Charter of International Association of Grey Systems and Uncertainty Analysis (GSUA)

Art.l: Name of the Association

The Association bears the official name of International Association of Grey Systems and Uncertainty Analysis (GSUA) . Translations into other languages must be approved by the Executive Board, hereinafter called "Presidency".

Art.2: Legal Seat, Legal and Non-Profit Character of the Association

1. The GSUA was jointly initiated and established by grey system scholars from China, the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, Romania, Spain, and other countries in 2015 in the United Kingdom. The supporting institutions of the Secretariat are Centre for Computational Intelligence, De Montfort University, UK and Institute for Grey System Studies, Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, CN.   

2. The Association will engage in the exclusive and direct pursuit of nonprofit activities and will thus assume the character of a non-profit organization primarily for the promotion of science as well as of culture and education. Consequently, all income and any profits achieved shall be assigned to the Association's aims according to the charter.

The Association thus acts selflessly and, therefore, does not primarily pursue economic aims.

3. In view of the foregoing the members of the Association will be paid no dividends or monies by virtue of their membership.

4. No person may be favoured by any administrative expenditure alien to the Association's aims or by a disproportionate remuneration of work or services undertaken.

5. All the Association's officers and active members will work on a honorary basis. Expenses for materials and services will be refunded only if previously approved in writing by the Presidency.

Art.3: Financial Year

The financial year is the calendar year.

Art.4: Aims and Tasks of the Association 

It is the aim of the Association to promote the Ideas, concepts, methods, models of grey systems theory(GST) and general uncertainty systems theory(GUST) and modeling, analytical techniques , and their in-depth applications in various fields of social sciences, natural sciences, and engineering technology.

In particular, the Association will

a) be devoted to the innovation, dissemination, and practical application of GST and GUST;

b) promote on a national and international level the exchange of information and experience of scientists and practitioners in these areas;

c) hold regular conferences in order to support these activities.

2. The Association works on an international level. If conducive to its goals, the Association will collaborate with other groupings, associations, and institutions pursuing similar aims.

3. The Association pursues these aims among other things

by:

a) promoting and carrying out studies, research work, forums and other categories of scientific cooperation;

b) disseminating knowledge to research workers, scientists and the general public.

4. The official organ and communication medium of the Association for the international scientific exchange are the website of http://www.iagsua.org/ and the journals of "Grey Systems-Theory and Application" and “The Journal of Grey System”.

Art.5: Membership

1. Any natural person with an obvious and evident interest in the aims of the Association can become a member.

2. The Association accepts persons of all countries and nations as members.

3. A legal entity fulfilling the same preconditions as a natural person and recognizing the scientific aims of the Association can become a "corporate member'" with the same rights as a personal member.

4. The Association has the following membership categories:

a) Regular members: every natural or legal person;

b) Sponsoring members: natural or legal persons, institutions that support the Association's aims by financial or other contributions:

c) Honorary members: Natural persons having earned great merits for the Association. They will be nominated by the Presidency and elected by the

General Assembly.

5. Members´Rights

All members are

a) entitled to vote in the General Assembly,

b) eligible to any Office in the Association,

c) entitled to participate in the Association´s conference and to make use of its facilities and of the members´privileges.

Only natural persons are eligible for election.

6. Members' Duties

All members declare through their membership application that they will recognize the Association's aims, its Charter and its basic resolutions.

7. Begining of Membership

a) Regular membership must be applied for in writing or online.

b) Membership commences exactly on the day when membership is confirmed by a member of the Managing Presidency.

8. Termination of Membership

Membership will be terminated:

a) by withdrawal from the Association, which must be announced to the Presidency in writing not later than November 1st of any year;

b) by the member's death or with the cessation of his or her legal capacity;

c) by expulsion: The Presidency may expel a member for compelling reasons, especially if the member has not participated in Association’s activities for a long time. Before such expulsion the member will be invited to explain the reasons for his or her actions.

Art.6: Financing

The Association will obtain the necessary funds from:

Income from meetings of all kinds, publications and other services as well as donations, subsidies, gifts, bequests, membership fees and other contributions from members and non-members.

Art.7: The Bodies of the Association 

The Association's bodies are:

1. the General Assembly

2. the Presidency

3. the Scientific Council

4. the National or Regional Chapters and Working Groups

Art.8: The General Assembly

1. The General Assembly is the supreme body of the Association 

2. The General Assembly is competent for the following

a) acceptance and approval of the Presidency´s progress report

b) approval of the balance of accounts and the Auditor's written examination report;

c) election of the members of the Presidency and their deputies;

d) election of the Auditor and his two deputies;

e) election of Honorary Members;

f) fixing of the membership fees;

g) acceptance and approval of the financial budget for the next period under review;

h) amendments to the Charter;

3. An Ordinary General Assembly will be held once every two years at least. The Presidency will invite all members to it and at the same time will publish the agenda not later than three months prior to the date set for the General Assembly.

