The Association shall be called the Association of Microbiologists of India or AMI in short.

The office of the Association shall be located at the normal place of activity of the General Secretary. All communications regarding the association, membership and other matters should be directed to the General Secretary. Matters regarding finances should be directed to the National Treasurer of the Association.

Permanent location: The permanent records, literary possessions, including journals, books and any other records of the association shall be at a permanent location in India to be selected by the Central Council. This shall be the place of the Editor – in – Chief of the Journal, who shall have the responsibility to manage the permanent office.

The objectives of the Association shall be to promote the study of Microbiology and to facilitate interaction between Microbiologists and other allied disciplines. The Association shall publish one or more research journals under the authority of a competent Editorial Board.

Membership of the association is open to all graduates in Microbiology or allied disciplines who pursue studies, teaching, research or profession in Microbiology or allied subjects. Members shall have the privileges as specified in para 4.1.3.

•  Types of Membership and Admission: There shall be three categories of members – Honorary members, Life members and Annual members of the Association of Microbiologists of India.

1. Honorary members: Honorary members shall be elected by the General Body on the recommendation of the Central Council and not more than two in a year. Persons recommended should be outstanding Microbiologists from any part of the world. Honorary members shall be entitled for all privileges of the Association expect holding any office of the Association.
2. Life and Annual members: Life members and Annual members may enroll either directly or through the AMI units. Application for membership giving details of academic standing should be recommended by at least one life member and submitted directly to the National Treasurer or to the local unit Treasurer along with the prescribed fees. If submitted to the local unit Treasurer, the local Treasurer shall examine the application and if found suitable, shall collect the fees, retain the portion as prescribed below and forward a consolidated list along with the balance subscription by DD to the National Treasurer for acceptance of membership.
3. Privileges: All members except honorary members, shall have the right to vote and stand for election to the offices of the Association. All members are expected to employ his/her scientific and technological expertise to advance the corporate good of the Association. All members of good standing will also be entitled for any concessions offered at the conferences of the AMI or publications of the AMI.

•  Resignation, Termination and Readmission of AMI Members

1. Resignation: Any member is free to resign. Such members shall intimate to the General Secretary his desire in writing  and the resignation shall become effective only at the end of the financial year. Acceptance of resignation by the General Secretary is subject to the member having cleared all dues to the association. No refund is allowed of paid membership to annual or life members. Members who resign shall cease to have any privileges of the Association including concessional registration during AMI conferences.
2. Termination: The Central Council may recommend to the General Body the removal of any person from the membership of the Association when it is of the opinion that such removal is in the interest of the association. If the recommendation is accepted by two third of those attending the General Body, the recommendation shall be deemed to have been accepted and may be given effect to by intimating the person concerned by the General Secretary. Similarly, life members can also be removed in the interest of the association by following the above procedure. However, a member removed from membership of the association shall   not receive any refund of his subscription.
3. Readmission: Those annual members who do not renew their membership before 31st of March every year shall cease to be members and will be readmitted only on payment of fresh admission fee along with the new membership fees. It will therefore be the duty of every member to ensure that his dues are paid in time.

Persons can enroll as life members or annual members either directly or through the unit nearest to their place of working. Membership fee is likely to change from time to time to be decided by the General Body of the Association.

Membership of the Journal is optional. The Journal membership rate may change from time to time with the approval of the General Body. Those who wish to receive the journal may pay the journal subscription, in addition to the membership fee to the Editor – in – Chief or to the unit Secretary who shall then send the same to the national Treasurer. Journal subscribers will receive the journal directly form the Editor. All ex- Presidents of the Association are eligible to receive the journal free of charge on retirement from service, provided they are unable to subscribe and should inform the Editor – in – chief in writing annually.

The Central Council of the Association, herein after called the CC, shall consists of the President, President Elect, the General Secretary, the Treasurer, the Joint Secretary, the Editor – in – Chief, four members elected by the general procedure of election and one representative from each AMI unit. All past Presidents and General Secretaries will also be ex- officio members of the Central Council without voting rights.

