Membership
Frequently Asked Questions
WHAT ARE THE REQUIREMENTS FOR PROFESSIONAL MEMBERSHIP OF THE IAQM?
Associate Members work in the air quality field and have less than 4-years’ full-time equivalent experience.
Full Members of IAQM are expected to have, as a minimum, an undergraduate degree and 4-years’ full-time ambient and/or indoor air quality work experience, or equivalent.
Candidates whose roles are only partially on air quality management will need to indicate on their application form how much of their working week, on average, is spent working on air quality management work.
There are a number of core air quality management skills listed below. Members of the IAQM should have awareness of all of these, in-depth knowledge in several, and practical experience of applying this knowledge. Practical experience may be acquired through work in air quality, odour and/or dust.
Assessment methodologies | Air chemistry | Dispersion | Emission abatement | Emission sources/source apportionment | Meteorology/atmospheric physics | Modelling | Monitoring | Policy | Regulation
There are no specialist air quality management undergraduate degrees offered in the UK, and therefore air quality management practitioners hold a wide range of degrees. Typically, their degrees are in science, engineering, maths or geography (sometimes with a module in air quality). The Membership Sub-Committee determine the relevance of your studies to the field
The Sub-Committee will also decide on the equivalence of any postgraduate degrees to work experience, and the equivalence of work experience to an undergraduate degree on a case-by-case basis. The Candidate is responsible for providing sufficient evidence to enable the Membership entry requirement to be reduced.
How will my postgraduate degree contribute towards experience?
MSC: May be equivalent to 1-year's work experience, depending on course content. For example, an MSc awarded following a course in Air Quality Management accredited by IAQM would be equivalent to working for one year. Other courses with no or a single air quality module would not count towards the work experience. Candidates will need to show that their course had sufficient air quality management content to justify reducing the 4-years’ work experience requirement.
PhD: May be equivalent of up to 2-years' work experience, depending on the relevance of the research to air quality management. Candidates will need to demonstrate which of the core Air Quality Management skills listed above they have gained experience during their research and/or the courses.
I have a degree but it is not listed by the IES as a relevant degree title, can I still apply?
I have no degree, can I still apply for membership?
How long will the application take?
Fellowship
What is the criteria for IAQM Fellowship?
The applicant is expected to be a member of the Institute for Air Quality Management for a minimum of two years and to provide three references in support of the application. A short curriculum vitae should be provided.
To help objective decision making, the IAQM asks applicants when applying to cite three outstanding activities with which the applicant has been involved. These can be in any of the four areas: (1) academic, (2) business, (3) NGO or (4) public sector. The IAQM does not favour any of these areas of air quality management. The cited outstanding activities can be in one or more area depending on the applicant’s experience.
For each of the activities used to demonstrate Fellowship qualities, the applicant should explain his or her role under the headings influence, promotion, development and expertise. In other words, the applicant should explain for each activity:
- who have they influenced to benefit air quality management, and for how long;
- the ways in which the applicant’s involvement promoted good air quality management;
- the ways in which the applicant’s involvement developed air quality management practice; and
- the applicant’s area(s) of expertise, which demonstrates the distinctiveness of the candidate.
The applicant will, therefore, have provided examples of 12 achievements in relation to specific activities which demonstrate air quality management excellence. Each example will be scored out of 4
1 = Insufficient evidence
2 = Some evidence
3 = Good evidence
4 = Excellent evidence
The maximum score will be 48 and those candidates who score more than 36 will be accepted as an IAQM Fellow.
What are examples of excellence for Fellowship?
To help applicants choose the kind of activity which they would like to cite as examples of excellence, a list of example achievements is given below which the Application Review Panel may consider during a Fellowship application.
Academic:
- Pioneered new research in the air quality field.
- Published a large number of significant papers, books etc.
- Have the respect of and influence over the atmospheric science and wider community.
- Contributed to the furthering of knowledge and education within the air quality field.
- Had an advisory role on a regional to an international scale.
Business:
- Outstanding contribution to improving air quality.
- Demonstrated leadership and best practice within the air quality sector.
- Led teams working on high profile projects.
- Had an advisory role on a regional to an international scale.
- Have generated or developed innovative new air quality management technologies.
NGO:
- Have developed national air quality projects.
- Actively sought out areas in need of air quality assistance not covered by governmental bodies.
- Developed the air quality profile of a project to be influential on a national or international scale.
Public Sector:
- Have attained a position of seniority relating to air quality in an influential public sector body.
- Initiated an innovative air quality project that has led to a positive impact on policy.