New Academy Bylaws

Section A (formerly Section L) — Fellows

A1. The Fellowship of the Society shall be an honour conferred for distinction in research or the advancement of science or technology.

A2. The total number of Fellows shall be restricted by limiting the number of Fellows elected annually.

A3. The official abbreviation of the title “Fellow of the Royal Society of New Zealand” shall be FRSNZ.

A4.  A general meeting of Fellows (known as the “Annual General Meeting”) shall be held every year.

A5. The number of Fellows elected each year should reflect the number of highly meritorious nominations in that particular year and should be reviewed annually at the Annual General Meeting.

A6. No person shall be nominated or elected as a Fellow unless he or she: i) is a citizen or permanent resident of New Zealand; and ii) has been a New Zealand resident for at least three years during his or her career; and iii) normally spends at least six months in New Zealand each year.

A7. Nominations may be made by two Fellows, or in the case of constituent societies, regional societies and other scientific organisations, by one Fellow and one other person who shall be a senior office-bearer of that organisation. Nominations shall stand for a period of five years, but further evidence in support of the nomination may be added from year to year. In the event of a nominee moving abroad during this term, his or her nomination will lapse and he or she will be eligible for nomination for Honorary Fellowship. If the candidate has not been elected within that period he or she shall not be renominated for a period of three years. The consent of the candidate must be obtained in writing when first nominated. In giving consent to nomination, each nominee shall express willingness to comply with the conditions of the Fellowship.

A8. The list of the proposed Fellows shall be reported at the Annual General Meeting. Such meetings shall have the power only to accept each name or to refer it back to the Selection Committee. Those accepted will thereby be elected Fellows of the Royal Society of New Zealand.

A9. (a) Every candidate for election as a Fellow shall, in giving consent to nomination under Bylaw A7, also undertake to pay to the Royal Society of New Zealand an annual subscription of such sum as may be approved from time to time by the Annual General Meeting of Fellows, on the recommendation of the Academy Council.

(b) Every Fellow elected after the year 1963 shall pay to the Society an annual subscription.

(c) Every Fellow elected before 1964 may at any time give an undertaking in writing to the Society to pay an annual subscription to the Society. Every such Fellow shall at the same time and in each subsequent year pay to the Society an annual subscription. Every Fellow giving such an undertaking shall be subject to the provision of these Rules, regarding payment of annual subscriptions and the consequences of non-payment thereof, in all respects as though he or she had been elected a Fellow after the year 1963.

(d) Every Fellow elected before 1964 who does not undertake to pay an annual subscription shall retain all the rights, privileges and responsibilities of a Fellow as provided by the Royal Society of New Zealand Act 1997 and by these Bylaws.

(e) On application from any Fellow who has given an undertaking to pay an annual subscription to the Society, the Academy Council may for any sufficient reason remit payment of his or her annual subscription for such period as it sees fit.

(f) Fellows who have retired may pay a reduced annual subscription, at a level to be approved from time to time by the annual meeting of Fellows or on the recommendation of the Academy Council. The Academy Council may remit by resolution the payment of part or all of future annual subscriptions by any Fellow.

A10. The Society shall keep a register of Fellows of the Society, with the dates of their election, their degrees, honours and titles, in which shall be recorded the death of any Fellow, and the names of the deceased Fellows thus recorded shall be announced from the chair at the next succeeding Annual General Meeting.

A11. From time to time the Academy Council may consider it desirable to elect to the Fellowship an eminent person who has made an outstanding contribution to the nurture and support of science or the Society, been a benefactor to the Academy or to science, and whose election to the Fellowship the Academy Council believes would benefit the Academy and the advancement of science.

The nomination will be made to the Academy Council in the form of nominating statements from at least three Fellows and supported by a curriculum vitae.

The nomination must have the unanimous approval of the Academy Council for the recommendation of election to proceed.

The Academy Council will recommend the election of the candidate to the Fellows at the Annual General Meeting.

The approval of the person nominated must be obtained before public announcement of the election.

Not more than two persons may be elected by the special election procedure in any three consecutive years.

Any Fellow elected by the special election procedure will thereafter have the same rights and privileges as Fellows elected by the normal procedure.

Section B (formerly Section M) — Honorary Fellows

B1. The Academy Council may appoint Honorary Fellows, being persons not eligible under Bylaw A6. The total number of Honorary Fellows shall be at the absolute discretion of the Academy Council.

B2. Nominations for Honorary Fellowship may be made by groups of three or more Fellows, or in the case of constituent organisations, regional constituent organisations and other scientific organisations, by two Fellows and one other person who shall be a senior office-bearer of that organisation.

B3. The number of Honorary Fellows elected in any one year shall be decided by the Academy Council.

B4. Each nomination must be accompanied by a completed nomination form, curriculum vitae, full bibliography and a statement of up to 500 words indicating the reasons why a candidate is worthy of election, as well as indication of the appropriate Fellowship Selection Panel to consider the nomination. In exceptional circumstances and with the approval of the President the requirement for part of the above documentation may be waived.

B5. Nominations shall be referred to the appropriate Fellowship Selection Panel which shall be asked to consider the nomination and make recommendations to the Fellowship Selection Committee. Consideration shall be given to each candidate's sustained research excellence in the scientific field and to his or her association with New Zealand.

B6. The Academy Council shall consider each highly recommended candidate and make elections to Honorary Fellowship at or after its Fellowship Selection Committee Meeting and before the Fellows' Annual General Meeting.

B7. The names of those elected to Honorary Fellowship shall be announced at the Fellows' Annual General Meeting.

B8. Nominations shall stand for a period of three years, but further evidence in support of the nomination may be added from year to year. If the candidate has not been elected within that period he or she shall not be re-nominated for a period of three years.

B9. The title of Honorary Fellow shall be Honorary Fellow of the Royal Society of New Zealand (Hon FRSNZ).

Section C — Proceedings of Academy Council

C1. Seven clear days before the day fixed for each Academy Council meeting, notice shall be emailed or posted to each member of the Academy Council at his/her address last notified to the Executive Officer.

C2. The Academy Council shall meet at least four times a year, at least two of which should be by telephone or videoconferencing.

C3. The quorum at each Academy Council meeting shall be 50 percent or more of the number eligible to attend.

C4. At meetings of the Academy Council each member shall be entitled to one vote, but in the case of equality of votes the Chairperson of the meeting shall have a casting as well as a deliberate vote.

C5. Upon receipt of a request signed by not less than two members of the Academy Council and stating clearly the business to be transacted, the Chairperson of the Academy Council shall, within seven days, call a special meeting of the Academy Council, and at such a meeting no business other than that set forth in the request shall be introduced.

C6. In the event of the absence or incapacity of the Chairperson of the Academy Council, the next longest-serving member of the Academy Council shall serve as its acting Chairperson.

C7. At its first meeting following each Annual General Meeting of Fellows, or as soon as possible thereafter, the Academy Council shall set up the Fellowship Selection Committee and special committees for the awards of medals and prizes as required.

C8. No member of the Academy Council and no member of any committee shall vote or take part in discussion on any matter before the Academy Council or Committee in which he/she has either directly or indirectly any pecuniary interest.

C9. No member of the Academy Council shall hold any salaried office under the Academy Council.

C10. The members of the Academy Council and all its committees shall be paid travelling allowances to attend meetings of the Academy Council and its committees.