Officers’ duties

I. General Rules Valid for all Ex-Officio Council Members

Ex-Officio annual engagements related to Council Meetings

• Ex-Officio Council Members are expected to attend five in person Council meetings (Spring – normally held in February, pre- and post-Congress – held at the time of the annual Congress, Fall – normally held in October and Winter – normally held in December) per year and bi-monthly Virtual Council meetings (1 hour each).
• In addition to the participation in the Council meetings mentioned above, the Ex-Officio Council Members are normally asked to attend in person strategic meetings right before the Spring Council Meeting (normally held in January), the ERA Annual Congress (normally held in April) and in the Summer (normally held in July).
• Finally, Ex-Officio Council Members attend virtual meetings every two weeks to prepare the Agendas for the bi-monthly Virtual Council meetings (1 hour each).

Other meetings

Ex-Officio Council Members are expected to attend, when needed, other meetings during the year, in particular WCN and ASN’s Kidney Week.

Secretarial support for Ex-Officio Council Members

All Ex-Officio Council Member receive support from the ERA HQ.

II. President

1. The President oversees the activities of ERA (i.e. Society, Council, Staff). Collaborates closely with the Secretary General (mainly) and the Treasurer/Renal Science Chair.  
2. He/she is the main representative of the Society and can act on behalf of the Council with regard to urgent matters.  
3. He/she will preside over any Council meeting, Ordinary General Assembly and the annual Congress that he/she attends and has a second or casting vote at such meetings (where voting are held).  
4. He/she must ensure that all the activities of the Association are conducted in accordance with its objects following the Constitution, Rules and Regulations.  
5. The President is the ERA representative in other Societies and/or initiatives of third parties endorsed/supported by ERA.  
6. The President is the Officer who represents the Society vis-à-vis with other national and/or international Societies (i.e. special bilateral agreements, etc.).  
7. Any new initiative decided by Council is under the responsibility of the President until a specific committee and/or person for this new initiative is created/nominated by the Council.  
8. The President is responsible for granting ERA endorsements and non-financial support (in collaboration with the other Ex-Officio Council members and/or Council when needed as specified in the internal regulations).  
9. He/she is responsible for evaluating/scoring the Industry Symposia for the annual ERA Congresses, in collaboration with the Secretary General and the Renal Science Chair.  
10. The President is responsible, in collaboration with the Secretary General (who, in any case, will be the person who will actually prepare/finalize/send/receive the items listed below), of the following matters: the Agendas of the Council Meetings, the Ordinary General Assembly and any other meeting that the Council deems necessary; of the invitations to the meetings of non-Council members and for the final approval and signing of the Minutes of the Meetings; for informing the ERA speakers/chairs and representatives in events organized by third parties, as well as for receiving their report after the event; for signing all ERA diplomas and certificates issued while he/she is in office (except for his/her own personal diploma, which must be signed by the President Elect). Finally, still in collaboration with the Secretary General, he/she is responsible for informing all the people directly involved of the outcome of the Council’s decisions (candidates for Council; selected future Congress venues, etc.).   
11. The President can always delegate a representative of his/her choice to represent him/her for specific task(s) and/or event(s) (i.e. relations with National Presidents; EKHA; etc.).   
12. During his/her term, he/she is included, ex-officio, in the following Committees/Boards/Initiatives:  
    • ERA Registry  
    • Co-President ERA Congresses  
    • EKHA Representative  
    • BMA Representative 
    • Congress Scientific Committee  
    • One of the directors of ERA-Eurocongress Ltd, ERA’s Subsidiary Company  
13. Together with the Secretary General, the Treasurer and the Renal Science Chair the President receives regular up-dates from the Executive Director on the routine and extraordinary activities of the ERA HQ. 

