Meeting.
2021 Program Co-chairs, Patricia Bassereau and Bertrand Garcia-Moreno, and 2022 Program Co-chairs Betsy Komives and Art Palmer, provided updates at Joint Council on their respective Annual Meeting programs. Member-suggested sessions and speakers were incorporated into both programs, and the Co-chairs aimed for gender balance as well as scientific and geographic diversity. The Co-chairs then reported to New Council, where feedback on the sessions along with the implementation and execution of the 2021 virtual meeting were discussed at length. A survey is being sent to meeting attendees to gather more feedback, and responses will be shared with Council and Program Chairs.
Lukas Tamm, Chair of the Thematic Meeting Committee, joined Council to present a revised proposal for a 2022 Thematic Meeting. The proposal was approved, and the new meeting will be announced once the schedule has been determined. Since we were not able to hold any Thematic Meetings or BPS Conferences in 2020 due to the pandemic, and some of the 2021 meetings will be delayed as well, Council decided not to issue a call for new proposals in 2021 and instead will prioritize rescheduling previously approved meetings.
Kathleen Hall, Chair of the Publications Committee, presented a recommendation to Council for a new Editor-in-Chief for Biophysical Journal to succeed Jane Dyson at the end of her term. Vasanthi Jayaraman was unanimously approved by Council and will start her term as Editor-in-Chief on 1 January 2022. Kathleen also provided an update on BPS’s new journal, Biophysical Reports, which officially launched on 22 February, the first day of the Annual Meeting.
Council enthusiastically approved a proposal to rename the BPS Innovation Award after a distinguished member of the Society. This award recognizes a BPS member who advances our fundamental understanding of biological systems through the development of novel theory, models, concepts, techniques, or application. A detailed announcement will be included in the May issue of the BPS Bulletin.
Council approved the 2021 Nominating Committee which is charged with developing the slate for the 2022 BPS election. Henry Colecraft will chair the 2021 Nominating Committee and will be supported by Committee members Taviare Hawkins, Anna Moroni, Jenny Ross, Cathy Royer, and Pernilla Wittung-Stafshede.
As noted in the Fall Council Report in the December 2020 issue of the BPS Bulletin, the Society has a deficit budget for 2021 due to the impacts of the pandemic on the Annual Meeting and membership numbers. Council received an update on BPS finances including current membership and registration counts, which were higher than anticipated but still well below the numbers prior to the pandemic. BPS Treasurer, Kalina Hristova, shared that reserves are still strong and will help the Society through this difficult year.
BPS Secretary Erin Sheets gave Council an update on Subgroups. Subgroup symposia occurred on the first day of the Annual Meeting and experienced a number of glitches as we all adjusted to the online platform, the speaker transitions, the differences between the Q&A functionality and the chat feature, etc. Despite the hiccups, the science was deemed excellent and the attendance was similar to in-person Subgroup Saturdays. Sheets met with Subgroup Chairs the day before New Council and was able to share their feedback and thoughts with Council.
With two new Subgroups being added to the list for 2022, Council briefly discussed the future of Subgroups, including the optimal number of groups, feasibility of supporting them, and membership requirements. This discussion will continue at Spring Council and a survey of Subgroup leadership, and potentially full BPS membership, to help inform the discussion is being planned.
Council noted that this year Annual Meeting Workshops and Biophysics Week will occur virtually before the end of March. Many BPS Committees that usually meet in person during the Annual Meeting will convene via Zoom in March and April. Additional virtual events are under consideration for the Fall. While the details of the next Annual Meeting will be an important agenda item for Spring Council, Council certainly hopes we will all be together again in San Francisco for BPS 2022!
As always, we welcome your feedback and input on how BPS can best support you — our members. Please reach out to us at any time: [email protected] or [email protected]
—Frances Separovic, President
—Jennifer Pesanelli, Executive Officer