Charter | 台灣女科技人學會

Charter of Taiwan Women in Science and Technology

Approved at the First General Assembly of the 8th Term on November 23, 2025

Chapter I General Provisions

Article 1

The name of this association is the Taiwan Women in Science and Technology Society, or TWiST for short (hereinafter referred to as the Association).

Article 2

The Association is a non-profit social organization established in accordance with the law. Its purpose is to encourage and cultivate women's participation in the field of science and technology; to promote and enhance the growth of women in the field of science and technology; to establish a network of communication, experience inheritance and mutual support among women in science and technology; and to establish connections and exchanges with relevant international fields and groups.

Article 3

The Association is organized based on the administrative regions of the country.

Article 4

The headquarters of the Association shall be located in the area where the competent authority is located, and branches may be established with the approval of the competent authority.
The organizational charter of the branch referred to in the preceding paragraph shall be drafted by the Board of Directors and submitted to the competent authority for approval before implementation.

The addresses of the headquarters and branches shall be reported to the competent authority for approval when they are established or changed.

Article 5

The mission of the Association is as follows:
1. Organize seminars related to issues concerning women in science and technology from time to time.
2. Assist young women to enter the field of science and technology.
3. Promote cross-field cooperation among members.
4. Promote the improvement of work and family-friendly environment for working women.

5. Enhance women’s leadership in science and technology.
6. Organize other activities related to the purpose of the Association.

Article 6

The competent authority of this Association is the Ministry of the Interior, and its target businesses shall be guided and supervised by the competent authorities of the respective industries.

第二章會員

Article 7

The qualifications for applying for membership of the Association are as follows:

1. Individual members: Anyone who agrees with the purpose of the association, is 20 years old or above, and is engaged in the field of science and technology.

2. Group members: Any scientific and technological organization that agrees with the purpose of the Association and is willing to work hard to promote related work shall nominate one member representative.

3. Sponsored members: Any general public who agrees with the purpose of the Association and sponsors the Association with an annual fixed amount of more than NT$10,000 or a one-time sponsorship of more than NT$100,000 shall be a sponsored member of the Association.

4. Prospective members: Anyone who agrees with the purpose of the association and is under the age of 20.

When applying for membership, you must be recommended by two members, pay membership dues, and fill out the membership application form. You can only become a member after being approved by the board of directors.

Article 8

Membership eligibility is as follows:

Individual Members (General Members): Individuals who support TWiST’s mission and have graduated from a science- or technology-related department at a university or independent college in Taiwan or abroad, or who work in a science- or technology-related field.
Institutional Members: Science and technology organizations that support TWiST’s mission and are willing to promote related work. Each organization shall appoint one representative.
Supporting Members: Members of the general public who support TWiST’s mission and contribute at least NT$10,000 annually or NT$100,000 in a single donation.
Student Members: Undergraduate students enrolled at a university or independent college in Taiwan or abroad who support TWiST’s mission.
Life Members: New general members who pay ten years of annual dues in a lump sum, or general members who have paid annual dues for 12 consecutive years. Life members are thereafter exempt from annual dues.

Applicants must be recommended by two members, pay the applicable fees and dues, and submit a membership application. Membership takes effect upon approval by the Board of Directors.

Article 9

Individual members (general and life members) have the right to vote, to elect, to stand for election, and to recall elected officers. Each member has one vote. Supporting members, institutional members, and student members do not have the right to vote, to elect, to stand for election, or to recall elected officers.

Article 10

Members are obligated to comply with TWiST’s Charter and resolutions and to pay membership dues. Members who have not paid dues may not exercise membership rights. Members who fail to pay dues for two consecutive years and wish to resume participation in TWiST affairs must pay the admission fee and annual dues again.

Upon approval by the Board of Directors, a life member who neither attends nor appoints a representative to attend the General Assembly for two consecutive years will have the membership rights specified in Article 9 suspended. When the member again attends or appoints a representative to attend a General Assembly, those rights may be reinstated following review and approval by the Board of Directors.

Article 11

If a member (member representative) violates the law, the charter or fails to comply with the resolution of the general meeting of members, he/she may be given a warning or suspended by the resolution of the board of directors. If the situation is seriously harmful to the group, he/she may be expelled by the resolution of the general meeting of members.

Article 12

A member shall be deemed to have left the club if he/she has any of the following circumstances:

1. Loss of membership status.

2. Those who are expelled by resolution of the general meeting of members.

Article 13

Members may withdraw from the Association by stating the reasons in writing.

