ESSE Announcements

Most important decisions taken by the Board of ESSE during its meeting on 25th and 26th August 2024, in Lausanne, Switzerland
ESSE Positions: Call for applications and nominations for the positions of Treasurer of ESSE and Secretary of ESSE

Most important decisions taken by the Board of ESSE during its meeting on 25th and 26th August 2024, in Lausanne, Switzerland

1. The Board of ESSE elected a new President, Professor Lieven Buysse from Belgium for a  three-year period. His term of office will begin on 1st January 2025 when he will replace the  current president, Professor Andreas H. Jucker. The Board expressed their gratitude to the  current president for his services to ESSE during two terms of office from 2019 to 2024. 

2. The Board of ESSE re-elected the Editor of The ESSE Messenger, Professor Laura Esteban  Segura, Spain, for the period of three years. Her second term of office will begin on 1st January 2025.  

3. The Board of ESSE appointed a nominations committee for the election of the ESSE Treasurer  and the ESSE Secretary. The call for applications will be published on the ESSE website in October 2024. The deadline for the submission of applications is 30th April 2025. The term  of office for both posts will begin on 1st January 2026. 

3. The Board of ESSE agreed to discontinue the reduction of annual fees from €9.00 to €7.00. In 2025, the fees return to €9.00.  

4. The Board of ESSE strongly reaffirmed its commitment to promote research and to support  activities aimed to help both young and established researchers. The Board decided to: 

• continue with the Bursaries and appointed a Bursary committee for 2025. The Board  also decided to continue with bursaries for Gender Studies within English studies for  2025.  

• continue with the Book and Resources grants. 

• continue with the Doctoral Symposium in both conference and non-conference years  and, for the non-conference year 2025, to offer funding to help eligible doctoral  students in need of support to participate in the Doctoral Symposium that will be held  together with the Board Meeting in Malta.  

• continue with a special research support scheme for national associations with tight  resources to invite plenary speakers from other national associations to their own national conferences and to cover their travel expenses.  

• discontinue the Collaborative Project Workshop Scheme.  

5. The Board of ESSE delegated four members to represent ESSE in the Academic  Programme Committee for the ESSE-18 conference in 2026 in Santiago de Compostela,  Spain, together with the APC members from the host association.  

6. The Board of ESSE accepted the bid of Manchester Metropolitan University, United  Kingdom, as the venue of the ESSE–19 conference in 2028.

7. The Board of ESSE unanimously nominated a new co-editor of the European Journal of  English Studies. This is Dr. Frederik Van Dam from Radboud University, Nijmegen, who is  going to replace the current co-editor, Professor Greta Olson, as of 1 January 2025. The  Board of ESSE expressed their gratitude to Prof. Greta Olson for her long and dedicated  service to EJES. 

8. The Board of ESSE agreed to adhere to the rule established back at the Board meeting in  2019 to have only one date for membership updates per calendar year. Fees will be  collected according to the membership lists sent to the ESSE Treasurer by 15th November  of the current year. Members whose names are included in these lists will be able to apply for ESSE privileges the following year, such as ESSE Bursaries, ESSE Book grants, ESSE Book awards, and conference fee waivers. The  only exception continues to be the ESSE Doctoral Symposium, for which different rules apply as specified in the Symposium announcement.

ESSE Positions: Call for applications and nominations for the positions of Treasurer of ESSE and Secretary of ESSE

The Nominations Committee of the ESSE Board seeks applications for the positions of Treasurer and Secretary, which fall vacant in January 2026. The usual term of office is three years. Candidates, who should preferably have been involved in ESSE affairs or have had similar positions in their national associations, should submit, as e–mail attachments:

  • a letter of application
  • a short (2–3 page) CV
  • letters of support from two national associations.

Each national association can also nominate candidates for any of these two positions (only one candidate for each position). In this case, national associations will submit, as e–mail attachments:

  • a letter, signed by the association’s President, describing the candidate’s competence for the specific office
  • a short (2–3 page) CV of candidate(s) proposed
  • a letter, signed by another association’s President, seconding this proposal
  • a letter in which the candidate will express his/her agreement with the candidacy.

Applications and nominations must be submitted by e-mail, by 30th  April 2025 at the latest, to all three members of the Nominations Committee: 

Please use the following appropriate wording in the subject line:

  • ESSE: Application/Nomination for Treasurer  or 
  • ESSE: Application/Nomination for Secretary   

From the applications and nominations received, the Committee will prepare a shortlist for the ESSE Board. Finalists will be interviewed (in person or online) and elected by a vote at the ESSE Board meeting in Malta, 5-6th September 2025.