About IVS

IVS 2026 Directing Board Elections

Call for Nominations

The IVS Election Committee solicits nominations for five representative positions and three at-large positions on the IVS Directing Board. Nominations for the representative positions are due by 16 December 2026. Following the announcement of the results of the representative elections, nominations can be made for the at-large positions; the deadline for at-large nominations is 10 February 2027.

A large number of candidates for the election is highly welcome, so that the Associate Members have a choice when voting. Please consider who among your colleagues could fill a position on the IVS Directing Board.

If you have problems or questions about the nomination or election process, please contact an Election Committee member.

IVS Directing Board Election Committee

• Masafumi Ishigaki, Chair
• Nancy Kotary
• Dirk Behrend

Background
The IVS Terms of Reference list the following representative and At-Large members of the Directing Board:

Elected by IVS Components (4-year terms)	Number
Networks representatives	2
Correlators representative	1†
Operation Centers representative	1†
Analysis and Data Centers representative	2
Technology Development Centers representative	1

Elected by Directing Board upon recommendation from the Coordinating Center (2-year terms)	Number
Members at-large	3

†Special note:

The IVS Directing Board has separated the Correlators and Operation Centers representative position into two distinct positions: one Correlators representative and one Operation Centers representative. These two postions are intended to be time staggered, that is they shall commence and thus end with a two-year separation. Hence, in the current elections the Operation Centers position will be elected for a two-year term only.

Membership of the outgoing IVS Directing Board
Accumulating the representative, at-large, ex officio, and permanent positions, the seventeen members of the outgoing Board are:

• Ex officio:
• Aletha de Witt, IAG
• Patrick Charlot, IAU
• Rüdiger Haas, IERS (Chair)
• Dirk Behrend, Coordinating Center
• Nancy Kotary, Office for Outreach and Communications
• Permanent:
• Alexander Neidhardt, Network Coordinator
• Benedikt Soja, Analysis Coordinator
• José A. López Pérez, Technology Coordinator
• Representative (4-year terms):
• Susana García-Espada, Networks
• Lucia McCallum, Networks [term expiring]
• Phillip Haftings, Correlators [term expiring]
• Matthias Schartner, Analysis
• Minghui Xu, Analysis [term expiring]
• Chet Ruszczyk, Technology Development [term expiring, not re-electable]
• At Large (2-year terms):
• Masafumi Ishigaki [term expiring, not re-electable]
• Hana Krásná [term expiring]
• Fengchun Shu [term expiring, not re-electable]

Positions to be Filled
The positions to be filled in the current election period are:

• one Networks representative (current position holder: Lucia McCallum, Australia)
• the Correlators representative (current position holder: Phillip Haftings, USA)
• the Operation Centers representative (new position: initial appointment for 2 years)
• one Analysis Center representative (current position holder: Minghui Xu, Germany)
• the Technology Development Center representative (current position holder: Chet Ruszczyk*, USA)
• three At Large members (current position holders: Hana Krásná, Argentina; Masfumi Ishigaki*, Japan; and Fengchun Shu*, China)

* position holder not eligible for re-election

Nominations
Representative positions: Nominations for representative positions are solicited from the relevant IVS components. Nominations for the Networks representative will be accepted only from an IVS Network Station, nominations for the Correlators representative will be accepted only from an IVS Correlator, nominations for the Operation Centers representative will be accepted only from an IVS Operation Center, nominations for the Analysis and Data Centers representative will be accepted only from an IVS Analysis or Data Center, and nominations for the Technology Develpment Centers representative will be accepted only from an IVS Technology Development Center. Nominations must be submitted by the technical/scientific representative(s) listed in the IVS component tables.

At-large positions: Nominations for the at-large positions are solicited from any IVS Associate Member. You may nominate yourself.

Eligibility: Only persons who are currently IVS Associate Members may be nominated for any position. A current Directing Board member is eligible for re-election, provided he/she hasn't served already two consecutive full terms on the Board in any of the representative and at large positions. Partial terms are not counted to this limit. After two consecutive full terms, the individual becomes eligible again for a position on the Board following a two-year absence.

Submitting a nomination: Please provide the following information about the candidate:

1. Name of person being nominated.
2. Name of the IVS component(s) with which the person is affiliated.
3. Directing Board position for which the person is being nominated.
4. A brief (one paragraph) biographical sketch of the person being nominated.
5. A statement that the candidate has been contacted and has agreed to serve if elected.

Please e-mail the information to the members of the Election Committee (Masafumi Ishigaki, Nancy Kotary, Dirk Behrend). Nominations for representative positions will close at 2359 UT on 16 December 2026. Nominations for at large positions will commence after the announcement of the representative election results and will last until 2359 UT on 10 February 2027.

Elections
Elections for the candidates nominated for the five representative positions will be conducted via e-ballot during the period 13-27 January 2027.

All Associate Members are eligible to vote for the five representative positions. For each position, the candidate who receives the largest number of votes from the Associate Members will be elected. In case of a tie, the Directing Board will make the decision.

The at-large election by the Directing Board will be conducted after the representative positions are elected, because the purpose of the at-large positions is to balance representation from as many countries and institutions as possible.

Results
The IVS Associate Members will be informed about the results of the representative elections by early February 2027 and about the results of the at-large elections by the end of February 2027. The new board members will be asked to attend the in-person IVS Directing Board meeting to be held in conjunction with the EVGA 2027 meeting in Espoo, Finland on June 11, 2027. Prior to the in-person meeting, it is planned to have an online meeting on March 15, 2027.

Schedule