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27th Annual ESGO 2026 Congress
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Every two years, ESGO conducts elections for the ESGO Council. This year, we have six (6) positions opening on the ESGO Council for 2026-2030. Five (5) of these are geographically based and one (1) is dedicated to a medical oncologist/specialist in systemic treatment.
In line with ESGO’s Articles of Association, voting groups change over time to ensure geographical balance and multidisciplinary representation in the Council.
This year, one (1) seat is open for each of the following groups:
We are not opening the non-European geographical voting group in this election round, as our non-European Council member will remain in their seat for another two years as per their elected term.
Please note: The following countries are already represented by the current Council members: Spain, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Greece.
The full list of countries in each of the geographical groups are listed below in the FAQ section 'Eligibility & Geographical Considerations'.
All ESGO members in good standing (meaning they have paid their fees for 2025 membership) are eligible to self-nominate.
The following eligibility criteria applies:
To submit your candidacy for the ESGO Council 2026–2030, you must complete the official online application form via the ESGO REDCap platform.
As part of the application, you will be asked to:
All ESGO members with voting rights (Full members) in good standing have been approached to submit their self-nomination via a dedicated email. If you have not received this email, please check your spam folder and/or contact us at elections@esgo.org for the link.
Applications close on 15 October 2025 at 11:59pm CEST.
Only Full Members of ESGO have the right to vote in the Council elections, as per our Articles of Association (see Article 8.1). New members are approved at ESGO Council meetings twice a year, in spring and autumn.
Associate members (including those in training, retired, or non-physician professionals) do not have voting rights.
Voting will be available via an online platform and eligible members will be contacted directly with the details on how to vote.
Voting is open from January 16 to February 27 at 14:00 CET.
You can view the Candidate Profiles via the below link.
For further information about the election of Council members, please see the ESGO Articles of Association.
If you do not find an answer to your question, please contact us at elections@esgo.org.
Please note: After the application deadline 15 October 23:50 CEST, no additional information about individual applications will be provided.
Six (6) ESGO Full Members in good standing will be elected to the ESGO Council for 2026. Detail on the positions can be found in the main body of this page.
The term of service of the new Council members is four years starting at the ESGO AGM 2026 and ending at the ESGO AGM 2030.
AoA Article 25.7, 25.8
The Executive Committee* governs the nomination and electoral process and acts as the Nominations Committee (Article 37.2). Its responsibilities include the following:
*The Executive Committee includes the President, Vice-President, President-Elect, and Past-President (Article 36.1).
The ESGO Council acts as the approval body. Its responsibilities include the following:
The Nominations Committee has implemented significant improvements to the elections process to ensure greater transparency, fairness, and efficiency. These include:
Yes. Five (5) of the open positions this election round require ≥50% FTE in Europe, with one (1) position open to Medical Oncology / Systemic Treatment specialists regardless of geographical location.
In 2026, the seat for our non-European Council member is not open as the current representative continues in their term for the next two years. The seat for a new non-European Council member will be open in 2028.
AoA Articles 25.4(c), 25.5
No. What matters is the country where you practice ≥50% FTE.
The composition of the regional voting groups and consequently of the Council always changes slightly according to the actual rotation of its members. Therefore, the geographical profile of the groups is individualised each time based on current needs – ensuring a balance between geographical distribution, multidisciplinarity, etc.
The Nominations Committee is responsible to ensure the geographical balance within the Council. The Committee considers:
AoA Article 37.2
Countries are grouped into fixed regions to ensure balanced representation and to reinforce the regions that may become underrepresented when certain Council Members complete their terms. These groupings are used to allocate seats and guide nominations.
The following regional groups have been established for the upcoming elections:
Group 1 (East and South-East Europe):
Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Georgia, Greece, Israel (Europe-affiliated), Kazakhstan, Moldova, Montenegro, Republic of North Macedonia, Romania, Serbia, Turkey, Ukraine.
Group 2 (Central Europe):
Austria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, Lichtenstein, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia, Switzerland
Group 3 (Northern Europe): Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Sweden
Group 4 (West and South-West Europe): Belgium, France, Italy, Luxembourg, Malta, Portugal, Spain, The Netherlands
Group 5 (North-West Europe): Iceland, Ireland, UK
Applicants must:
AoA Articles 25.4–25.6
No. You will need to submit:
You can only self-nominate. If you are an ESGO Full member in good standing, you may nominate yourself for a Council Member position.