•  Functions of the CC: The CC shall formulate all policy matters relating to the functioning of the association for approval by the General Body. It shall approve the admission of new members to the association, make modifications and amendments to these rules and regulations subject to approval by a majority of members at the General Body.

It shall examine the agenda for the General Body as well as requests from members for items to be discussed by the General body, provided they are sent to the General Secretary at least 60 days before the General body meeting. The CC shall execute all decisions made by the General Body of the AMI. The CC shall have powers to nominate persons to represent the AMI at National and International Conferences as and when the necessity arises. Persons nominated shall be the Life members of the association and preferably, members of the Central Council. The Central Council shall decide the cost of representation, if any. The CC may invite any other Scientific Society to participate in AMI, if found desirable. The CC shall have the right to permit financial assistance requested by units subject to recommendation by the Treasurer. The CC shall nominate the Editor – in – Chief of the Journal from among the Life Members of the Association (from among those available at the permanent location of AMI, when the permanent location is established). The CC meetings are private and the proceedings shall not be communicated to the press without the consent of the Council. 

CC Meetings: The CC may be convened as and when required by the General Secretary with 15 days notice but shall convene at least once before the General Body meeting of the Association. A minimum of 6 persons shall form the quorum for the Central Council meeting.

CC President: The CC meeting shall be presided over by the President or in his absence the President- Elect. In case neither is able to attend, the General Secretary may conduct the meeting with any one member in the chair. Such meetings may be held provided there is a quorum of at least 6 members.

The Officers of the association shall consist of the President, the President Elect, the General Secretary, the Joint Secretary, The Treasurer and the Editor – in – Chief.

Term, duties and Responsibilities of the Officers of AMI:

The various Officers of the AMI except the Joint Secretary and the Editor–in–Chief shall be elected by the members of the Association and shall have the following terms, duties and responsibilities. The CC shall nominate the Joint Secretary and the Editor –in – Chief.

•  The President:   The term of the office of the President shall be ONE year (from Jan to Dec). He/she shall be the Constitutional Head of the Association and shall preside over all the meetings of the CC and the General Body. He/she shall represent the association on all ceremonial occasions. He/she may delegate his/her powers to the president (elect) if he/she so desires. He/she shall have the privilege of exercising the casting vote in case of equal divisions in the CC or the General Body.
He/she shall represent the Association at International meetings and Organizations.
           At the end of the term, he/she will hand over the charge to the President elect at the General Body meeting. On retirement from office, all ex-Presidents of the association shall be entitled to reimbursement of their travel costs in connection with attending AMI conferences, provided they are retired from service or are unable to meet the costs. The amount payable shall be decided by the Central Council and may vary from time to time subject to availability of funds. Those who wish to attend the annual conferences after retirement, should inform the General Secretary about their desire soon after the issue of the second circular of the conference.

•  President Elect: The term of office of the President elect shall be ONE year after the elections. He/she shall carry out all the functions of the President in his absence or as the President desires. He/she shall assume charge as the President on 1st January after completing his tenure as President elect.

•  The General Secretary: The term of the office of the General Secretary shall be THREE years. He/she shall be the main executive officer of the Association. He/she shall be responsible for the day to day activities of the Association and for proper maintenance of all the records of the Association. For this purpose he/she may be given a part time administrative staff paid from the funds of the Association.
He/she shall maintain an up to date directory of the Association including the names of all the AMI units, Life members, Annual members and Honorary members. He/she shall send the first circular of the Conferences after the date and place is finalized at the General Body meeting and also publish the AMI newsletter regularly. The General Secretary shall prepare the agenda for the meetings of the Central Council and the General Body of the Association as per regulations prescribed herein.
He/she shall scrutinize and submit to the approval of the CC the applications for memberships of AMI, record the proceedings of the CC and the General Body, circulate the minutes of the meetings within one month of the meetings to all the members of the CC and the General Body. He/she shall also present reports of activities of the AMI at the General Body meetings. He/she shall act as the returning officer during the election of the office bearers as prescribed in these rules. He/she shall also maintain close relationship with the various units of the Association.
He/she shall recommend the names of the persons to be nominated as the Joint Secretary from the place of his location to the Central Council.
He/she shall maintain an up to date record of all awards given out by the Association in separate files with details of recipients. He/she may delegate one or more powers and duties to the Joint Secretary if he/she so desires.