Chapter III Organization and Powers

Article 14

The General Assembly is the highest governing body of TWiST. When the number of members exceeds 300, member representatives may be elected proportionally by region, and a Representative General Assembly may be convened to exercise the powers of the General Assembly. Member representatives serve two-year terms. The number of representatives and the election procedures shall be drafted by the Board of Directors and submitted to the competent authority for approval before implementation.

Article 15

The powers of the general meeting are as follows:
1. Establish and amend the Articles of Association.
2. Elect and remove directors and supervisors.
3. Decide on the amount and method of annual fees.
4. Decide on the annual work plan, report, budget and final accounts.
5. Decide on the expulsion of members (member representatives).
6. Decide on the disposition of property.
7. Decide on the dissolution of the Association.
8. Decide on other important matters related to the rights and obligations of members.
The scope of major matters in Subparagraph 8 of the preceding paragraph shall be determined by the Board of Directors.

Article 16

The Association shall have 15 directors and 5 supervisors, who shall be elected by the members to form the Board of Directors and the Board of Supervisors respectively.

When electing the directors and supervisors referred to in the preceding paragraph, three alternate directors and one alternate supervisor may be elected simultaneously based on the vote count. In case of vacancies in the positions of directors and supervisors, they shall be filled in order.

Directors and supervisors may be elected by correspondence. The election rules by correspondence shall be implemented after being approved by the board of directors and reported to the competent authority for record.
The current board of directors may propose a list of candidates for the next board of directors and supervisors.

Article 17

The powers of the Board of Directors are as follows:

1. Review the qualifications of members (member representatives).

2. Elect and remove executive directors and the chairman.

3. Decide on the resignation of directors, executive directors and the chairman.

4. Hire and dismiss staff.

5. Prepare annual work plans, reports, budgets, and final accounts.

6. Other matters that should be performed.

Article 18

The Board of Directors shall have three executive directors, who shall be elected by the directors themselves, and the directors shall elect one executive director as the chairman and one vice chairman.

The Chairman shall be responsible for the overall supervision of the Association's internal affairs, represent the Association externally, and serve as the Chairman of the General Meeting of Members and the Board of Directors.

When the Chairman is unable to perform his duties due to personal reasons, he shall designate the Vice Chairman to act as the Chairman. If he fails to designate or cannot designate, the Executive Directors shall elect one person to act as the Chairman.

When the position of Chairman, Vice Chairman, or Executive Director is vacant, a by-election shall be held within one month.

Article 19

The powers of the Supervisory Board are as follows:

1. Supervise the execution of the work of the Board of Directors.

2. Review annual financial statements.

3. Election and removal of standing supervisors.

4. Decide on the resignation of Supervisors and Executive Supervisors.

5. Other matters that should be monitored.

Article 20

The Board of Supervisors shall have one executive supervisor who shall be elected by the supervisors to supervise the daily affairs of the Board and serve as the chairman of the Board of Supervisors.

When the Executive Supervisor is unable to perform his duties due to personal reasons, he shall designate a supervisor to act on his behalf. If he fails to designate a supervisor or cannot designate a supervisor, the supervisors shall elect a supervisor to act on his behalf.

In case of vacancy of the Chairman of the Board of Supervisors (Executive Supervisor), a by-election shall be held within one month.

Article 21

The directors and supervisors are all unpaid and serve a two-year term. They may be re-elected. The chairman of the board of directors may be re-elected only once. The term of office of directors and supervisors shall be calculated from the date of the first board of directors meeting of the current term.

Article 22

If a director or supervisor has any of the following circumstances, he or she shall be dismissed immediately:

1. Loss of membership (member representative) status.

2. Resignation for some reason as approved by the board of directors or the board of supervisors.

3. Those who have been dismissed or removed from office.

4. The suspension period exceeds one half of the term.

Article 23

The Association shall have a Secretary-General who shall handle the affairs of the Association under the orders of the Chairman. Other staff members shall be nominated by the Chairman, appointed and dismissed by the Board of Directors, and reported to the competent authority for record.

The staff referred to in the preceding paragraph shall not be directors or supervisors.

The rights and responsibilities of staff members and the division of responsibilities shall be determined by the Board of Directors.

Article 24

The Association may establish various committees, groups or other internal working organizations. Their organizational charters shall be implemented after being approved by the Board of Directors, and the same applies to any changes.

Article 25

本會得由理事會聘請名譽理事長一人，名譽理事、顧問若干人，其聘期與理事、監事之任期同。

Chapter 4 Meetings

Article 26

The general meeting of members (members' representatives) is divided into regular meetings and ad hoc meetings. They are convened by the chairman of the board of directors. When convening a meeting, written notice shall be given 15 days in advance, except for ad hoc meetings for emergencies.

