A Short Historical Note on the DHST

The International Academy of History of Science, the ancestor of the DHST, came into existence in 1928, at the Oslo Congress of Historical Sciences, when a group of scholars decided that the field should be institutionalised. This group first constituted an informal Academy. Over the years the Academy underwent some reforms: from a society of individual members, it gradually developed into a larger institution including more and more national committees. Its official journal was Archeion, which was edited by Aldo Mieli.
When UNESCO was founded, it established links with other bodies, more particularly, it set up a partnership with the International Council of Scientific Unions (ICSU), which had been founded in 1931. New scientific Unions were set up and the Academy was invited to elaborate the Statutes of the International Union of History of Science (IUHS), which were adopted in 1947, at the time when IUHS joined ICSU. On its side, the International Union of Philosophy of Science (IUPS) was created in 1949, but was not immediately admitted as a member of ICSU.
Indeed, it was in 1956 that the IUPS and the IUHS were firmly invited by ICSU to merge into a single Union, and the International Union of History and Philosophy of Science was created with its two Divisions: the Division of History of Science (DHST) and the Division of Logic, Methodology and Philosophy of Science (DLMPS). However, the two bodies have always kept organising their congresses separately. In order to bring the two division closer, it was decided, in 1971, to set up a joint DHST-DLMPS commission entrusted with the holding of regular joint conferences on matters of common interest for both divisions.
The Moscow congress (1971) saw the definite institutional separation between the Union and the Academy. The latter became an association of distinguished scholars publishing a journal, the Archives Internationales d'Histoire des Sciences and the Collection of Studies. From the Moscow congress on, the Academy has been playing, in an unofficial capacity, the role of adviser to the Union.
In recent years, since the IUHPS/DHST represents in some ways ICSU's historical consciousness, efforts were made to establish closer co-operation between IUHPS/DHST and the other Unions. It is in that spirit that five inter-Union Commissions were set up with the International Union of Geological Sciences (Paris, 1968), the International Union of Mathematics (Moscow, 1971), the International Geographical Union (Moscow, 1971), the International Union of Soil Sciences (Liège, 1997).
Moreover, the DHST Commission on Bibliography and Documentation launched in 1999 a major project on the preservation of the archives of contemporary scientists which gathered representatives from IUPAC, IUPAP, ICSTI, ICSU Press, IUSS, the IAU.

The Council Members' Term of Office and Responsibilities

President
Term of office
Serves for a period of four years, after which he/she automatically becomes Past President for four years.

Responsibilities

- acts as Chairman of the General Assembly as well as the Council and Executive Committee meetings
- has an additional casting vote in all cases where the number of votes cast for and against a proposal are equal
- the President or the Secretary General should attend the International Congress of the other Division
- is ex officio member of the DHST-DLMPS Joint Commission
- gives the opening address during the Division's International Congress
- in the event of the Secretary General or the Treasurer being unable to exercise his/her functions, the President nominates a person to replace him/her with approval of the majority of the Council
- if a third or more of the Ordinary Members call for an extraordinary General Assembly with a precise agenda, the President must convene the Assembly within 6 months of notification.

Vice-Presidents
Term of office
May not hold the same office for more than four years, but remain eligible for re-election to the Council in a different office.

Responsibilities

- the First Vice-President is part of the Executive Committee.
- the First Vice-President or another officer present designated by the remaining members of the Council shall deputise in the absence of the President.
- in the event of the President being unable to exercise his/her functions, he/! she is automatically replaced by the First Vice-President, the S econd Vice-President acquiring the status of First Vice-President.

Secretary General
Term of office

May not hold the same office for more than eight successive years, but remains eligible for re-election to the Council in a different office.

