If I had my wish, all biophysicists—that is, all people who leverage expertise in physics to explain biology—would maintain lifetime membership in BPS! They would also regularly attend BPS-sponsored meetings and would engage often with BPS journals! Every now and again they would also participate in governance, would volunteer to organize small meetings, symposia, and round-table discussions, and more generally would contribute in creative ways to benefit the community.
Don’t get me wrong: as I wrote in more detail in earlier columns, BPS is healthy and vibrant! It enjoys a strong contingent of loyal members from across the globe, its meetings are well attended and brimming with exciting science, and its journals remain committed to publishing papers vetted with the highest quality of peer review. All I am saying is that we can do even better. Here is what I mean.
Lifetime membership in BPS. As the President of BPS, I participated recently in evaluating nominees for both BPS Awards and BPS Fellows. This is how I came to read more than 60 nomination packages. I was moved to see that many of the letter writers identified themselves with pride as “lifetime” members! Come to think of it, I too am proud to have been a member of BPS for more than 20 years (which qualifies as lifetime). And I understand the satisfaction that comes from having witnessed the Society change over a long period of time.
For me, this thought also brought a deep appreciation of how my continuous connection with BPS contributed to my personal and professional growth. This was first by helping me to integrate in the field as a trainee, then by deriving support and recognition from the discipline as an independent scientist, and more recently by allowing me the privilege to help shape the future of the community as a leader.
Lifetime membership also helps the Society in important ways. Most obviously, a large contingent of core regular members allows for more stable financial planning and more efficient resource allocation to maintain operations and achieve strategic goals. Most of the Society’s expenditures are recurrent, and thus fluctuations in membership can be challenging. But, more importantly, a stable contingent of loyal and engaged members enriches the community with the experience, expertise, and perspective to make value judgements and decisions that shape the field and set standards of excellence.
The Society is its members! Together, we engage in critical thinking, we probe for intellectual honesty, and we deliberate on acceptable standards of scientific excellence and of ethical conduct, to define the culture in our community. We decide who among us should lead the Society, we determine who should represent and speak for us, and we influence who among us should be recognized for excellence, innovation, and service. I encourage you to consider renewing your membership annually and to consider yourself a proud lifetime member.
Regular participation in BPS-sponsored meetings. Perhaps the most satisfying aspect of BPS membership is attending in-person meetings. It is something deeply inspirational and energizing to interact directly with like-minded people; that is, with people who, like you, believe that at this time in history, humanity can derive much critical value from science and a rigorous science education. People who, like you, are deeply committed to improving the human condition.
Specifically, at the Annual Meeting, chances are you will cross paths with someone who is very familiar with your work, and with others who can introduce you to new areas of research or techniques. At Subgroup meetings and at posters, you are likely to encounter people who, like you, are convinced of the critical importance of 2-Å movement by Ala532 to the good of humanity, and who will commiserate about the unreasonable comments of your Review 3. But you also can be inspired by sweeping lectures and talks at the leading edge of science. I wrote in more detail about how the Annual Meetings are put together and I encourage you to consider organizing or attending a Thematic Meeting (www.biophysics.org/thematic-meetings#/) or BPS Conference (www.biophysics.org/meetings-events/bps-conferences).
If you are like me, deciding which conference to attend is important because your time is limited and because you are committed to reducing your carbon footprint. Choosing to attend BPS-sponsored conferences supports your science and your growth as a scientist. In addition, it provides many opportunities to shape the field and its culture, and to give back to the community.
Engage often with BPS journals. BPS publishes three journals. Biophysical Journal is the flagship journal of the Society and boasts an archive of more than 60 years of quantitative research. The latest content can be accessed online for free by members, via a subscription, or access to individual articles can be purchased. Biophysical Reports, an online gold open access journal, publishes original biophysical research and satisfies the open access requirements of many funding agencies. Lastly, The Biophysicist publishes educational articles that are online and is also an open access journal that provides free access for all.
It is important to know that all three are owned by BPS! First, this means that the Society, through its Publications Committee and Council, recruits and appoints an editor-in-chief and an editorial board of experienced biophysicists with active independent research programs. In other words, active biophysicists have full intellectual oversight. They set the standards of rigor, excellence, innovation, and impact. Therefore, the journals, through peer and editorial review and through the articles they publish, are critical instruments that further the BPS mission and its values of scientific excellence; integrity and transparency; diversity, equity, and inclusion; and community building.
Recently, Council approved a new contract with Cell Press as the publishing partner for Biophysical Journal and Biophysical Reports, which includes a minimum guaranteed revenue and access to resources and technology to continue publishing the journals at the highest standards for an additional seven years. This means that a substantial portion of the publication fees charged to authors return to the Society and are reinvested in programs that benefit its membership. In fact, revenue from Biophysical Journal represents a third of the entire annual budget of BPS.
With this information in mind, I encourage you to submit to, review for, and volunteer to serve on the editorial board of the three BPS journals. By engaging regularly with BPS journals, you will not only further your career and expand your scientific horizon, but you will shape the breadth and depth of the science we publish. And you will help to maintain the standards of quantitative rigor and excellence that BPS and its journals are known for.
In other words, if I had my wish, the Biophysical Society would be THE community where biophysicists come to learn, develop, and grow, and THE community to which biophysicists give back their experience, talents, time, and energy. It would also be THE community we are most proud of, and THE community about which we most often and most loudly brag.
—Gabriela K. Popescu, President