General Assembly Meeting

Dear TRANSPANers,
we will hold our yearly general meeting in Santiago de Compostela, Spain, on 24-25 June, just before the meeting of the European Pancreatic Club (26-29 June, https://epc2024.eu/).

We will have two full days (tentatively 9:00 to 18:00) during which we’ll have meetings of the management committee (MC), the core group (CG), all working groups (WG) and much more. The meeting will be in person only. A detailed agenda is in preparation.

Everyone who is a member of at least one of our WGs is welcome to participate. We will be able to cover the expenses of a large part of those who will attend in person. According to COST rules, we can reimburse long-distance (>100 km) travel on the basis of the actual expenses. We will reimburse travel expenses of up to 350€. Additionally, we will pay a daily allowance (192€/day, as mandated by COST) that can be used for accommodation, meals and local transportation. You can find the complete text of the COST rules governing all this here: https://www.cost.eu/uploads/2023/11/COST-094-21-Annotated-Rules-for-COST-Actions-Level-C-V1.4-Final-.pdf

Probably we will not be able to cover the travel expenses of everyone. We will officially invite, and therefore offer to pay for travel and daily allowance:
– Members of the CG and other leadership;
– Members of the MC (not more than one per institution);
– A number of early career researchers. The exact number will depend on how many MC members will attend the meeting.
Everyone else who is a member of at least one WG is very welcome to attend the meeting, paying for their own expenses. There will be no fee to participate in the meeting.

We define early career researchers as follows:
– They must be part of a WG (they will have to specify which one(s) in their application);
– They must be currently MSc/PhD/MD students, or have obtained their PhD/MD degree less than 10 years ago (considering career breaks, which should be detailed in their application).

Early career researchers who wish to be considered for an official invitation should submit an application. Applications will be evaluated by the CG according to these criteria:
– Applicant CV with motivation statement about commitment to pancreatic cancer research (max 2 pages; applications longer than 2 pages will be disqualified): up to 20 points;
– Applicant country of origin: 5 extra points for applicants affiliated with an institution in a COST Inclusiveness Target Country (ITC): Albania, Armenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Croatia, Georgia, Greece, Hungary, Lithuania, Latvia, Malta, Moldova, Montenegro, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia, Slovakia, Republic of North Macedonia, Republic of Serbia, Türkiye and Ukraine;
– Applicants who are currently students (MSc/PhD/MD): 5 extra points;
In order to be as inclusive as possible, we will prioritize ensuring that as many countries and institutions as possible are represented.

You can submit your application to f.canzian@dkfz.de starting immediately.

The deadline is April 25.