FEMS Special Merit Award

The FEMS Special Merit Award was initiated in 2003 to reward those who have made special contributions to further the objectives of FEMS. The first award was presented at the 1st FEMS Congress in 2003.

Objective

This award acknowledges and honours extraordinary services rendered to FEMS at the organizational, structural and/or administrative level.

Award

The award comes in the form of an illuminated address featuring the awardee’s name and his/her special merits for FEMS.

Eligibility

The award may be given to those persons who have (altruistically) contributed to the organizational, structural and/or administrative improvements of the Federation. FEMS (former) Directors are not eligible.

Frequency

The award may be given at any time and frequency.

Application

Proposals may be submitted at any time and there is no deadline. Candidates may be proposed by a FEMS Delegate on behalf of their FEMS Member Society or by members of the FEMS Board of Directors. Proposals should be submitted to the Convenor of the Awards Board via FEMS Business Office and consist of:

a letter of recommendation written by the promoter or the Member Society
a listing of special merits for FEMS
a curriculum vitae (max. 2 pages) and list of achievements

Downloadable documents

FEMS Special Merit Award Regulations

FEMS Special Merit Awardee 2003

030601-29_ScheffersWeb — Ir W.A. Scheffers

Ir Lex (W.A.) Scheffers
The Netherlands

Special Merit: (I) Structural inputs to the Federation over a period of seven years as FEMS Delegate; (II) Organisational inputs in establishing FEMS Central Office; (III) Founding a new FEMS journal FEMS Yeast Research and achieving high scientific standards from its onset. (photo collage)

Venue: Ljubljana, Slovenia, at the occasion of the 1st FEMS Congress.
Date: 2 July 2003

Featured article

Microbiomes inhabiting rice roots and rhizosphere

Land plants directly contact soil through their roots. An enormous diversity of microbes dwelling in root-associated zones, including endosphere (inside root), rhizoplane (root surface) and rhizosphere (soil surrounding the root surface), play essential roles in ecosystem functioning and plant health. Rice is a staple food that feeds over 50% of the global population. This mini-review summarizes the current understanding of microbial diversity of rice root-associated compartments to some extent, especially the rhizosphere, and makes a comparison of rhizosphere microbial community structures between rice and other crops/plants. Moreover, this paper describes the interactions between root-related microbiomes and rice plants, and further discusses the key factors shaping the rice root-related microbiomes.