To give you an overview of the Council activities over the past year, we decided to send you this newsletter in the form of a report from the various committees. The goal is to give you more time during the General Assembly to discuss current and future actions with you. During the GA, only a few highlights will be presented, we will also ask your opinion on specific topics through short surveys and we will take the time to answer your questions about the detailed activities described below and your suggestions for the ESB activities.
Also, we ask you to vote electronically to approve minor changes to our Statutes, this is very important for the Society and we require half of our members to approve this, so please take 2 minutes to vote as described below in the Updates from our Secretary General.
We hope that this method of communication will be more effective and more participative.
Bernardo Innocenti, Chair of the Publication Committee
President and Vice-president Message
Towards the General Assembly (GA) at ESBiomech23 in Maastricht
Dear ESB members,
I would like to thank the members of the Council and the ESB members participating in the committees for their involvement in the organization of the ESB. In addition to the fundamental tasks (memberships, congress organization in collaboration with the local organizers, awards, students activities, communication towards our members, scientific communication) a great deal of time have been devoted to developing the ESB actions, for the benefit of the ESB members.
Considering the feedback received during the General Assembly (GA) in Porto and the answers to the Survey that we have received during the past months, over the past year, we have launched new initiatives such as the new Award for Early Career Researchers, more Mobility Awards, and new actions that will be announced at the GA in Maastricht. We have also finalized some new actions decided by the previous Council, such as the new Website and the new Newsletters.
Currently ESB has agreements with various editors (Elsevier, Frontiers, Taylor and Francis, and Springer) for some journals (https://esbiomech.org/esb-membership-benefits/affiliated-journals/). All agreements have been reviewed to check for necessary evolutions and potential modifications in the interests of the ESB members. The evaluation also considered the link with the ESB awards and the potential journals for their publications. Journal subscriptions are no longer a benefit used by the ESB members, with less than 10 out of 1300 members using this service. You will find a summary of these agreements and proposed developments in the attached document (ESB affiliated journals_agreements_2023-06-05.pdf). Let us know what would be useful for you, which journals interest you.
I hope you enjoy reading the following sections, and I look forward to seeing you at the General Assembly on Tuesday 11 July!
David MITTON
President of the European Society of Biomechanics
Vice-president Message
Updates from the VicePresident and Award Committee:
The ESB awards for 2023 will be presented in full detail at the GA at ESB23 in Maastricht.
Join us to discover who won them!
Jérôme NOAILLY
Vice-President of the European Society of Biomechanics
Updates from the Secretary General
1) Update ESB Survey
In the past year we have worked on developing some activities based on the feedback received during the GA that has been held at the ESB22 congress in Porto last year and on a Survey that we have advertised through the newsletters and the social media.
Attached you can find a short report of the answers to the Survey (ESB Survey Report.pdf).
2) The minutes of the previous General Assembly held at ESB22 Congress in Porto can be found attached (MINUTES_ESB_GA_Porto_28June2022_final.pdf)
3) The list of new ESB members since the last GA at ESB22 in Porto is attached (255 new members of which 85 active, 169 students and 1 corporate members) since the last General Assembly held online in June 2022. A vote for block ratification of all new members will take place during the GA at ESB23 in Maastricht (List of New members since last GA.pdf).
4) As mentioned at the GA in Porto a minor modification of the Statutes and the By-laws is needed to update the physical address of the Society. The change of the By-Laws have been already updated by the Council and approved by the GA at ESB22 in Porto so the new version can be found attached with changes in red (ESB_ByLaws_2023_RedChanges.pdf). However, for the Statutes we need a further confirmation that requires a vote by our members. In fact, while in the previous GA in Porto all voters agreed with this modification, we have not reached the minimum of 10% of our members to approve and implement the change. Therefore, we have prepared an updated version of the Statutes to update the address, to reduce the required number of voters to implement changes, and to correct a few typos.
If you agree with the modification of the Statutes (ESB_Statutes_2023_draft_V3_RedChanges.pdf) please vote in this electronic vote!
