EISCAT governing rules
EISCAT is governed by the Agreement, Statutes and supplemental policies, procedures and rules.
These are included in the governing rules and procedures book, the BlueBook. The current version is Edition 2021 (published in July 2022).
Amendments and additions not included in Edition 2021
June 2023, name change: Suomen Akatemia, Finland, changed its English name from Academy of Finland to Research Council of Finland.
April 2023, updated tables: The ownership and timeshare calculation tables in Appendices 2-4 have been updated for 2023.
Supplemental procedures and rules
Relating to the EISCAT Data Policy, the EISCAT Council has adopted a special care procedure document.
The placing of contracts for equipment, supplies and services are governed by a set of rules in the BlueBook. The rules are supplemented by the procurement policy.
EISCAT is proud of keeping health and safety to the highest standard and the EISCAT Health and Saftety details how this is managed.
Gender equality is handled in this policy.
EISCAT Council meetings (rules set November 2018, June 2019 and November 2019). Meeting procedures: Matters requiring a Council decision must be submitted in writing latest two weeks before a Council meeting. Other matters for Council to consider should be reported at least one week in advance, unless special conditions require additional delays. Meeting updates: Headquarters shall send notices to all Council members if changes are made to documents already submitted in preparation for a Council meeting. Council minutes: Council expects that Headquarters will provide the resources needed to take the minutes at meetings. Due to current lack of such resources, this will take effect from 2021 onwards. Minutes from the meetings are not public. The minutes from each meeting will therefore be supplemented with publishable short reports. Both the minutes and short reports will be available within one month after a meeting has been held. The restricted Council minutes will be distributed to the participants in the meeting, AFC members and SAC Chairperson.
EISCAT Annual Reports (rules set June 2019). Inputs for Annual Reports are appreciated up to 31 March each year. Headquarters will then edit the inputs and add the standard chapters and publish the Annual Report by 31 June each year.
Travel expenses for delegates and representatives attending Council, Committee and other meetings are paid by their home institutes/organisations. Travel expenses for AFC and SAC Committee Chairpersons and external/invited members are covered by the Association. Refunding can either be done by having the home institute/organisation invoice the cost or, if the individual pay all costs privately, use the form Travel Claim CC
The Bluebook stipulates that additional radar hours may be bought by Associates and Affiliates who wish to temporarily increase their contributions in particular years, at rates related to the costs involved: 2021 unit cost
Affiliates. Individual Institutes can join the Association as affiliates. This is done by having an Affiliate Agreement between EISCAT and the Institute. The affiliate benefits and terms are described in the BlueBook
Previous versions
The first EISCAT Agreement was signed in 1975. It has thereafter been updated and reconfirmed few times. Minor updates have more frequently been implemented. We have summarised the most recent changes in the revision log.