Responsibilities

General responsibilities outside General Assemblies or Council/ Executive Committee meetings

- under the authority of the President, he/she is responsible for conducting the ordinary business of the Division and keeping its records
- keeps ICSU informed of the DHST acti! vities by sending an annual report by 31 March of each year
- in agreement with Treasurer and Secretary General of DLMPS, sends request for financial assistance by 31 March of year x for funding in year x+1
- ensures the fluid circulation of information between the Council, Commissions, and Ordinary Members
- receives proposals to create new Commissions
- receives applications for national membership
- is ex officio member of the DHST-DLMPS Joint Commission
- attends DHST-DLMPS Joint Conferences
- it is traditional that the Secretary General or the President attend the other Division's congress
- the position of Secretary General of the Union rotates every four years between the Secretaries of the two Divisions (reference document 6)
- the Secretary General of the Union attends ICSU General Assemblies

Responsibilities linked to a meeting of the Council or Executive Committee

- receives the annual reports from the Commissions and their requests for financial assistance, normally by 15 November of each year
- receives the annual reports or news from the National Committees
- prepares the meeting agenda and sends it to the participants two months before the meeting takes place
- prepares the files for discussion
- makes a report based on the information received from the Commissions and National Committees as well as proposals to create new Commissions and requests for new membership
- writes the meeting minutes and dispatches them to all the members of the General Assembly

Responsibilities linked to the General Assemblies

- dispatches the recommendations of the Nominating Committee to the members of the General Assembly at least three months before the Assembly
- communicates the date and venue of the General Assembly with the full agenda to all its members at least three months before the date of the session
- receives the list of delegates from the National Committees
- acts as Secretary of the General Assembly
- makes a report based on reports from the Commissions, Sections, and National Committees
- receives further proposals for candidates to the Council from Ordinary Members at least fourty-eight hours before the voting session
- prepares the voting slips
- writes the minutes of the General Assembly
- dispatches the minutes of the General Assembly to its members

NB : The ordinary income of the DHST does not make it possible to provide the General Secretariat with any financial help, therefore the latter must be able to function entirely from its own resources.

Assistant Secretary General
Term of office

May not hold the same office for more than eight successive years, but remains eligible for re-election to the Council in a different office.

Responsibilities

Manages the DHST Website, which replaces the Newsletter and is the official Website of the Division (current address : http://ppp.unipv.it/dhs). Printed copies of the Website can be obtained on request to the Assistant Secretary or the Secretary General by those who do not have access to the Web.

Treasurer
Term of office

May not hold the same office for more than eight successive years, but remains eligible for re-election to the Council in a different office.

Responsibilities

Is generally responsible for the financial administration of the Division :

- collects the national members' annual dues
- makes annual reports to the Executive Committee
- implements the decisions taken by the Executive Committee concerning the annual allocation of subsidies to the Commissions
- is responsible for the payment of half the annual du! es to ICSU (the other half being paid by the DLMPS Treasurer)
- by 31 March of each year, sends a report prepared by an independent accountant on the use of funds in the previous year to ICSU, following ICSU guidelines
- presents a general report at the General Assembly
- liaises as necessary with the DLMPS Treasurer concerning financial matters, including the allocation of ICSU funds

Assessors
Term of office

May not hold the same office for more than eight successive years, but remain eligible for re-election to the Council in a different office.

Responsibilities

The responsibilities of the Assessors are not specified in the Statutes, nor in the archives of the DHST. It was proposed during the Executive Committee meeting of 1997 that they play a role as promoters of the history of science in their own geographical area, for example by organising seminars or conference

Past President
Serves ex officio for a period of four years. The Past President ensures continuity between the past and new Councils and brings his/her experience and insight to the new Council.

Organisation of International Congresses

Proposal to host an international congress

A proposal to host an international congress implies that the Local Organising Committee accept to bear the full responsibility for the congress organisation and can rely on :
1. a strong National Committee supporting the project
2. good local and international financial support, as the Union can only contribute small amounts of money
3. a well-organised Chairperson with at least one assistant and one secretary
4. all the modern communication facilities

In order to ensure a more efficient procedure, the Secretary General should write to all the National Committees in the beginning of the year preceding the Division's international congress in order to ask them if -- or to confirm that -- they are interested in hosting the congress to be held four years later. The responses should be sent to the Secretary by 15 November of the same year, so that at its annual meeting the Executive Committee have sufficient time to ask for supporting information from the proposers and think about the names of potential Programme Committee chairpersons to be submitted to the General Assembly.

