Text approved by the Administrative Commission during its session of 18 March 1992 and completed during its sessions of 15 March, 20 September 1995, 30 March 2001, 16 September 2002, 22 September 2005, 25 September 2013, 25 March 2015 and 28 September 2016.

1. On the occasion of the academic retirement of Professor Jean-Jacques Symoens, the Royal Academy for Overseas Sciences has set up a Jean-Jacques and Berthe Symoens Fund.

2. The Fund is composed of start-up capital consisting of gifts to the Academy for this purpose. It will be increased with the interest on its capital, as well as with donations and legacies made to the Academy in order to increase the Fund.

3. The Fund is managed by the Administrative Commission of the Academy under a separate account.

4. The Fund has been set up in order to reward with a prize named “Jean-Jacques and Berthe Symoens Prize for Tropical Limnology” a memoir of great scientific value, unpublished, or published for less than 4 years, written in English, French, Dutch or Spanish, on a subject related to tropical limnology.

5. Works of the members of the Royal Academy for Overseas Sciences cannot be granted the prize.

6. The prize amounts to 2,500 EUR. It will be awarded every three years and for the first time in 1996. The Administrative Commission is allowed to alter the amount of the prize and its periodicity every ten years, and this for the first time in 2005.

7. Memoirs submitted should be sent to the Academy’s secretariat before 1 February of the year in which the Prize is awarded: seven paper copies and one electronic version. For overseas candidates (developing and emerging countries) three paper copies and one electronic document will do. Candidates will append to their application a summary of 1,200 words maximum, a curriculum vitae and a covering letter.

8. The prize will be granted by the Section of Natural and Medical Sciences, on the proposal of an ad hoc Committee. This Committee includes:

a. Mrs Françoise Symoens;
b. The Permanent Secretary, who is in charge of the secretariat;
c. Three members appointed by the Section of Natural and Medical Sciences, during its February session following the receipt of the memoirs, from amongst fellows, honorary fellows, associates and honorary associates of the Academy;
d. One member appointed by the Faculty of Science of the “Vrije Universiteit Brussel”;
e. One member appointed by the Faculty of Science of the “Universté de Mons-Hainaut”.

Should the topic of a study require it, the Committee may coopt one or two specialists, even from outside the Academy, for its assessment.

9. The report of the ad hoc Committee must be transmitted to the Section of Natural and Medical Sciences before 10th May following the constitution of this Committee.

10. No correspondence will be exchanged concerning the committee’s deliberation.

11. The Section of Natural and Medical Sciences will nominate the winner during its May session. This nomination will result from a vote by a show of hands by the fellows, associates and correspondents present. To be appointed, a candidate should obtain an absolute majority of the votes. If no candidate obtains such a majority after three rounds, the prize will not be granted and the amount intended for this award will remain part of the Fund.

12. The Prize cannot be split.

13. The author of the award-winning work will be conferred the title of “Laureate of the Jean-Jacques and Berthe Symoens Prize for Tropical Limnology”.

14. If the prizewinning memoir is unpublished, the Academy may decide to publish it.

15. If the assets of the Fund are no longer sufficient to award a prize of a reasonable amount, the Administrative Commission is allowed to decide to integrate the balance of it into the Academy’s general assets. However, a decision to integrate the Fund into the Academy’s property may not be taken less than fifty years after its creation.