4. An Extraordinary General Assembly will be convened:

a) by resolution of the Ordinary General Assembly

b) by decision of the Presidency;

c) by written request by one third of all members with statement of the reason and the purpose.

5. The General Assembly will be chaired by a chairman elected at the beginning of the meeting.

6. Quorum. Voting and Election

a) The General Assembly will constitute a quorum regardless of the number of members present,

b) Elections and resolutions will be passed by a simple majority; in case of a parity of votes, the President will have the casting vote.

c) Members may authorize each other in writing to vote in the General Assembly, Any member so authorized may represent no more than three other members.

d) The proceedings of the General Assembly and its decisions will be put on record in minutes countersigned by the Chairman of the General Assembly and by its reporter.

e) The General Assembly may pass a special regulation governing the elections proceedings.

7. Amendments to the Charter may only be passed by a three quarter majority of the members present in the General Assembly if the invitation to the General Assembly included the item "Amendment to the Charter“

8. The General Assembly will elect an auditor and one or two deputy auditors for the auditing of the Association's accounts. They work on a honorary basis and

are Association members.

9. The auditor will report the result of any audit to the General Assembly.

10. The balance of accounts specified as to income, expenses and assets will be given in written form to the members if the Presidency so decides.

Art.9: The Presidency

1. The Presidency consists of the following persons, who must all be Association members:

a) The President;

b) four Vice-Presidents having equal rights,

c) the secretary-general.

2. The Managing Presidency consists of the persons mentioned under a), b), and c). The President on the one hand, and the four Vice-Presidents, and the secretary-general on the other hand are entitled to represent the Association by themselves, with the Vice-Presidents and the Secretary-general only then being entitled to represent the Association when all of them are together, and they will internally represent the Association only if the President is prevented from doing so.

3. The Presidency will be elected for a five years' term Reelection of its members is permissible.

4. In the event that Presidency members retire from this office before the end of their term or if the General Assembly is not able to elect all Presidency members,the Presidency may complete itself by by-election from the membership until the next General Assembly session. The by-election needs a confirmation from the next membership assembly.The Presidency may invite Association members and as well as other persons to its sessions as expert advisers.

The Presidency should consist of persons from different countries and of various nationalities.

5. Responsibilities of the Presidency

 The Presidency is especially responsible for the following:

a) attending to the realization of the Association's aims according to Art.4;

b) management of the Association's property and execution of the resolutions passed by the General Assembly;

c) preparation of and convening the General Assembly;

d) presentation of the progress report and of the balance of accounts for the period under review;

e) preparation of the financial budget for the following period;

f) consultative cooperation with the Scientific Council with respect to its Program;

g) consultative cooperation with the chairmen of the national and regional chapters and establishment of working groups;

6. Competences within the Presidency

a) The Presidency will be convened by the President

b) Each Presidency meeting properly convened will constitute a quorum under the condition that at least four of its members take part, including at least two members of the managing Presidency.

The Presidency may pass resolutions in written form, if all its members participate in the vote.

c) Documents legally binding the Association as well as extraordinary legal business on internal Association matters are to be signed by the President alone or by the two Vice-Presidents jointly as per Art.9, Section 1, b).

d) The Presidency may adopt business rules for its work.

Art.10: The Scientific Advisory Council

1. The Scientific Advisory Council (hereafter "The Council") gives advice to the Presidency and to the Working Groups in the planning and execution of

their tasks and projects.

2. The Council has free choice in the determination of the form and the contents of its advice and of its investigations and work and is not bound to any specific

scientific, philosophical, ideological, religious or political opinion. The Council should represent as many different forms of perception and opinion as possible.

3. The Council should consist of a minimum of 11 and a maximum 31 qualified scientific members. For the initial constitution of the Council its members will be appointed by the Presidency.

4. The Council elects one of its members as Chairman, who by virtue of this office is at the same time a member of the Presidency.

5. The Council may adopt business rules for its work.

Art.11: The National or Regional Chapters and the Working Groups

1. The regular members of each country or language area can organize themselves in chapters.

2. Their organization and work must adhere to regulations which must have been accepted beforehand by the Presidency.

3. Within the National or Regional Chapters and also on an international level Working Groups may be established in which experienced members cooperate on specific projects falling within the general tasks of the Association (Art.4). Organization and work of these Working Groups must adhere to rules established in accordance with the Presidency.

Art.l2: Dissolution of the Association

1. The Association may be dissolved only by a three-quarters majority of all members present at a General Assembly expressly convened for the purpose of the Association's dissolution or of all members of the Association in the event of voting by letter.

2. The members will decide about the disposal of the Association's assets by a simple majority. Any remaining assets must be used directly and exclusively for nonprofit institutions pursuing the same or a similar purpose as the Association.

3. After the Association's dissolution, or after its present reason no longer exists. The assets of the Association will, after any existing debts have been paid, be transferred to a non-profit organization, which must use them directly and exclusively for scientific purposes.

Approved by the Presidium meeting on June 7^th,2023

Nanjing, June 8^th , 2023