•  The Joint Secretary: The term of office of the Joint Secretary shall be concurrent with that of the General Secretary. He/she shall be a person nominated by the CC on the recommendation of the General Secretary and shall be from the same place as that of the General Secretary. In the event of the General Secretary moving away from the place on transfer or otherwise, the tenure of the Joint Secretary shall cease. When a vacancy of the Joint Secretary occurs, the CC shall obtain a fresh recommendation from the General Secretary and nominate another person for the remaining period.

He/she shall be a member of the Central Council and shall carry out all functions of the General Secretary in the absence of the latter and all other functions delegated to him/her by the General Secretary.

•  Executive Secretary of AMI: The post of Executive Secretary shall be created to carry out all the administrative affairs of the Association, when the Association shall have a permanent location. Such a person will be deemed as an officer of the Association, selected by the Central Council from among the members of the Association at the permanent location and be paid some remuneration as found appropriate by the Central Council. His/her term of office shall be at least one year and extendible subject to satisfactory performance.

•  The Treasurer: The term of the Treasurer will be THREE years. He/she shall be the chief financial officer of the Association  and shall receive all the funds on behalf of  the Association and shall maintain proper accounts only in nationalized banks.He/she shall maintain records of all members and funds of the Association in appropriate forms and make them available to the CC as and when required. He/she shall maintain separate files of all the fixed deposits herein after called “AMI funds”, their utilization etc.
He/she shall receive the membership nominations along with the prescribed fees either directly or from the units and shall forward the applications to the General Secretary for acceptance by the CC after retaining the fees. He/she shall operate all accounts of the Association, maintain the accounts in proper form and submit them for annual auditing by a registered chartered accountant and place the same before the CC and the Genial Body at the appropriate time.The Treasurer shall advance funds as decided by the CC to the President, the General Secretary and the Editor – in –Chief to enable them to carry out their normal functions as prescribed under these rules and regulations. However, all accounts of expenditure by these officers must be submitted to the Treasurer who shall then submit the accounts annually to the auditor.
He/she shall also loan funds to the units organizing the AMI conferences and coordinate the financial activities of all AMI units.
The Treasurer shall make available to the units 50% of the Annual membership as well as the admission fees as mentioned under rule 5.6 for normal functioning of the units, if the units have not already deducted the same.The Treasurer shall present a consolidated budget and an audited statement of accounts to the General Body indicating the budgeted amount for the previous year, the actual expenditure and a statement of income and expenditure for the following year. He/she shall also provide a complete list of all liabilities and assets to the CC and the General Body.
The Treasurer in consultation with the General Secretary, is allowed to sanction up to Rs. 1500- (One thousand five hundred only) to any unit once in two years, ( to be revised from time to time with approval of the General Body), for holding activities related to the promotion of Microbiology. All such sanctions must however be brought to the attention of the CC as and when the CC meets.The Treasurer shall reimburse travel allowances, rail/bus fare as decided by the CC from time to time, to all ex- Presidents of the Association and other CC members to facilitate them to attend the AMI conferences, provided they or their units do not have funds for this purpose.

A unit of AMI can be formed at any place in India with the approval of the CC provided it has a minimum of 20 members. All members will have the freedom to be associated with a unit closest to their place of working /residence. Where there is no AMI unit, members can enroll directly with the AMI through the National Treasurer. After the unit is recognized, it shall be included in the directory of the Association maintained by the General Secretary. Members forming the AMI unit shall convene and elect office bearers of the unit as mentioned in these regulations. The unit is also free to form their own rules for management within the framework of the general rules of the AMI for proper functioning of the unit. The election of office bearers should be held before March every year and the names of the office bearers should be communicated to the AMI General Secretary.

