Membership

Membership application

The OBF is actively inviting professionals, scientists, students, and others active in the Open Source Software arena in the life sciences to join the OBF as a member. The membership body was formally established at the 2005 Board of Directors meeting. As laid out in the File:OBF-Bylaws.pdf, officers in the Board of Directors will be elected by the membership among nominees, and candidates for future Directors will be nominated from the membership when seats are added or a term expires.

The eligibility criteria are met by anyone who is "interested in the objectives of the OBF", and there are no dues at present. You can join throughout the year by filling out the application form, signing it, and either mailing it to the OBF or emailing a scan to the Parliamentarian. The best time and place to join though is at the annual BOSC conference, because attendees are automatically deemed eligible based on the fact that they attend BOSC, and forms may just be dropped off at a designated place or with any Board member.

Participate in OBF's Future

The Board established the membership body as the platform from which major future changes to the OBF's mission, agenda, and scope will originate, through active participation, discussion, and possibly most importantly, through providing the future leadership of the OBF. If you have ideas and the energy to advocate them then we encourage you to join as a member if you haven't already, and to step up and nominate yourself for future elections to the Board. The bylaws also define terms for Directors as well as Officers, so seats will come up for election every year.

Getting together

• We gather at least once annually at BOSC
• We also organize semi-regular hackathons