The final presentation document to be distributed to the members of the General Assembly should include :
- the proposed members of the Local Organising Committee
- letters of support from the various institutions in the country that will be involved (copy of the original letter and translation into English when necessary)
- a short description of the project : institutional background, venue, languages, etc.

People/ Bodies responsible for organising an international congress

- Council of DHST or its Executive Committee
- Local Organising Committee (LOC)
- Programme Committee Chairperson
- Programme Committee

Role of the Council
The Council proposes names of colleagues to serve as members of the Programme Committee. Each document issued by the LOC (announcement, circulars and programme) will be submitted to the President or Secretary General before the final printed copies are sent to the participants. Moreover, the President of the LOC should keep the Council regularly informed in a timely way regarding congress preparations and present a written or oral report at each annual meeting of the Executive Committee. It is traditional that the DHST President pronounce the opening speech at the congress.

Role of the Local Organising Committee

Tradition and Statutes
The LOC organises the congress on behalf of DHST. It has the complete scientific and administrative responsibility of the congress : choice of the theme, place of the congress, practicalities, etc. The LOC bears the full financial responsibility for the organisation of the congress.

Recommended procedure
The LOC is consulted about the Programme Committee Chairperson and proposes names for the composition of the Programme Committee. The LOC Chairperson gives the welcome address.

Appointment and role of the Programme Committee Chairperson

Tradition and Statutes
The Programme Committee Chairperson is elected by the General Assembly on the basis of a proposal made by the Executive Committee.
The Chairperson proposes to the Executive Committee names of colleagues to serve as members of the Programme Committee. Each document issued by the LOC is also submitted to him/her before the final printed documents are approved and circulated. The documents are submitted by mail or discussed in a meeting, ideally consisting of the LOC Chairperson, President or Secretary General of DHST and Programme Committee Chairperson.
Recommended mode of appointment

During its meeting held in the year preceding the congress, the Executive Committee proposes one or several Chairperson(s). It then proposes the name(s) to the General Assembly. The General Assembly will then be able to vote firstly on the country, secondly on the Programme Committee Chairperson.
The Chairperson gives the congress opening lecture.

Role of the Programme Committee

Tradition and statutes
The main task of the Programme Committee members is to guarantee the scientific level of the congress in association with the LOC. It constitutes the board of referees, together with the LOC. The President of the LOC is required to consult them on the value of any abstract submitted to the congress organisers when its subject falls outside his/her competence and when he/she has doubts concerning its scientific value. Members of the Programme Committee are responsible for making suggestions to the President of the LOC concerning the plenary sessions.

Recommended procedure for the appointment of Programme Committee members

Ideally, the Programme Committee should be set up according to the following proportions :

- one third of the members will be chosen by the Council
- one third will be chosen by the Programme Committee Chairperson
- the remaining third will be chosen by the LOC.

The Programme Committee should have a maximum of 30 members. Moreover, during the congress, it is useful that members of the Programme Committee serve as Chairpersons or Vice-Chairpersons in the section boards, the position of section Secretary being preferably held by members of the LOC.

Financial matters

The international congresses of history of science are the congresses of IUHPS/DHST (article 1 (d) of the Satutes of IUHPS/DHS). On this account, the DHST intervenes in the financial support of the congresses. However, it is obvious that the amount of the intervention depends on the annual income of the DHST and that the DHST must support its other activities, especially the work of the Commissions, and pay its annual contribution to ICSU. Although the Division's running costs are kept to a minimum - the General Secretariat must be able to function entirely from its own financial resources - it must be clear to the congress organisers that the amount allocated by the DHST can only consist of a small complement to the subsidies already obtained from other sources.
At each of its annual meetings, which are held in December, the Executive Committee decides the amount that will be allocated to the preparation of the congress for the next year. During the year when the congress takes place, the part of the ICSU subsidy going to the DHS is entirely allocated to the congress.
It is traditional for the LOC to cover the travel and living expenses of the invited speakers for plenary lectures, to provide accommodation for the members of the DHST Council and the President or Secretary General of the other Division, and to provide, within the limits of its resources, grants to researchers from developing countries whose abstracts were accepted by the Programme Committee.