•  Management of AMI Units: Every AMI unit shall be managed by an executive committee, responsible to the general body of the unit and AMI. The executive committee shall consist of the President, the Secretary cum Treasurer and at least 2 members. The term of office of all the office bearers shall be ONE year. Election of these office bearers of the units shall be held by consensus or by ballot, if necessary. The unit Secretary cum Treasurer shall act as the returning officer for this purpose.

The General Body of the Association herein after called the GB shall include all members and will be the final authority to initiate, accept, reject or modify any proposal concerning the Association, its Rules and Regulations. The General Body shall take major policy decisions, which are first scrutinized by the CC.Members who wish to bring forth items for discussion at the General Body shall send the proposals in writing to the General Secretary at least 60 days before the GB meeting. The General Secretary shall examine the proposal, place it before the CC and thereafter bring it as an item for discussion to the GB.
Any other important matter can however be discussed in the General Body, if permitted by the presiding officer.
All the GB meetings shall be presided over by the President or in his absence by the President elect. In the absence of either, it may be presided over either by the immediate past president or any other past president of the AMI.

The GB meetings of the Association are private and the proceedings cannot be Communicated or publicized without the permission of the General Secretary.

•  Frequency and procedure of GB meetings: The Association shall hold at least one GB meeting coinciding with the AMI conference, at which scientific papers shall be presented and also the business of the association is transacted. Once the date of the conference is decided, the General Secretary shall inform all Life members directly and Annual members through their unit Secretaries about the meeting date and place, at least two months before the holding the GB meeting. He shall also request members to submit any proposal, which needs to be examined by the CC and GB of AMI. At the GB meeting, the General Secretary, and the Editor – in Chief shall present their reports. The Treasurer shall also present the consolidated, audited report of all accounts including the expenditure for the preceding year and the budget for the next year.

•  Quorum for the GB: Fifty members of the AMI shall form the quorum for holding of the GB meeting. In case there is no quorum, the meeting may be adjourned for one hour. The rule of quorum shall not be applicable to the reconvened meeting.

The President or the CC can convene extra ordinary GB meetings on request in writing to the General Secretary by at least 100 (one hundred) members of the association. Such request s shall state specifically the purpose for which the meeting is to convened. The General Secretary, on receiving the request shall get the approval of the CC or the President and inform all the members of the AMI the date, time and place of such extraordinary meeting with at least 15 days notice.

The Treasurer of AMI shall deposit all funds of AMI, in Scheduled Nationalized Banks in the name of the Association after obtaining the authorization from the President and the General Secretary. The authority to receive and manage funds on behalf of the Association shall rest solely with the Treasurer of the Association.
All bank accounts including SB accounts and Fixed Deposits (FDs) will be operated jointly by the Treasurer and the General Secretary provided they are from one place. Should these officers be in different place, both may be allowed by the CC to operate individual SB accounts. However, all fixed deposits of AMI will be operated jointly by the Treasurer and General Secretary.

•  Fund investment: The Treasurer shall make investments of its funds as deemed best in recognized institutions only, after approval by the CC.
All Life membership amounts will be placed infixed deposit. The interest from this shall be used for the activities of the Association. The capital amount of Life membership fee shall not be used for any purpose without approval by the GB of the Association.
Funds meant for specific awards accepted by the GB of AMI shall be placed in separate FDs. The Treasurer shall maintain separate accounts for the utilization of the interest from such deposits. The original investment shall not be used for any purpose. The Treasurer may increase the size of the initial deposits by placing more funds therein or reinvestment of unused interest, with prior approval of the CC. The Treasurer shall ensure proper growth of the capital and the interest by proper reinvestment management.
Funds for giving away Young Scientists awards or travel grants to students shall be from interest accruing from FDs preferably kept for this purpose. However, until such time the FDs are established for this purpose, this expenditure may be made out of the surplus funds available with the Treasurer subject to approval of the CC. The Treasurer shall however, make efforts to establish separate fixed deposits for these purposes.
Funds for normal functioning of the association and the Journal shall be drawn from the annual membership fees, the Journal subscription from members and institutions, advertisements in Journal and the interest accruing on the Life membership fixed deposits. The Treasurer shall be free to place any surplus funds from any source, in new FDs in the name of AMI and this shall be brought to the notice of the CC at the earliest.Any surplus amount available may be utilized for the welfare of the Association and for providing assistance to the young microbiologists as deemed fit by the CC on recommendation by the Treasurer. This information shall however be brought to the notice of the GB at its next meeting.