Regular meetings are held once a year, and ad hoc meetings are held when the board of directors deems it necessary, or upon the request of more than one-fifth of the members (member representatives), or when the board of supervisors writes to convene a meeting.

After the association completes the legal person registration, an ad hoc meeting may be convened upon the request of more than one-tenth of the members (member representatives).

Article 27

When a member is unable to attend the general meeting in person, he or she may authorize another member (member representative) to act on his or her behalf in writing. Each member (member representative) may only act as a proxy for one person.

Article 28

The resolutions of the general meeting of members (member representatives) shall be implemented by the attendance of more than half of the members (member representatives), and the majority of the attendees shall be approved. However, the resolutions of the following matters shall be implemented by the approval of more than two-thirds of the attendees.

1. Establishment and amendment of the Articles of Incorporation.

2. Expulsion of members (member representatives).

3. Dismissal of directors and supervisors.

4. Disposal of property.

5. Dissolution of the Association.

6. Other important matters related to the rights and obligations of members.

After the association has completed the legal person registration, any amendment to the Articles of Association shall be made with the consent of more than three quarters of the attendees or the written consent of more than two thirds of all members.

The Association may be dissolved at any time by a vote of more than two-thirds of all members.

Article 29

The Board of Directors shall meet once every four months, and the Board of Supervisors shall meet once every four months. Joint meetings or ad hoc meetings may be held when necessary.

When convening a meeting as referred to in the preceding paragraph, except for an ad hoc meeting, a written notice shall be given seven days in advance. The resolution of the meeting shall be made with the attendance of more than half of the directors and supervisors, and the consent of the larger number of attendees.

Article 30

Directors shall attend the directors' meeting, and supervisors shall attend the supervisors' meeting. The board of directors and the board of supervisors may not delegate attendance. If a director or supervisor is absent from the board of directors or the board of supervisors for two consecutive times without reason, it shall be deemed as resignation.

Chapter 5 Funding and Accounting

Article 30

The Association’s sources of funding are as follows:

Admission fees, payable upon joining:

Individual Members:
General members: NT$500 per person
Life members: NT$500 per person
Student members: NT$100 per person

Institutional members: No admission fee

Annual membership dues, payable each year:

Individual Members:
General members: NT$1,000 per year

Life Members:
Existing general members become life members after paying annual dues for 12 consecutive years. (Years of student or prospective membership are not included.)
New members may become life members by making a one-time payment of the NT$500 admission fee and NT$10,000 in membership dues.

Institutional members: NT$20,000 per year
Student members: NT$400 per year

Business income
Donations from members
Income from commissioned projects
Funds and interest earned thereon
Other income

Article 31

The accounting year of the Association shall be the calendar year, which shall run from January 1 to December 31 of each year.

Article 32

Two months before the start of the fiscal year, the Board of Directors shall prepare an annual work plan, income and expenditure budget, and employee benefits table, and submit them to the general meeting for approval (if the general meeting cannot be held as scheduled for some reason, it shall be submitted to the joint meeting of directors and supervisors for approval first), and submitted to the competent authority for approval before the start of the fiscal year. Within two months after the end of the fiscal year, the Board of Directors shall prepare an annual work report, income and expenditure statement, cash cashier statement, balance sheet, property catalog and fund income and expenditure table, and submit them to the Supervisory Committee for review, and then prepare a review opinion letter and return it to the Board of Directors, submit it to the general meeting for approval, and submit it to the competent authority for approval before the end of March (if the general meeting cannot be held as scheduled, it shall be submitted to the competent authority first).

Article 34

After the dissolution of the Association, the remaining property shall belong to the local self-governing body or the organization designated by the competent authority.

Chapter VI Supplementary Provisions

Article 35

Matters not specified in this charter shall be handled in accordance with relevant laws and regulations.

第卅五條

This Charter shall be adopted by the general meeting of members (member representatives) and implemented after being approved by the competent authority, and the same shall apply to any changes.

Article 37

This Charter was adopted at the first general meeting of the Association on October 30, 2011.
Approved for record by the Ministry of the Interior’s letter dated January 10, 2012, No. 1000246313.

These Articles of Association were adopted at the Second General Assembly of the 1st Term on September 16, 2012.
Amended at the First General Assembly of the 3rd Term on November 22, 2015.
Amended at the Second General Assembly of the 4th Term on November 3, 2018. (Approved for filing by the Ministry of the Interior on December 12, 2018.)
Amended at the First General Assembly of the 6th Term on December 19, 2021.
Amended at the First General Assembly of the 8th Term on November 23, 2025. (Approved for filing by the Ministry of the Interior on December 12, 2025.)