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The constitution

1 The group shall be named the Diabetic Pregnancy Study Group (DPSG)

2 The aims of the Group shall be to improve the detection and management of diabetes in pregnant women and their offspring by fostering research, treatment and education in the subject of diabetic pregnancy. Obesity before and during pregnancy has been recently added in the field of interest of the Group.

3 The Group is affiliated to the European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD)

4 The Group will normally hold one scientific meeting each year, at which there will be a business meeting.

5 The organisation of the Group will be the responsibility of the Board.

6 The Board will be composed of five members, four of whom will be elected at a business meeting of the Group. Each of the four members will serve for four years, and will not be eligible for re-election until they have been out of office for one year. In each annual meeting, a new Board member will be elected and one will leave. Board members will serve as chair of the Group during the third year and as past chair during the fourth. The fifth member will act as Treasurer, and will be nominated by the Board for consideration by all members at the appropriate business meeting. The Treasurer will serve for five years.

7 The ordinary membership of the group shall not exceed 40. Ordinary members will be elected bearing in mind the multi-disciplinary nature of the Group and the desirability of broad European representation. The multi-disciplinary nature of the Group includes internists, obstetricians, pediatricians and basic scientists.

8 Persons eligible for ordinary membership must be active workers in some aspect of the field of diabetic pregnancy. Election to ordinary membership requires:

• Proposal of two members
• Scrutiny of the candidate's curriculum vitae by the Board
• Presentation of a paper to the Group by the candidate
• Confirmation by vote of the members of the Group in which one adverse vote in four will bar membership at that time

9 An ordinary member may invite one guest only to a scientific meeting.

10 An ordinary member has full voting rights at the business meeting of the Group.

11 Failure of an ordinary member to attend three consecutive annual scientific meetings will result in automatic lapse of membership.

12 Up to 25 Associate Members may be accepted by nomination to participate in Group. Associate Members will typically be younger scientists, and are appointed for a three-year term, potentially renewable. Associate Members may attend the business meetings of the Group, but do not vote.

13 The Board may propose that an ordinary member or any other suitable person who is distinguished be made an honorary/international member of the Group. An ordinary member may ask for honorary membership at retirement from their official position or after a change of their field of interest. Election to honorary membership must be approved by the full membership of the Group. An honorary member will have full rights of participation in the scientific meetings of the Group but will not have the right to invite a guest or to vote at the business meetings of the Group. An honorary member is expected to attend at least one meeting in five years.

14 The Board may co-opt temporarily one other person as the organiser of the following year's scientific meeting.

Financial considerations regarding the annual meeting: The executive Board will nominate the President of the Local Organizing Committee of the Annual Meeting of the Study Group, who will always be an ordinary/honorary member of the DPSG (recommended to be assisted by a non-profit organization). He/she will be empowered by the Board to propose the budget and organize the meeting. Once the budget is approved, the DPSG board becomes co-responsible with the President of the Local Organizing Committee with all financial aspects. Fifty percent (50%) of the surplus, following all payments and taxes will be retained by the President of he Local Organizing Committee to be used for purposes in keeping with the objectives of the DPSG, properly documented and accepted by the Board (mainly, research in the field of Diabetes and Pregnancy). The remaining 50% of the surplus will be remitted to the Treasurer within 6 months of the completion of the meeting. If, on the contrary, the meeting ends with a negative financial balance, the DPSG will be the final responsible. The financial aspects of the meeting have to be scrutinized by the executive Board together with the President of the Local Organizing Committee.

15 Participation in the scientific meeting will be open to anyone interested in diabetic pregnancy who submits an abstract of their work and which is judged to be of merit by the Board. The Board may also invite not more than a total of 5 guests who are publishing work thought to be of the interest of the Group, and additionally 5 guests (observers) from areas of Europe that are not represented by membership. These will be guests of the Group and not the guest each member of the Board is entitled to invite personally. The "host" for each meeting will also be entitled to ask not more than 4 guest speakers. Only in exceptional circumstances should the total number of participants exceed 100 persons.

16 The DPSG will inform the EASD of its scientific activities.

17 All decisions regarding policy and rules of the Group require a quorum of 10 members and a majority of 70%. Where appropriate such decisions may be decided by a postal vote. Voting may be secret if supported by at least one third of the members present.

18 Members of the Group are encouraged to exchange their papers when they are ready for publication in order that each member will be informed about the other's accomplished projects.

19 At the initiative of the Board the Group may organise postgraduate education in diabetic pregnancy. Meetings organised by the Group for postgraduate education will be administratively and financially independent of the other activities of the Group.

20 Since 1996 a formal reconsideration of the aims of the Group and its constitution is undertaken every 10 years in the light of the experience gained over the preceding ten years.

21 An annual membership fee will be levied and the amount decided by the Board.