The BIOEAST Board (further referred to as “Board”) is the main working body of the BIOEAST Initiative. The Board is composed of the Secretary General and National Contact Points (NCPs). Each of the BMS will nominate one National Contact Point as a Board member and a maximum of two substitutes, who can also attend meetings but do not have voting rights. A substitute only has voting rights if he/she is attending the Board meeting on behalf of the NCP of his/her country. For a smooth running of the everyday operations, NCPs should work under the mandate of their sending country and should be nominated directly by a political representative of the ministry, in accordance with the usual procedure of the given ministry. The board will meet regularly to discuss the political agenda as well as to work on the Strategic Research and Innovation Agenda (further referred to as ”SRIA”) and other relevant activities. The list of NCPs and substitutes will be managed by the Secretary General, based on timely information from each BMS and will be subject to regular updates. The communication, cooperation and coordination activities of the Board members will cover policy, sector specific and administrative work preparations.