You can do so by completing the online application form (and accompanying conflict of interest form) through the official platform by 15 October 2025, 23:59 CEST. Applications submitted by email or by regular post will not be taken into consideration.
The application link has been emailed to all eligible ESGO Full members. If you believe you are eligible but have not received the email from ‘ESGO Office’:
Once your eligibility is verified, your name will be included in the official candidate list for review and, if shortlisted, for voting. AoA Article 25.9
The Nominations Committee will conduct a thorough review process of all application responses. These will be graded against consistent scoring criteria, and the Committee will prepare a final slate of candidates (minimum of two) for each open position. The ESGO Council will approve the final list of candidates. These candidates will be notified and provided with next steps according to the timeline outlined in the main body of this page.
AoA Articles 37.2(f–j), 26.2(c)
Voting will be online, starting January 16 until February 27 at 14:00 CET.
Online voting ensures the widest participation in the elections and gives the opportunity for all eligible members to exercise their voting rights and influence the future of the society without the need to be physically present at the Annual General Meeting.
In the event of a tie vote, the President holds the casting vote. This ensures that decisions can move forward even when votes are evenly split.
AoA Article 35.1
All ESGO members must be formally approved by the ESGO Council to gain voting rights. This takes place twice a year, in spring and autumn, at ESGO Council meetings.
However, once you have paid your membership fee, you will immediately gain access to all of ESGO’s membership benefits.
AoA Article 8.1
They oversee ESGO’s governance, strategy, budget, and leadership appointments.
Responsibilities include:
AoA Article 26.2
If elected, you can expect a moderate to high time commitment. Members are expected to actively participate in working groups, committees, and contribute to different projects. They are also expected to act as ESGO ambassadors and travel on behalf of the society to accreditation visits etc. Each member of the Council is involved in one or two committees and in multiple project-based working groups.
AoA Article 27.1
Not formally. Duties begin immediately after election at the ESGO AGM 2026, however there will be an onboarding package available for new Council members. For more details please refer to the AoA Articles 25 – 34.
Yes. The Council may appoint a replacement or hold an election. We encourage all applicants to be aware of the time commitment required from Council Members to avoid this.
AoA Articles 25.13–25.14
AoA Article 25.12
Yes. Members must disclose conflicts and abstain from related votes. AoA Article 33
There is a written COI policy that monitor financial conflicts as well as institutional. For example, acting in major organisational functions in international societies with a similar mission as ESGO would be a conflict/perceived conflict. The COI disclosure is collected annually.
At any one time, ESGO has four council members, collectively known as ‘Officers’, in the following positions:
Throughout the 2025 ESGO election cycle, the positions of Vice-President and President-Elect were voted upon.
We congratulate the following Officers on their appointment:
Vice-President: Viola Heinzelmann-Schwarz
President-Elect: Ane Gerda Zahl Eriksson
For further information about the election of Officers, please see the ESGO Articles of Association, paragraph 34.
The President-Elect and Vice-President will be elected by the ESGO Council (not by ESGO members).
A Council member may apply (after the completion of their 4 years term) for either President-Elect or Vice-President, but not both. AoA Article 34.9
Candidates must:
Hold a ≥50% FTE position in Europe AoA Article 34.2–34.3, 34.4
AoA Article 34.6
AoA Articles 34.7–34.8
AoA Article 36.1
In addition to the time commitment of Council Members (see Elections of Council Members page), the Officers are expected to meet at Executive Committee meetings that are held at least six times a year (AoA Article 38.1), and officially represent ESGO at different occasions. Each Officer presides one governmental committee (eg. Nomination Committee, Communication Committee, Policy & EU Affairs, Finance & Audit Committee). You can expect a high time commitment.
If there’s a tie between two candidates, the Executive Committee decides via secret ballot.
AoA Article 34.10
The Council may dismiss an Officer at any time, with the right to defend their position.
AoA Article 34.12
Officers may also resign by notifying the Council.
AoA Article 34.13
The Council elects a replacement to complete the remaining term.
AoA Article 34.14
There is no replacement for the Past-President if their term ends early.
AoA Article 34.15