The accounting year of the Association shall be January to December every   year.
No person shall be normally, admitted to the association after the month of March every year.

The Association shall publish quarterly the Indian Journal of Microbiology. The subscription rate shall be fixed by the GB on the recommendation by the CC and the Editor – in Chief. This shall however vary form time to time. Membership to the journal is optional.

•  The Journal shall be managed by an Editor –in – Chief who shall be nominated by the CC. He/she shall be responsible for editing, printing, publishing and distributing the Journal.

•  He/she shall also maintain its records and separate accounts for funds received from Journal subscription, Libraries / agencies etc and from the Treasurer for this purpose.

•  The Editor – in – Chief shall constitute an Editorial Board consisting of members and non- members from India and Overseas and intimate the same for approval of the CC, to assist him / her in running the Journal.

•  The Editorial Board shall meet as and when required but at least once before once before the GB of the Association and frame all policy matters regarding the Journal including its frequency of publication or subscription rates etc. for examination by the CC and the GB.

•  The term of office of the Editorial Board shall be FOUR years and the Editor –in – Chief shall have the freedom to nominate members, if he / she so desires.

•  To assist the Editor – in – Chief, he/she may nominate a person as the Executive Editor to assist him in the work of publication of the Journal. Such a person nominated shall need the approval of the CC and may be paid an honorarium by the Editor- in Chief out of the funds collected through subscription and advertisements. The Treasurer shall make no additional funds available for this purpose.

•  Funds for publishing the Journal shall come form the sale of Journal to the Institutions, to members etc as mentioned under 13.1

•  The Editor – in – Chief may operate separate account for accepting the subscriptions; advertisement charges etc but shall submit all accounts to the Treasurer at the end of the year. He shall also transfer any surplus funds to the Treasurer and funds so transferred shall be placed in a separate Journal fixed deposit - the IJM fund – and may be used only for running of the journal, if required and if approved by the CC.  

The officers concerned particularly the General Secretary and the Treasurer shall maintain all routine correspondence and records of the Association for at least 10 years. For this purpose, they shall be allowed to have computerized facilities. Records of permanent or historical value or exchange material shall be preserved both on paper and floppies/CD's at the permanent location of the Association. All records held by the various officers and equipment purchased out of the Association funds shall be transferred to the successor, as and when an officer demits his/her office.

Any dispute arising in relation to the interpretation of these rules and regulations or with regard to any matter, for which no provision is made herein, the decision of the CC shall be final. Such decisions of the CC shall however be placed before the GB, which only will have the right to modify or reverse the decision of the CC.

These rules of the Association can be altered only by the GB. No alteration shall be made unless two thirds of those voting at the GB meetings are in its favour.

•  Procedure for rule change: Any changes in these rules, suggested by a member shall first be scrutinized by the CC. If found acceptable, the General Secretary shall send the proposal to all the Life members and to units of the association for their comments. The various unit secretaries, on receipt of the proposal, shall convene a general body meeting of the unit and examine the proposal. The units will then inform the General Secretary about their decision in writing within 30 days after receipt of the communication from the General Secretary. If any unit does not respond, it will be presumed that they have no objection to the proposal.
The General Secretary shall then consolidate all comments received from the Units and place the same for consideration by the CC and then at the next GB meetingAny change to these rules and regulations shall be made only by a Majority of 2/3 of members present at the General Body.
The decisions of the GB shall be final and binding and not be subject to any judicial review.

The General Secretary shall then inform all the members about the changes approved either directly or through the units.

