Most IBS members are considered Regular members. The Society also offers Student, Senior Retiree, Supporting and Institutional membership. Applicants for all classes of membership must be approved by the appropriate Regional or National Secretary or, in the case of applicants for At-Large membership, by the IBS's Executive Director. Current members of the Society receive online access to electronic copies of the journals, Biometrics and JABES, and the newsletter, Biometric Bulletin, along with a number of other members-only services and discounts.
Because the Society follows a federation structure, most membership fees will be paid directly to the appropriate Region by the applicant first. Then a portion of those fees are forwarded to the IBS by the Regions. Once this has happened, the applicant's IBS membership becomes active. Information on the combined local/global membership fees may be obtained from the appropriate Regional Secretary. In some cases, information may be available online through the Region's external web pages. Membership inquiries are best addressed to these Regional Secretaries. However, inquiries may also be routed through the International Office of the Society. The fees quoted on this website are for the IBS portion of the fees only.
The following types of IBS memberships are offered (typically included with your Region membership):
Regular Members
Regular members are those individuals who are interested in the scope and purpose of the society. Regular members are entitled to vote, hold elective office, serve on committees, receive all publications in electronic format, access the Members Only section of the website and reduced registration fees at the International Biometric Conference (IBC).
Dues: USD $65/year or USD $15/year (for those in a low or middle-income country).
Supporting Members
A Regular member who is a member of a region may elect to become a Supporting member in another region. A Regular member may become a supporting member in as many regions as they wish. A Regular member-at-large may also become a Supporting member in a region of his or her choice. Supporting members may not vote or hold any office in regions they support. Supporting members pay the international portion of the dues once and pay the additional regional dues to the region only.
Senior Retiree Members
A Senior Retiree member must have been a Regular member for at least 10 years and is no longer gainfully employed prior to transferring to Senior Retiree member status. Senior retiree members enjoy all the rights of regular members.
Dues: USD $35/year or USD $10/year (for those in a low or middle-income country).
Student Members
Full or part-time students attending accredited undergraduate or graduate schools or universities may become Student members. Student members have all the rights of regular members except they cannot vote, hold office or be appointed to the Representative Council. Dues: USD $0 (no fee).
Institutional Members
Academic departments in educational institutions, non-profit research institutions or corporations may become Institutional members of the society. Institutional members shall designate one representative as the contact for the institution. The person named as the representative for an institution has electronic access to all IBS publications. The institution’s designee is not eligible to vote or hold elected office. The Institutional member is listed in at least one issue of each volume of one of the official IBS scientific publications.
Dues: USD $500/year. If the institutional member joins through a region, one-half of the dues is rebated to the region.