Expectations for Conduct at New Athena Rising: SWG4
New Athena Rising: SWG4 is a community conference intended for networking and collaboration within the Science Working Group 4 (Compact Objects) in the NewAthena Science community, specifically aimed at Early Career Researchers (ECR). The meeting places a particular emphasis on supporting ECRs and is committed to fostering a safe, inclusive and respectful environment in which everyone can feel comfortable sharing ideas, asking questions and engaging openly in discussion. We value the participation of each member of the community and want all attendees to have an enjoyable and fulfilling experience. Accordingly, all attendees are expected to show respect and courtesy to other attendees throughout the conference and at all conference events.
Although the Institute of Space Sciences (ICE-CSIC) has a Code of Conduct, this is primarily aimed at ICE-CSIC staff, students and visitors working at ICE-CSIC. At New Athena Rising: SWG4, all attendees, speakers, organisers and guests at any meeting event are required to conform to the following Code of Conduct. This is aligned with the ICE-CSIC Code of Conduct, but is expanded and tailored to this meeting. The organisers are committed to enforcing this code throughout the event, and any decision taken by the organisers in respect of it is final.
Code of Conduct
The organisers of New Athena Rising: SWG4 are dedicated to providing a harassment-free conference for everyone, regardless of gender, gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, disability, physical appearance, body size, race, age, religion or nationality. We will not tolerate harassment of conference participants in any form.
All communication should be appropriate for a professional audience including people of many different backgrounds. In particular, sexual language and imagery is not appropriate during any conference activity, including during any informal social gatherings outside the official programme.
Conference participants violating these rules may be sanctioned or expelled from the conference without any refund at the discretion of the conference organisers.
Harassment includes, but is not limited to:
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Written or verbal comments which have the effect of excluding people on the basis of membership of any specific group, such as (but not limited to) gender, gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, disability, physical appearance, body size, race, age, religion or nationality. This includes sexist, racist, homophobic, transphobic, ableist, or exclusionary jokes.
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Comments made, either through speech or chat on any meeting-related online platform (including social media), that are exclusionary, derogatory, or threatening toward another participant or community.
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Sexual language and imagery.
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Violent threats or language directed against another person, including incitement to violence, suicide, or self-harm.
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Deliberate intimidation, stalking, or following.
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Harassing photography or recording.
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Continuing to initiate interaction (including photography or recording) with someone after being asked to stop.
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Sustained disruption of talks or other events.
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Unwelcome sexual attention.
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Advocating for, or encouraging, any of the above behaviour.
Enforcement
All New Athena Rising: SWG4 participants, including any guests, are expected to follow the anti-harassment policy. If a concern is raised about behaviour contravening these guidelines or making participants uncomfortable, we ask the participants to follow the LOC guidelines and take immediate steps to address the issue.
The New Athena Rising: SWG4 organisers retain the right to take any actions to maintain a welcoming environment for all participants. This includes warning the offender, at the sole discretion of the organisers, or expulsion from the conference with no refund.
The New Athena Rising: SWG4 organisers may take action to redress anything designed to, or with the clear impact of, disrupting the event or making the environment hostile for any participants.
We expect participants to follow these rules at all event venues and social activities, whether organised by the conference or informally by other participants.
Reporting Violations of the Code of Conduct
To report a violation of the New Athena Rising: SWG4 Code of Conduct you can:
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Speak to a member of the LOC
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Email the LOC at LOC email and ensure your email subject line contains the phrase 'code violation' to help expedite a response.
We will monitor the reporting channels and aim to respond to any issues as quickly as possible.
This Code of Conduct is informed by the National Astronomy Meeting Code of Conduct (Durham, 2025).