We need at least 10% of the members to vote in agreement of the change so please take the time to vote and encourage the members of the ESB in your institution to do the same.
Please Vote as soon as possible by:
- Go to the ESB website: https://esbiomech.org/
- Login in the Membership area: https://esbiomech.org/member-login/
- Click on MyESB (in red on the top bar)
- Click on “Voting”
- Scroll down below “Change of ESB Statutes”
- Vote by checking one of the two options and click “Submit your vote”
5) If you have any comments, suggestions and questions related to these documents please do not hesitate to contact us at secretary.general@esbiomech.org. Also please use the same email address to let the Council know if you have any questions or discussion points you would like to see addressed at the GA in Maastricht.
Enrico DALL’ARA
Secretary General of the European Society of Biomechanics
Treasurer’s update
The financial status of our Society
Diversity, Inclusivity and Membership News
Updates from Diversity, Inclusion and Membership Committee
Actions
This year has seen an acceleration of diversity and inclusion actions by the Society. Besides the simple change for members to declare non-binary genders, we have consolidated or initiated a few actions following the outcome of the live poll in the “Women in Biomechanics Apéro” in Porto last year.
The poll with 14 options showed that members were keen on seeing the development of a mentoring programme (N=61), making sure we avoid bias in review processes of submissions by making them anonymous (N=61), looking at how we can provide assistance with childcare (N=50), conducting and sharing interviews of successful female researchers (N=48) and having objectives of 50:50 for session chairs & keynote speakers (N= 47 and 44 respectively).
As such, we have prioritised
- Setting up a mentoring programme
- Protecting good gender diversity representation in the congress invited speakers and track-chairs (working with the Maastricht congress organisation team)
- Accounting for diversity of gender and location in the students and travel awards
- Tracking historic gender data on members, awards and council composition to identify area of future actions
- Consolidating D&I criteria for the evaluation of future congress bids (from the 2027 congress) while working early with existing congress organisation teams (Edinburgh 2024 and Zurich 2025) to maximise D&I actions at the congress – including childcare and supporting disabilities
The mentoring programme was launched in April 2023, with 13 pairs of mentors and mentees from across the globe. Mentors were supported with mentoring guidelines to maximise an open and fruitful mentoring relationship. The programme was formally launched with a webinar on the 7th of June with three invited speakers showcasing the importance of mentoring in their career progression.
Data
The ESB membership currently demonstrates a relatively healthy balance in terms of the number of women across all levels of membership and a relatively good geographic spread.
In June 2023, the ESB had a total of 1376 regular members, of which 583 were students (42%). The total membership is relatively diverse with 490 women (35%) and 8 members preferring not to disclose. The student body drives the diversity (43% women and 6 members preferring not to disclose). While membership saw a drop post-covid (-22%), we had a slightly better retention of women (-20%).
Marlène MENGONI
Chair of the ESB Diversity, Inclusion and Membership Committee
Updates from Publication Commitee
We hope that you have enjoyed the new template for the newsletters and the new design for the official ESB website (https://esbiomech.org/ ).
We welcome your valuable feedback and encourage you to share any comments or suggestions you may have.
Bernardo INNOCENTI
Chair of the ESB Publications Committee
Updates from Meetings and External Affairs Committee
ESB23
The 28th Congress of the European Society of Biomechanics will be held in Maastricht, The Netherlands July 9 -12, 2023
The theme of the conference is “Combining data- and knowledge-driven modeling: from measurements, through insights to decisions” endorsing the importance of the integration of mechanistic experimental and computational biomechanics with upcoming data-driven modelling.
In line with the theme four interlinked Pre-courses (1. Statistical Shape Modeling, 2. AI-basics and hybrid modelling: an introduction, 3. In-silico clinical trials and virtual cohorts, 4. From patient-based to in-silico trials: status quo & future perspective) are organized.
