IMU International Mathematical Union

Bulletin no 41, April 1998

Report About the Current State of Preparations for the International Congress of Mathematicians 1998 Berlin, Germany, August 18-27, 1998

  1. ICM'98 Organizing Committee and VICM
  2. Opening Ceremony
  3. Local Arrangements
  4. Sponsoring and Finance
  5. Support of Mathematicians from Eastern Europe and from Developing Countries
  6. Public Relations
  7. Special Conferences Around ICM'98
  8. Scientific Program
  9. Other Events for the General Public
  10. Social Program
  11. Publications
  12. Fees
  13. General Assembly

Detailed information about the plans and the state of preparation can be found on the ICM'98 WWW-server: http://elib.zib.de/ICM98.

This report is an updated short summary as of March, 1998. The ICM'98 Organizing Committee provides an e-mail service distributing more complete information about ICM'98 in form of Circular Letters (CL) to all persons that have requested the Second Announcement. A request form is available under the above WWW-address.

1. ICM'98 Organizing Committee and VICM

The board of directors consists of :
President: M. Grötschel (ZIB Berlin)
Vice President: M. Aigner (FU Berlin)
Honorary President: F. Hirzebruch (MPI Bonn)
Treasurer: J. Sprekels (WIAS Berlin)
Secretary General: J. Winkler (TU Berlin)
The ICM'98-server contains the list of all other colleagues currently involved in the organization. Here we only mention two further positions of general interest:
Local Arrangements Chair: R. Möhring (TU Berlin)
Local Scientific Committee Chair: M. Pohst (TU Berlin)
The International Congress is formally organized by the "Verein zur Durchführung des International Congress of Mathematicians 1998" (VICM) that has been legally established and has the right to accept tax deductible donations etc. so that sponsors can take full advantage of their donations to the organization of ICM'98.

2. Opening Ceremony

 The Opening Ceremony on August 18, 1998 will take place at the International Congress Center (ICC). Words of welcome will be delivered by the IMU president, the president and honorary president of the ICM'98 Organizing Committee, the DMV president, the Federal Minister of Science and Technology, the Governing Mayor of Berlin, the Secretary of State of the President of Germany, and the President of the TU Berlin. The ICM'98 special stamp will be presented, a short film about Berlin will be shown, and the Fields Medals and Nevanlinna Prize will be awarded. TV will be present. In the afternoon, also at ICC, the laudationes on the prize winners will be given. The first plenary lecture will be presented by J. Moser.

3. Local Arrangements

 From August 19 on, the congress (including local registration) will take place at the Technische Universität (TU). All necessary rooms have been reserved and technical equipment is available. All Congress sites are ready for ICM'98. Book and software exhibitions have been arranged. A number of evening activities and events for the general public will also be in the Urania building,

3.1. Professional Congress Organization Company

The ICM'98 Organizing Committee has selected DER Congress as the congress organization company to support the ICM organization. In particular, DER Congress handles registrations, runs the accommodation service (hotels with rates ranging from 75 DM to 360 DM as well as low-budget private accommodations are available), and offers tours to sites of touristic interest.

3.2 Registration

Registration Forms are available on the WWW or in print. They may be sent to DER Congress via WWW, by fax, or by surface mail. It is also possible to send only non-confidential information over WWW and to fax confidential parts.

If an invitation letter is required by a participant for obtaining financial support or a visa this can be marked on the Registration Form.

4. Sponsoring and Finance

The total budget of ICM'98 will be approximately 3,000,000 DM. About 600,000 DM have been reserved for the support programs.

The most important sponsors of ICM'98 are the Bundesministerium für Bildung, Wissenschaft, Forschung und Technologie (BMBF) with 700,000 DM and the City of Berlin with 600,000 DM. A list of sponsors can be found on the ICM'98 server.

5. Support of Mathematicians from Eastern Europe and from Developing Countries

IMU and the Organizing Committee are making strong efforts to ensure ICM'98 participation of mathematicians coming from countries with small financial basis. In particular, IMU and the local organization have established three different support programs for For all three programs the deadline for application was January 1, 1998. All applicants will be informed about the result immediately after May 1, 1998.