All AMI units are entitled to host the conferences of the AMI, which are at present annual. Any unit desiring of hosting the conference shall bring a written commitment to the General body of the Association to that effect. The GB shall examine all requests and decide the unit, which shall organize the next conference.
During the conference, in addition to symposia, keynote lectures, and poster presentations, the GB of the Association shall also meet and carry on business activities. The President of the AMI, who shall deliver his presidential address at the conference, will chair the conference. The Responsibility of holding the conference shall be of the unit, who may be initially supported financially by the Association. The finances given by the Association to the unit shall be deemed to be a loan, which should be returned to the Association soon after the conference is over along with the accounts of the unit audited by a recognized auditor. The loan amount shall be decided by the CC on request from the organizers. The unit will be authorized by the Association to collect funds from the public in addition to the Registration fee from participants. The registration fee will be decided by the organizing committee and the CC of AMI. Any surplus funds at the end of conference shall be shred by the unit and the AMI in a ratio mutually acceptable. Submission of accounts to the Donor Agencies after the conference shall be the responsibility of the Organizing unit and this shall be done at the earliest so that the next unit authorized by the GB to hold the conference, is able to obtain assistance.The dates and program of the conference shall be decided by mutual consent between the CC of AMI and the Organizing Committee.

The association on approval by the GB of AMI shall accept institution of awards to be given preferably to the Members of the Association. The awards shall be called AMI-X Award, if the award is instituted by any donor (X). Otherwise they shall be called as AMI Awards. Each Award shall be instituted with a capital fund placed in a separate FD in a Nationalized Bank by the Treasurer and shall be named as AMI- X- fund (example, AMI – Vyas Memorial Fund). The Treasurer shall maintain a separate file for the operation of each fund. The interest accrued in each deposit shall only be used for the distribution of the award and the capital shall not be disturbed under any circumstances.
If the award is not given for any reason, the interest meant for the award shall be put back with the capital in the FD. In order to make the awards grow in size with time, except the Young Scientist Awards, the awards will be either, biannual, triennial or quadrennial as decided by the GB. The size of the award may be changed once in 10 years depending on the growth of the capital in each fund. The association, on recommendation of the GB may however increase the size of the awards before 10 years if the Capital Fund is enhanced by any funds collected specifically for that purpose.
For any rules not made herein with regard to the Awards, the decision of the Central Council and the General Body shall be final and not be subject to any judicial review.

All Awards are to be given away only at the GB meetings of the Association. The amount for each award may vary depending on the size of the capital. This may be changed from time to time by the GB on the recommendation of the CC.
All members of the association except the current CC members, are eligible for being nominated for the awards within the given specific guidelines.
The General Secretary shall inform all members of the Association regarding the availability of the Awards during the year and the size of the awards, and call for nominations in the first circular of the annual AMI conference with appropriate deadlines for submission.

•  AMI-Prof. S.R. Vyas Memorial Award (Biannual): The award will be given once in TWO Years out of the interest accrued in the AMI-Prof. S.R. Vyas Memorial Fund.The size of the award will be decided by the Central Council from time to time depending on the funds available for the purpose but shall not be less than Rs. 10,000 in cash and a citation.
The nominee should be above the age of 50 years, a member of the Association of long standing (at least 10 years) and should have contributed significantly for the development of Microbiology in India or abroad as demonstrated by his work and publications.
Following the announcement of the award, any AMI member can nominate a person to the General Secretary of the association within the time limit specified.
The General Secretary shall then consolidate the list and inform the President, who shall then in consultation  with the General Secretary, constitute a committee of 3 eminent persons in consultation with General Secretary to scrutinize the candidate's merit and report back to the General Secretary directly.
The majority decision shall be communicated to the Central Council by the GS and the result will be communicated to the awardee at least one month before the date of the General Body meeting.
The awardee shall present himself / herself at the General Body meeting, make a brief presentation of his/her work and receive the award. The award shall not be given in absentia under any circumstances and there shall be no minimum number of names to be considered for this award.