General Assembly

Composition and periodicity

The General Assembly consists of the Ordinary Members (or National Members), the elected representatives of the Commissions, Scientific Sections, Inter-Union Commissions, DHST-DLMPS Joint Commission, and the members of the Council. It is validly constituted only if at least half the total number of Ordinary Members are present. It is also usual to invite the Secretary General or President of the DLMPS to attend the General Assembly as well as representatives from other associated bodies.
The General Assembly meets in ordinary sessions every fourth year, normally on the occasion of an International Congress of History of Science.

Responsibilities

The General Assembly is concerned with :

- electing the members of the Council and representatives of the Division on other international organisations
- confirming the acceptance into the Division of new Ordinary Members
- appointing, renewing or dissolving Commissions and Scientific Sections
- approving the financial management of the Division
- establishing plans for the budget of the Division and fixing the levels of subscription
- considering the reports from the Ordinary Members, Commissions and Sections
- enacting and amending the Statutes and Rules of Procedure
- fixing the date and venue of the next session and International Congress.

Nominations Committee

Satutes and Rules of Procedure

" At least two years before a General Assembly, the Council appoints a Nominations Committee for the purpose of drawing up a list of recommendations for the individual composition of the next Council. The Chairman of the Nominations Committee shall invite all ordinary Members to submit nominations at least nine months before the General Assembly. Other nominations may nevertheless be submitted to the Secretary General by any Ordinary Member before the meeting of the General Assembly. Election is by secret ballot ". (Statutes, art. 21)

" The Nominating Committee set up by the Council to recommend candidates for vacancies among its own members (see article 21) shall have its recommendations to Ordinary Members dispatched through the Secretary no later than three months before each General Assembly ". (Rules of Procedure, art. 2.1.)

" Further proposals for candidates to the Council from Ordinary Members must be in the hands of the Secretary at least forty-eight hours before the scheduled commencement of the session of the General Assembly at which the vote is to be taken. The names of the candidates for these posts will be advertised on an official notice board at least twenty-four hours before the voting session ". (Rules of Procedure, art. 2.2.)

DHST archives

- the Nominations Committee is traditionally appointed by the Council's Executive Committee
- the number of members usually does not exceed 4 or 5 people

Procedure recommended by the Council's Executive Committee

1. The Executive Committee will appoint the Nominations Committee at least two years before the General Assembly.
2. The number of members will be restricted to five people, covering the main cultural areas in the field of history of science.
3. The President of the Nominations Committee will ask all the Ordinary Members for their proposals at least nine months before the General Assembly.
4. At least four months before the General Assembly, the President of the Nominations Committee will draw up a report, discuss it with the other members of the Nominations Committee and send it to the Secretary General.
5. The Secretary General will dispatch the recommendations to all the Ordinary Members at least three months before the General Assembly.
6. Further proposals, if any, must be in the hands of the Secretary General at least forty-eight hours before the session of the General Assembly in which the vote is to be taken.

Voting procedures

Each Ordinary Member, Commission, Scientific Section, member of the Council, and the Joint Commission may generally exercise one vote. For financial matters, each Ordinary Member may exercise from 1 to 5 votes according to the subscription category to which it belongs (A=1 vote, E=5 votes), Council members may exercise one vote, but the Commissions and Scientific Sections do not vote.

The decisions of the General Assembly are taken by a majority of the votes recorded, except for the following :

- for a proposal to change the Statutes (two-thirds maj.)
- when a change of agenda is proposed less than three months before the date of the session (two-thirds maj.)
- if the change of agenda concerns a modification of the Statutes (three-quarters maj.)
- continuation, suppression or creation of a Commission/Section (two-thirds maj.)

