Overview

This code has been formulated to provide a clear statement of expectations of Biofabrication 2021 organisers and attendees in respect of their professional and personal conduct.

Scope

The Code of Conduct applies to all Biofabrication 2021 organisers and attendees, but is overruled by the corresponding policy of their University or Organisation of primary employment, which must be deferred to if there is a conflict between the policies.

Principles

The CCRMC is organised and conducted with a commitment to ensuring diversity and equity, including gender, race and age diversity, and a family friendly and flexible environment.

Policy

1. Personal and Professional Behaviour
In performing their duties and functions, all organisers and attendees must:
a. exercise their best professional and ethical judgement and carry out their duties and functions with integrity and objectivity;
b. act fairly and reasonably, and treat colleagues and students with respect, impartiality, courtesy and sensitivity;
c. avoid conflicts of interest or promptly make full disclosure to the organisers all relevant facts and circumstances giving rise to an actual, potential or perceived conflict of interest;
d. comply with all applicable legislation, industrial instruments, professional codes of conduct or practice and their own organisation’s policies, including in relation to:

  • Confidentiality and privacy of information
  • Equal opportunity
  • Health and safety policies and practices
  • Proper, efficient and effective use of Biofabrication 2021 resources
  • Discrimination where organisers and participants must not discriminate against anyone in connection with Biofabrication 2021 on the grounds of gender, religious conviction, marital status, pregnancy, physical or intellectual impairment, sexual preference, race or political conviction.
  • Sexual Harassment, which is unlawful under the Commonwealth Sex Discrimination Act 1984.

2. Approach

This code of conduct is partly based on the “London Code of Conduct”, as originally designed for the conference “Accurate Astrophysics. Correct Cosmology”, held in London in July 2015. The London Code was adapted with permission by Andrew Pontzen and Hiranya Peiris from a document by Software Carpentry, which itself derives from original Creative Commons documents by PyCon and Geek Feminism. It is released under a CC‐Zero license for reus Source Credit: This Code of Conduct was adapted from that of CAASTRO (http://caastro.org) and ACES (https://electromaterials.edu.au/)

Biofabrication 2021 organisers and attendees are committed to making Biofabrication 2021 productive and enjoyable for everyone, regardless of gender, sexual orientation, disability, physical appearance, race, nationality or religion.

Before Biofabrication 2021:

  • Make sure that the Organising Committee (OC) is diverse. This should include gender, race and age diversity.
  • Some nations have laws and customs that may be dangerous to queer people. Consideration of this should be taken when choosing a course destination.
  • Use the Biofabrication 2021 Code of Conduct statement in the opening remarks (slide content shown below) describing commitment to equity and diversity.
  • Ensure that the list of invited speakers, session chairs, and contributed speakers includes gender, race and age diversity.
  • Women with primary carer responsibilities are more likely to decline conference invitations.

Initiatives to alleviate this known bias include Biofabrication 2021 organisers undertake to:

  • provide advice on potential child care options available upon request;
  • make sure that the venue includes a private ‘family friendly room’;
  • be mindful of how the scheduling of the course affects people with children or
  • other family caring responsibilities (e.g. weekends, school holidays, etc.);
  • if possible, offer support for partners;
  • ensure that the venue is accessible for people with disabilities;
  • consider inviting and supporting participants from disadvantaged countries;
  • follow-up with invited speakers if they decline the invitation to understand the reason why people (especially those from underrepresented groups) respond negatively.

During Biofabrication 2021:

  • Appoint a number of ‘duty officers’ who can be contacted in the event that someone is
    experiencing a problem at the course (not just the course organiser but peers). Make the email and phone number of these officers available to course attendees.
  • Plan the course social events at family-friendly venues and times.
  • Make sure session chairs ensure diversity of people asking questions.
  • Have someone from the organising committee or a delegate keep track of the gender/seniority level etc. of people attending course sessions, asking questions and other course demographics.
  • Instruct session chairs to invite questions that rotate female/male questioners and promote a space for ECRs to ask the first question and to promote an inclusive space.

Source Credit: Based on the CAASTRO conference guidelines which acknowledged CAS (Centre for Astrophysics and Supercomputing) guidelines for promoting equity & diversity at conferences and meetings (http://caastro.org), as well as ACES conference guidelines.

3. Attendee Conduct

Attendees of Biofabrication 2021 are asked to:

  • Behave professionally. Harassment and sexist, racist, or exclusionary comments or jokes are not appropriate. Harassment includes sustained disruption of talks or other events, inappropriate physical contact, sexual attention or innuendo, deliberate intimidation, stalking, and photography or recording of an individual without consent. It also includes offensive comments related to gender, sexual orientation, disability, physical appearance, race or religion.
  • Communicate appropriately for a professional audience including people of many different backgrounds. Sexual language and imagery in presentations is not appropriate.
  • Stop any inappropriate behaviour immediately upon request by the organisers.
  • Violating these rules may result in being asked to leave the event at the sole discretion of the organisers without a refund of any charge.
  • Report a violation of this policy in confidence to Biofabrication 2021 organisers.