•  AMI-Alembic award (Triennial):

The AMI-Alembic award is open preferably to all AMI members of at least 10 years standing and who have contributed significantly to any area of Microbiology and shall be given out of the interest accrued in the AMI- Alembic Award fund. The applicant should be below the age of 45 years and must have done most of work, which he/she submits, preferably in India. The award will be given away once in 3 years and will include cash and a citation. Other rules as under 21 above shall apply.

•  AMI-Dr. G. B. Manjrekar award (Biannual):

The AMI-Manjrekar award is open to all AMI members and will be given out of the interest accrued in the AMI- Manjrekar award fund.
Applicants should be below the age of 60 years and should be a member of the AMI for at least 10 years continuous standing and have contributed significantly to Industrial Microbiology, preferably in India
The award shall be given away once in 2 years and will include cash and a citation. Other rules prescribed under Rule 21 shall apply.

•  AMI-Louis Pasteur Award (Triennial): The AMI-Louis Pasteur award is open to all AMI members and shall be given out of the interest accrued in the AMI-Pasteur Award fund. Applicants should be below the age of 60 years and preferably a member of  AMI FOR AT LEAST 10 years continuous standing and should have contributed significantly to the areas of Fermentation or Medical Microbiology preferably in India.
The award shall be given once in 3 (three) years and will include cash and a citation.

  Other rules prescribed under Rule 21 shall apply.

•  AMI Young Scientist awards (Annual)

The Association shall give out one award each in Agriculture, Industrial, Medical & Veterinary, Molecular, Dairy & food and Environmental Microbiology to young Microbiologists of India. The awards will be given out of the interest accrued in the Funds in AMI-Young Scientists awards and the size of the awards will be determined by the Central Council.
Applicants should be of less than 35 years of age and must have demonstrated their capacity as Microbiologists and should be member of the Association at the time of applying for the award.
The awards will be Annual and each will include cash of Rs. 2000/- and a citation. The awards will be given away at the plenary session of the AMI conferences. The awardees will be required to make a brief presentation of the work for which they are rewarded.

•  AMI-Dr. Rana Memorial Best Poster Award (Annual):
This award shall be given to the Best Poster paper presented at the AMI conference. All posters presented at the conference are entitled to compete. The award shall consist of a cash award of Rs. 2000/- given out of the interest accrued from the Dr. R. S. Rana memorial Best Poster award fund and a citation. The procedure for selection shall involve review of the various posters by a selection committee approved by the organizers and the CC, whose decision will be final.

•  AMI-Prof. J. V. Bhat award for the Best paper  published in IJM (Annual):
All papers published in the Indian Journal of Microbiology during preceding two years shall be considered for the award. The award shall be given out of the interest accrued in the Prof. J. V. Bhat- AMI Best paper published award fund and will consist of a cash award of Rs. 3000/- and a citation.
For selecting the awardee, the General Secretary shall obtain copies of the journal from the Editor – in – Chief and send the same to one or two eminent Microbiologists, who shall review and report back to the General Secretary the paper that deserves to be honoured. The decision of the referee shall be final. However, should in the opinion of the referee(s) there is no paper worth honoring, the Secretary may then send the Journals to another referee, whose decision shall be final.
Once the process of selection is over, the General Secretary shall obtain the concurrence of the President and shall inform the first author who shall be present at the next GB of the Association to receive the award.
Since the Journal is open to all to publish their papers, there shall be no restriction for being a member of the Association.

The AMI shall institute, when adequate funds are available, travel grants to enable young postgraduate students who are members of AMI to attend and participate in AMI conferences.
All post graduate students in Microbiology (to be certified by the HOD), who have their papers accepted for presentation at the AMI conference and coming from a distance beyond 500 km shall be eligible. The travel grants shall cover II class Railway fares by the shortest route. The funds for this shall come from interest from funds earmarked for this purpose. The number of travel grants available will depend on the funds available and the Treasurer, based on regional distribution, shall make selection. Priority will be given to those coming from the most distant place. Those interested in utilizing this facility should inform the General Secretary of AMI soon after their paper is accepted at the conference, along with a copy of the paper and the acceptance letter.