The participation in the congress ESB23 in Maastricht is very high: 852 abstracts received; 26 perspective talks; 476 orals; 327 posters.
The venue is The MECC is situated right on the edge of the historical city center. The MECC is a compact, three-level conference centre, including two large auditoria (up to 1700 participants), a multifunctional foyer (up to 2500 participants), over 30 break out rooms, and a 30.000 square meter exhibition area.
Leveraging the possibilities provided by the conference venue (MECC), the conference is supporting the poster session by integrating a poster pitch to the physical one by the use of online videos.
The program is enriched by 3 keynote speakers:
- Enabling in silico trials based on modelling, simulation, and big data. Professor Blanca Rodriguez (University of Oxford, UK)
- 3D Modeling of the Intervertebral Disc: direct relationships between tissue composition and model parameters. Professor Grace O’Connell (University of California, Berkeley, USA)
- Invasion in cancer organoids as the result of a mechanobiological instability. Professor Marino Arroyo (UPC, Barcelona, Spain).
There are 31 thematic tracks, running from 3D printing in biomedicine to Virtual and augmented reality in biomechanics (https://esbiomech.org/conference/esb2023/program-tracks/).
At least eight sponsors are participating, bringing last innovations from the industry in the field of biomechanics, enriching thus the multidisciplinary of the event.
—
ESB24.
The 29th Congress of the European Society of Biomechanics will be held in Edinburgh, Scotland (UK), June 30 – July 3, 2024
Chairs. The ESB2024 congress Chair is Professor Pankaj Pankaj, School of Engineering, The University of Edinburgh and Co-Chair is Ms Chloe E H Scott, Consultant Orthopaedic Surgeon, NHS Lothian, Edinburgh. The Local Organising Committee of ESBiomech24 has 9 additional members.
Venue. The venue of the congress is Edinburgh International Conference Centre (EICC). It has the capacity for 4,000 delegates; it is a City Centre location so easily walkable from most city centre hotels and attractions.
Theme. The theme of the congress is “Biomechanics: Research to Practice”, emphasizing the translation of cutting-edge research into practical applications that benefit society as a whole. We hope this theme will set the stage for debates and insightful exchanges between engineers and clinicians.
Award sessions. The award sessions included in the congress programme are: SM Perren Research Award; Clinical Biomechanics Award; Best Doctoral Thesis Award; Early Career Award; and ESB Student Award.
The program will include 3 keynote talks and will run in 8 parallel sessions to fit approximately 600 oral presentations and poster sessions. Approximately 30 perspective talks will open the program tracks. Nine main thematic tracks (and related sub-tracks) have been identified, which include established and emerging biomechanics topics.
ESB2024 will include three Pre-Courses and sessions on Diversity in Biomechanics, Meet the PI and a Round table with clinicians and engineers on the main theme of the Congress. Additionally, attendees can look forward to the traditional ESB networking and social events.
Key Dates are:
Call for Perspective talks → October 2023
Abstract submission opens → November 2023
Perspective talks submission deadline → November 30, 2023
Perspective talks acceptance notifications → December 15, 2023
Abstract submission deadline → January 31, 2024
Abstract review notifications → March 31, 2024
The organisation of Congress is supported by Codan Consulting as PCO.
We look forward to welcoming you to Edinburgh for ESBiomech2024!
—
ESB25.
The 30th Congress of the European Society of Biomechanics will be held in Zurich (CH) in 2025.
—
ESB27. At the end of the year there will be the call for bids, stay tuned!
Michele Conti, Chair of the Meetings and External Affairs Committee
Updates from the Meetings WebPortal Committee
Perspective Talks. We were very happy to see a large number of very high quality submissions to the call for Perspective Talks. After a challenging review process the Review Panel selected the 26 highest quality abstracts. We congratulate the Authors and look forward to seeing their presentations at ESB23. We’d like to thank everyone who has contributed.