In all cases when the number of votes cast for and against a proposal are equal, the President has an additional casting vote.

The " institutional votes ", i.e., the votes on the admission of new Ordinary Members, new Commissions or Sections, changes in the Statutes or in the subscription unit, etc., usually take place in the first session. The " personal votes ", i.e., the votes on the members of the new Council, the Presidents of the Commissions, Sections, Inter-Union Commissions, the venue of the next congress and the Programme Committee Chairperson of the next congress take place during the second session of the General Assembly, which is usually held 72 hours after the first session. For the description of the full procedure, refer to the Rules of Procedure (art. 2.1 to 2.5).

DHST Relations with Other Bodies

International Academy of History of Science

During the most recent Executive Committee meetings, the DHST officers agreed that the long-existing links between the two bodies should be strengthened. For this reason, it was decided in 1997 to invite the President and the Permanent Secretary of the Academy to attend each meeting as Observers. Another reason for this is that most officers of DHST are also members of the Academy.

On the other hand, it has been a tradition that during each of our congresses, the Academy organise a plenary lecture, award the Koyré Medal and the Prize for Young Historians, and hold its General Assembly and banquet.

The latest congress proceedings that had been published were those of Moscow, in 1971. At the XX th International Congress in 1997, it was decided that the publication of congress proceedings should be resumed and the Academy accepted to publish the proceedings of the XX th International Congress in its Collection of studies. It is hoped that this co-operation will also be maintained in the future.

Finally, the Executive Committee took another step in bringing together the two institutions, indeed, unlike the Union, the Academy has a permanent staff and registered office. As the DHST has not had any permanent headquarters so far, the archives have moved each time the Secretary General has changed. This situation entailed the scattering of important documents. The latest Secretary General was able to gather the archives of almost all his predecessors since the creation of the Union. In order to avoid any further dissemination, it was agreed during the Istanbul Committee meeting that the Secretary General would, at the end of his mandate, leave his archives to the International Academy under the responsibility of the Permanent Secretary. The members of the DHST Council will be welcome to consult them and the next Secretary General will receive copies of all the documents necessary to fulfil his/her task. Future Secretary Generals will be invited to leave their archives to the Academy in the same manner.

For consultation the following basic rules were agreed on: members of the General Assembly will have free access to all the documents. The consultation of documents dating from less than four years for non-members should be allowed only after the approval of the President or Secretary General

ICSU and other Unions

The role of the Secretary General of the Union is to keep ICSU informed of the Union's activities, to attend ICSU meetings and General Assemblies, in agreement with the Secretary General of the other Division.

Generally speaking, the IUHPS has a special place within ICSU, since it represents, in a way, the historical and philosophical consciousness of the other Unions. In this connection, a first important collaboration with the Unions was launched by the DHST Commission on Bibliography and Documentation, which set up a working group including members of other Unions in order to define guidelines for preserving the records (electronic, graph-cartographic, oral and paper) of scientific organisations and scientific research. It was proposed that these guidelines be endorsed by ICSU and implemented by its Scientific Unions and National Members.

CIPSH, CISH, FISP

It will be proposed at the Mexico General Assembly that IUHPS have a double membership by also becoming a member of the International Council for Philosophy and Humanistic Studies (CIPSH). In this case, the Secretary General of IUHPS would be officially in charge of the relationships with CIPSH, the Secretary General of DLMPS of those with the International Federation of Philosophical Societies (FISP), and the Secretary General of DHST of those with the International Committee of Historical Sciences (CISH). On the other hand, it is also advisable that the President of the DHST-DLMPS Joint Commission attend FISP congresses.

As DLMPS's next General Assembly will only take place in 2003, it will not be possible for the sister Division to accept formally this proposal before that date. However, the proposal was submitted to the DLMPS Executive Committee in order to find a provisional solution.