Galaxy Memoirs 2025: Code of Conduct (CoC)

We are committed to creating a work environment that is safe, professional and of mutual trust where diversity and inclusion are valued, and where everyone is entitled to be treated with courtesy and respect. The organisers commit to making the conference, and all associated activities productive and enjoyable for everyone. We will not tolerate harassment of participants in any form.

Please follow these guidelines:

1.   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 individual characteristics, for example: age, gender, sexual orientation, disability, physical appearance, race, nationality or religion.

2.   All communication should be appropriate for a professional audience including people of many different backgrounds. Sexual or sexist language and imagery is not appropriate.

3.   Be respectful and do not insult or put down other attendees or facilitators of the event. Critique ideas not people.

4.   Should a participant witness events of bullying, harassment or aggression, we recommend that they approach the affected person to show support and check how they are. The witness may also wish to suggest that the person report the inappropriate behaviour. However, it is up to the affected person alone whether or not they wish to report it.

5.   If participants wish to share photos of a speaker on social media, we strongly recommend that they first get the speaker’s permission. Participants may also share the contents of talks/slides via social media unless speakers have asked that specific details/slides not be shared.

Participants can report any violations of these guidelines to any member of the Local Organising Committee (LOC) in confidence. If a participant is asked to stop inappropriate behaviour, they are expected to comply immediately. In serious cases, individuals may be asked to leave the event without a refund. Retaliation against anyone who reports a violation of this Code of Conduct will not be tolerated.

Thank you for helping to make this conference welcoming for all.

Acknowledgments: This code of conduct is based on the Code of Conduct for ESO Workshops & Conferences, and aligns with the 'The ESO Way' and the 'EAS Ethics Statement and Guidelines for Good Practice' (January 2018). It was originally adapted from the London Code of Conduct (by A. Pontzen and H. Peiris), which itself was derived from original Creative Commons documents by PyCon and Geek Feminism. This document is released under a CC0 (Creative Commons Zero) license, allowing unrestricted reuse and modification. To support the sharing of improvements and best practices, please retain this acknowledgment and log any reuse or modifications at https://github.com/apontzen/london_cc.

Galaxy Memoirs 2025: Guidelines for Session Chairs

In addition to adhering to the above Code of Conduct, compliance with the following Chair guidelines is strongly recommended.

Session Chairs play a vital role in creating a welcoming and professional environment, helping ensure the conference is an enjoyable and productive experience for all participants. Chairs are primarily responsible for:

To support these responsibilities, Chairs are encouraged to familiarise themselves with the conference Code of Conduct (CoC) and the scheduled duration of each talk in their session. Members of the Local Organising Committee (LOC) will be available to assist with technical issues and help ensure presentations run smoothly.

Please also note these recommendations and best practice tips for Chairs:

1.   Introduce yourself at the start of the session.

2.   Introduce yourself to the speakers in your session beforehand (where possible), and ensure you know how to pronounce their names to introduce them appropriately.

3.   All questions should be asked and answered using a microphone to ensure that all participants can benefit from the question and answer.

4.   If you deem a question inappropriate or unprofessional, you are expected to intervene or take another question.

5.   Chairs are encouraged to be conscious of their biases and avoid preferentially selecting some people and/or paying attention to only some parts of the room. Please also make sure that online participants have a chance to ask questions.

6.   After the talk ends, wait a few seconds longer than you usually would before choosing the first question. This gives time for more people to formulate their questions and can encourage more questions from early career scientists. For example, if someone is being very active and asks questions after each talk, feel free to skip their hand and choose someone else sometimes.

7.   Letting the questions run for the full time is preferable to allowing the speaker to run over their time.

Acknowledgments: These Chair guidelines were adapted from the Code of Conduct for ESO Workshops & Conferences.