III. Secretary General 

1. The Secretary General is expected to oversee the general administrative activities of the Society supporting the President/Council. In particular he/she oversees the ERA HQ activities.  
2. He/she is in charge of incoming funds.  
3. During his/her term, he/she is: one of the directors, and the Chair & Secretary, of ERA-Eurocongress Ltd., ERA’s Subsidiary Company. As Chair he/she is in charge of recording the minutes of the meeting of said Company.  
4. Together with the Treasurer, he/she has his/her signature on all ERA and ERA-Eurocongress Ltd accounts as well as the investments of the ERA Group.  
5. He/she should oversee the organization of all meetings, in particular: 5xCouncil meetings per year (in person), bi-monthly virtual Council meetings, any special retreats of ex-officio officers (=Summer and pre-Councils), weekly calls (ERA HQ senior staff/ex-officio officers).  
6. The Secretary General is responsible, in collaboration with the President (who must agree on the items listed), of preparing/submitting/ending/finalising/receiving the following matters:   
   • agendas of the Council Meetings   
   • agendas of the Ordinary General Assembly  
   • agendas of any other meeting that the Council deems necessary   
   • the invitations to the meetings of non-Council members and for the final approval and signing of the Minutes of the Meetings  
   • for informing the ERA speakers/chairs and representatives in events organised by third parties, as well as for receiving their report after the event  
   • for signing all ERA diplomas and certificates issued while he/she is office (except for his/her own personal diploma, which must be signed by the Secretary General Elect)   
   • for informing all the people directly involved of the outcomes of the Council’s decisions (candidates for Council; selected future Congress venues, etc.), following the confirmation/approval by the President  
7. He/she is in charge of preparing the diplomas and eventual gifts for Council members ending their term.  
8. He/she is the person responsible for the Council member elections, in particular, the ERA Secretary General will be in charge of informing all Council candidates about the exact date and time of the post-Congress Council meeting so that travel arrangements can be booked taking into consideration this meeting to which they will have to participate if elected.  
9. He/she is the person responsible for the FERA title.  
10.  He/she is responsible for following all the income generated by the activities of the Society (Congress activity; Membership activity; industry relations/sponsorships, etc.).  
11.  Similar to the role of the Treasurer, he/she can authorize senior staff to pay amounts above EUR 50,000.00.  
12. Together with the Treasurer, he/she is responsible for the ERA Group accounts and has full signatory on said accounts as well as on all investments.  
13. He/she is in charge of following all membership matters, including verifying/supervising all materials sent to members.  
14. He/she represents the Council in relation to the activities of the ERA HQ both within the Council and with the ERA HQ.  
15. He/she is responsible for evaluating/scoring the Industry Symposia for the annual ERA Congresses, in collaboration with the President and the Renal Science Chair.  
16. During his/her term, he/she is: Chair of the European Renal Association Curatorium (ERAC). 
17. Together with the President, the Treasurer and the Renal Science Chair the Secretary General receives regular up-dates from the Executive Director on the routine and extraordinary activities of the ERA HQ. 

IV. Treasurer

1. The Treasurer is in charge of financial accounts, budgets, expenditures & investments.  
2. Together with the Secretary Genearl, he/she has his/her signature on all ERA and ERA-Eurocongress Ltd accounts as well as the investments of the ERA Group.  
3. He/she is expected to have weekly calls with the other ex-officio officers.  
4. He/she is responsible for all the ERA Group payments, in collaboration with the ERA senior staff that is authorised to make the day-to-day payments up to a maximum amount of EUR 50,000.00 per single payment provided that this is within the ordinary (and already approved) budgets of the various activities of the Society. For payments above this amount a previous authorisation by the Treasurer or the Secretary General is mandatory.  
5. During his/her term, he/she is one of the directors of ERA-Eurocongress Ltd, ERA’s Subsidiary Company.  
6. Together with the President, the Secretary General and the Renal Science Chair the Treasurer receives regular up-dates from the Executive Director on the routine and extraordinary activities of the ERA HQ.  

V. Renal Science Chair

1. The Renal Science Chair is in charge of scientific and educational activities (i.e. Working Groups, e-seminars, etc.).  
2. He/she is expected to have weekly calls with the other ex-officio officers.  
3. He/she is responsible for the coordination of activities related with basic science and translational research in nephrology. 
4. He/she is also responsible of representing, within the Council, all ERA bodies involved in educational/scientific initiatives and monitoring their output.  
5. He/she is the Officer responsible for the coordination of the CMEs held during the annual Congress, in collaboration with the CME Chair. 
6. He/She is the Officer responsible within the Council for the ERA Registry. Specifically:  
   • He/she is responsible for the coordination of all ERA activities impacting upon clinical and transitional science, from the epidemiology of renal diseases to evidence-based nephrology.  
   • He/she is in charge of coordinating the work of the ERA Registry Committee and all the activities of the ERA Registry.  
   • He/she is responsible for negotiating a contract with the eventual institute in charge of taking care of the work of the Registry. The contract must be signed by the President.  
   • He/she is responsible for preparing the finalised accounts for all the ERA Registry work as well as the ERA Registry Committee expenses, as well as the budgets for future activities, that must be presented to Council on an annual basis for official approval. For these matters he/she will be assisted by the Registry staff. 
   • He/she is in charge of the Minutes of all the ERA Registry Committee meetings, that then must be forwarded to the ERA Secretary General for the archive and eventual consultation. 
   • The ERA Registry staff gives secretarial support to this role.During his/her term, he/she is included, ex-officio, in the ESPN/ERA Registry Committee. 
7. He/She is the Officer responsible within the Council for the ERA Education & ERA Science Meetings. 
8. He/she is responsible for evaluating/scoring the Industry Symposia for the annual ERA Congresses, in collaboration with the President and the Secretary General. 
9. During his/her term, he/she is included, ex-officio, in the following Committees/Boards/Initiatives: 
   • Congress Scientific Committee 
   • ERA’s representative within the KHI 
10. Together with the President, the Secretary General and the Treasurer the Renal Science Chair receives regular up-dates from the Executive Director on the routine and extraordinary activities of the ERA HQ. 

Last update: November 2025

Note: EKHA (European Kidney Health Alliance), BMA (BioMedical Alliance), DOPPS (Dialysis Outcomes and Practice Patterns Study), ESPN (European Society for Paediatric Nephrology), KHI (Kidney Health Initiative), YNP (Young Nephrologists’ Platform), CME (Continuing Medical Education)