Poster Pitch Videos. Welcoming the initiative of the ESB23 Organizers, we’d like to invite the Authors of accepted poster presentations to submit a pitch video, allowing them to provide a brief overview of their research, share key findings, and engage with a wider audience. The videos will be made available at the website of the Congress and can be linked to the printed posters via QR codes. The specific instructions have been sent in a dedicated email.
Peter VARGA
Chair of the ESB Meetings WebPortal Committee
ESB Education and Student Committee
Student events at ESB 2023
- Meet an expert
Meet experts of your field in small groups during lunch (on Tuesday July 11) to discuss and ask advice on research, career or work-life balance.
- Student evening
The student networking event will take place on Monday July 10. On schedule: drinks and food in a nice location, with a fun break the ice activity to start the evening! We hope to see many of you there.
- Scientific quiz
Join and participate in our scientific quiz during the conference to meet and discuss with other PhD students and with the industrial partners. Reply to as many questions as possible regarding PhD student posters or sponsor booths by having a chat with him or her to get the correct answer. The quickest will receive a surprise!
ESB image competition
At the end of 2022 the ESB ran the very first ESB Scientific Image competition. These were the winners:
– Rémy Gauthier, Université Gustave Eiffel, with the image entitled “Human cortical bone crack propagation”
– Graciosa Teixeira, Institute of Orthopaedic Research and Biomechanics, Ulm University, with the image entitled “Meniscus ageing”
– Gustavo Orozco, Lund University, with the image entitled “Cartilage degeneration after ACL reconstruction”
Congratulations!
Curious about these images & the other entries? Check them all out here:
Organization of ESB webinars
- February 9th 2023. “Why and how to do open and reproducible research” by dr. Serena Bonaretti; YouTube views: 99
- April 26th 2023. “ArtiSynth: a platform for combined MultiBody and Finite Element Simulation” by dr. Benedikt Sagl and dr. John Lloyd; YouTube views: 116
- Mark in your calendar!
- 26th of September at 17:00 CEST – FreeFEM byDr. Mojataba Barzegari
- 14th of November – Python II: automated execution of scripts for image processing, meshing, FEA, post processing, Prof. Dieter Pahr
The recordings of all webinars can be seen by subscribing to the ESB You Tube channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/ESBiomech
ESB socials: many followers and counting!
- Twitter: 2348 followers (ESBiomech), 173 (ESBcommunity)
(https://twitter.com/ESBiomech and https://twitter.com/ESBCommunity) - ESB Youtube: 953 followers; some videos >5000 views
- LinkedIN: 608 followers (https://www.linkedin.com/groups/4257919)
- Instagram: 94 followers (https://www.instagram.com/esbiomech/)
- Due to reduced interest and inactivity the ESB Facebook account was closed.
Do you know of a repository, software or conference interesting for the ESB community?
Do you want a job to be advertised? Let us know!
New ESB mobility award. The ESB mobility award has from now on two categories:
- starting: a mobility award to start a new collaboration;
- strengthening: a mobility award to strengthen existing collaborations.
More information regarding, requirements, eligibility and selection procedures can be found here:
https://esbiomech.org/student-section/esb-mobility-award/
Aurélie CARLIER
Chair of the ESB Education and Student Committee
Meeting Endorsed by ESB
28th Congress of the European Society of Biomechanics
- Location : Maastricht (NL)
- Website: https://esbiomech.org/conference/esb2023/
- Type: International congress
XII Annual Meeting of the Italian Chapter of the European Society of Biomechanics (ESB-ITA)
- Location : Turin (IT)
- Website: http://www.esb-ita.it/esb-ita23-home/
- Type: National congress
Michele Conti, Chair of the Meetings and External Affairs Committee
GA ATTACHMENTS
ESB affiliated journals_agreements_2023-06-05.pdf
List of New members since last GA.pdf
MINUTES_ESB_GA_Porto_28June2022_final.pdf
ESB_ByLaws_2023_RedChanges.pdf
ESB_Statutes_2023_draft_V3_RedChanges.pdf
