Dear participants to the ILS4 conference,

by this message I would like to welcome you and to provide you with some information related to the conference and to our scientific society.

The conference program is reported and is progressively updated in the conference website. I guess you already received information on contributions selected as oral communications or as posters with a flash presentation. Please be prepared with your contributions following the indications provided by the Organizing Committee, adapting strictly to timing guidelines. This is especially important for flash presentations (which will be many). To keep the talk of these presentations within the requested 4-minute length, I recommend that you show no more than 5 slides, which may, for example, include one title and authors slide (possibly showing also the relevant funding body and project name), a second slide with 4-6 sentences overall devoted to key background, objectives and methods, one or two slides of results (each slide reporting an easy-to-comment table or figure), and a final slide with a few sentences of take-home messages.

I invite all of you to attend the ILS General Assembly on September 21, from 17.00 to 18.15. I recall that any participant gets automatic membership for the period of 3 years that spans from the conference in Granada to the following ILS conference. All participants in the conference and additional paying members (who shall pay a flat membership fee of 50 €) have voting rights and eligibility for the new Scientific Committee (Sci. Com.). The General Assembly will aim to briefly summarize and critically discuss the activities performed during the last four years, provide propositions and discuss novel possible activities, elect the new Sci. Com., decide the venue of the following ILS conference, and discuss other possible issues of interest.

I invite each conference participant who is willing to serve in the new Sci. Com. to submit an application inclusive of a brief CV and a motivation statement (no more than 1000 characters overall) and a recent photo, by an email addressed to the conference secretariat (mmili@fase20.com), by September 12 (thereby allowing to distribute the information on applicants within the conference package in view of a possible vote by participants in
the General Assembly). Current Sci. Com. members can be re-elected but also need to submit an application. We strongly encourage each future Sci. Com. member to contribute as Guest Editor to one issue of the ILS scientific magazine Legume Perspectives . The Sci. Com. members will in turn elect the Executive Committee (Ex. Com.) Board among its members. The Board will consist of a President (who is also President of ILS), a Treasurer, a Secretary, and one or more Vice-Presidents, beside the Past-President. Other information on the Sci. Com. and the Ex. Com. is summarized below.

I also invite members of scientific institution willing to host the following ILS conference (ILS5) to make manifest their intention during the General Assembly and offer a small slide presentation of their institution and the advantages of the proposed venue (in terms of infrastructure, accessibility, and possibly tourism attractions). I ask any candidate institution to anticipate that to me by email by September 15, stating your willing to host the ILS5 conference and anticipating your commitment to add to the future registration fee an extra amount of 50 € that shall be collected and given to ILS as a three-year ILS membership fee of the participant (as in the current conference). The Assembly will vote on the selected venue, in case there was more than one proposition.

The ILS Sci. Com. is established as a consultative body. It is appointed by the General Assembly and should be composed of a total of more than ten members, bringing together at least five nationalities of at least two continents. Its mandate has three years duration and its members might be re-elected indefinitely. Its functions shall be consultative on related scientific and social activities of ILS. Among its functions there is the election of the Ex. Com. Board members, elected among its members by simple voting. When a vacancy arises on the Ex. Com., tentatively the Sc. Com. may appoint another member for replacement, until the election of the member occurs by the General Assembly in the first session to be convened. The Ex. Com. Board is the official body of government, representation and management of the Association, subject to the powers of the General Assembly as a sovereign body. Its mandate will be three years and may be re-elected indefinitely. The Board shall consist of a President, a Secretary and a Treasurer, but new positions as vice president and new vocals may be created. These Board positions are nominative, with no possibility for delegation for vote in the Board’s meetings. To ensure the international character of the Association, there shall be no more than two members on the Ex. Com. with same nationality.

I would like to thank all of you for your interest in ILS, I wish you a most fruitful and pleasant participation in the conference.

Paolo Annicchiarico

(President of ILS)