Are you a current student studying computational biology or bioinformatics? Are you interested in being part of a community that supports students by planning events, encouraging social interactions and promoting technical skills — then come and join the COMBINE committee!
We are a purely online committee and would love to have committee members from all over Australia. Joining the COMBINE committee is a great way to improve your leadership skills, build your confidence and get involved with/ contribute to the Australian student community (and it also looks great on your CV!). You must be a student for at least some of next year, but can be a student at any stage of your educational journey (full eligibility requirements are listed below).
Applications will be open until 12/12/2022 and new committee members will be contacted in early January 2023.
The 2023 COMBINE committee will be comprised of:
Executive Committee: President, Vice-President, Secretary, Treasurer
General Committee: Training and events coordinator (x1), Training and events officers (6+), Media and communications officers (x2-3), Symposium coordinators (x2)
Detailed position descriptions are listed below.
Nominate yourself or someone else to join the 2023 COMBINE Committee via the Nomination Form.
Executive office bearers
These roles are defined in the COMBINE Terms of Reference and must form part of the COMBINE General Committee. They are the most senior roles within COMBINE and we recommend that people taking on these roles have experience in another COMBINE role, however, we encourage all applicants to apply.
President
The President is responsible for coordinating and overseeing all COMBINE activities. They should be aware of everything that COMBINE is currently involved in and delegate tasks to others as needed. The President is often involved in developing new initiatives and should be familiar with the responsibilities of the other office bearers.
Main responsibilities:
- Manage other COMBINE office bearers
- Chair COMBINE committee meetings
- Report to the ABACBS committee
- Interact with the ISCB Student Council as required
- Oversee access to COMBINE accounts
Secretary
The Secretary is responsible for internal COMBINE communications. They facilitate communication between COMBINE office bearers and keep COMBINE organised.
Main responsibilities:
- Take minutes at COMBINE committee meetings
- Organise COMBINE documents
- Manage the COMBINE email address
- Facilitate internal COMBINE communication
Treasurer
The Treasurer is responsible for managing COMBINE finances. They oversee the budget process, approve spending and make payments.
Main responsibilities:
- Oversee the COMBINE bank account
- Approve budget request and manage reimbursements
- Liaise with the ABACBS Treasurer
- Prepare the annual financial report
- Look out for opportunities for sponsorship or funding
General office bearers
These roles are defined by the COMBINE General Committee and may change over time. In 2023 they will consist of the following positions.
Training and Events Coordinator (1 position)
The Training and Events Coordinator is responsible for overseeing the organisation of events and workshops across the country. These may include introductory programming workshops, specialised workshops or social events. The Training and Events Coordinator may organise events but their main role is to assist the Training and Events Officers in planning and running events. It is not required but familiarity with The Carpentries is a bonus.
Main responsibilities:
- Communicate with Training and Events Officers
- Help the officers with ideas for training and events in the local community
- Help gather workshop material and find instructors
- Assist the officers with budgeting, advertising, finding venues etc
- Manage the events process
Training and Events Officers (6+ positions)
Training and events officers are responsible for organising training and events in their local area and representing the students in their local community. The local area and community is typically the city or Institution the officer is from. There is no limit to the number of these positions. We hope to have one or more representatives from as many areas and Universities/Institutions around Australia as possible.
Main responsibilities:
- Representing your local student community at COMBINE meetings
- Organising 2 or more events for your local community throughout the year
- Typical events in the past have been workshops and social gatherings
- The training and events officer does not necessarily have to be the person running the event, but will oversee its organisation
Media and Communications Officers (2-4 positions)
The Media and Communications Officers manage COMBINE’s public presence. They distribute content about upcoming events and workshops, community news and job opportunities via our various online channels. Familiarity with the platforms we use is a bonus but they are easy to use and training will be provided.
Main responsibilities:
- Maintenance of the COMBINE website (wordpress based)
- Managing the COMBINE social media accounts (Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn)
- Manage the COMBINE mailing lists using Mailchimp
- Distribute content using appropriate platforms
- Promote the annual COMBINE Symposium
- Put together the regular COMBINE newsletter
Symposium Coordinators (2 positions)
The Symposium Coordinator will lead the organisation of the annual COMBINE Student Symposium. This will include forming a Symposium Committee at the start of the year and delegating positions to each member on the committee. They oversee all aspects of organising the symposium and liaise with the ABACBS conference chairs and committee. In 2023, the symposium will be held in Queensland in late November in conjunction with the ABACBS conference. Therefore, it is ideal for at least one of the symposium coordinators to be based in Queensland.
Main responsibilities:
- Form a Symposium Committee and assign roles
- Oversee organisation of the symposium including the main program, abstract review, best talk/best poster judging, sponsorship and social night
- Manage the symposium budget
- Sit on the ABACBS conference committee
Eligibility
- Be enrolled as a student at an Australian university for at least part of 2023.
- Identify as a student in Bioinformatics, Computational Biology or a related field.
- To accept a position you must be a student member of the Australian Bioinformatics and Computational Biology Society (ABACBS). However, this is not required before nominating.
- Office bearers must accept the COMBINE Terms of Reference.
- The President and Vice President are required to be members of the International Society of Computational Biology (ISCB). Associated fees will be reimbursed by COMBINE.
Expectations:
- All committee members are expected to fulfil their responsibilities for the entirety of the 2023 calendar year, where possible attend a 1hr meeting (via zoom) every 2 weeks, maintain communication (via slack/email) OR it is expected the committee member organise other arrangements agreed upon by the committee.
- Time commitment is expected to be an average of 2 hours per week. There is usually an increase in time commitment around events, and a decrease outside of events.
Nominations
Nominate yourself or someone else here.
Nominations close on 12/12/2022
If a vote is required, only financial members of ABACBS will be able to vote. See the ABACBS website to become a financial member.
If you have any questions about being on the committee please email us at combine@combine.org.au, join our slack, or contact us via any of our social media accounts.