6. Public Relations

 To promote ICM'98 and mathematics in general several public relations activities have been initiated in newspapers and television.

A series of four articles on mathematics was published in the high-standard German weekly "Die Zeit", and a series of ICM-Specials has been started in the "Mitteilungen der Deutschen Mathematiker-Vereinigung" (comparable to the AMS Notices).

A summary of the opening ceremonies will be broadcast in the evening news of the ARD and of "Sender Freies Berlin". A ninety-minute program on ICM'98 and mathematics is planned for ARTE. Several TV evening programs and TV science magazines will show reports on special topics.

A series of press items on ICM'98 will be published by the press agency of TU-Berlin, the first has already appeared in January 1998. Special preparations have been made for the timely announcement of The Fields Medallists and Nevannlina Price winner. A press conference is scheduled for Monday, August 17, 11 a.m.

To further advertise ICM'98 and mathematics in Berlin itself several events for the general public will be staged in the Urania.

7. Special Conferences Around ICM'98

The list of "satellite conferences" currently includes 35 events. We maintain a special homepage in the ICM'98 server where detailed information can be found.

8. Scientific Program

8.1. Invited Program

The invitation process as well as the scheduling of the presentations has been completed for all Invited Speakers. The list of speakers as well as the final program have been announced in circular letters CL-19 and CL-23. This information is also available on the ICM'98 server. In total there will be 21 Plenary Lectures and 163 Invited Presentations in 18 sections.

8.2. Section of Special Activities

In accordance with the Program Committee and the IMU Executive Committee a Section of Special Activities will be organized in addition to the sections of the official scientific program. This section will house several topics that have been brought to the attention of the Organizing Committee. In particular there will be: The Deutsche Mathematiker-Vereinigung (DMV) will present an exhibition on the suppression and expulsion of mathematicians from the Berlin universities by the Nazis. There will also be lectures concerning the impact of the Nazi regime on mathematics.

8.3 Short Communications and Posters

Since the mid of January abstracts for Short Communications and Posters can be submitted electronically by means of a WWW-form or by e-mail as well as in print. The deadline for submission of abstracts is May 1, 1998. Abstracts are being checked for proper content by the Local Scientific Committee before authors are being informed about acceptance. Before and during the congress it is possible to reserve rooms for Organized Sessions and Informal Seminars by contacting the chair of the Local Arrangements Committee. If the request is received before May 1, 1998, the sessions will also be announced in the final program, after a review by the Local Scientific Committee.

9. Other Events for the General Public

 The first highlight will be a talk by Andrew Wiles on the development of number theory during the last twenty years in the Audi Max of the Technical University in the evening of Wednesday, August 19, 1998.

Afterwards our major focus for events for the general public is the Urania in Berlin. The Urania foundation is a well-established organization, founded by, among others, Werner von Siemens, other industrialists, and famous scientists more than 100 years ago in order to popularize scientific research (in a broad sense). The Urania building is closed during summer and we have rented the place for the time of the conference. The management of Urania is willing to support us by advertising the events that will take place during the conference through its well-established channels.

The following events will be staged in the Urania from Thursday, August 20, to Friday, August 28, 1998.

Talks About Mathematics and its Relations to Other Subjects. About ten talks (partially in German) by prominent mathematicians, philosophers, musicians, artists, novelists, and journalists will highlight the impact of mathematics on society today.

The VideoMath Festival . A call for submission of short high-quality videos on mathematical topics has been issued in CL-20. Deadline for submissions is April 3, 1998. A program committee will select and combine the submissions into one or two films of about two hours length that will be shown in the movie theater of the Urania every day. The program will be complemented by a selection of (documentary) films about mathematics and/or prominent mathematicians.

Exhibitions. Besides an exhibition on "Mathematics and Ceramics" and an exhibition of stone sculptures of Klaus Becker the central exhibition is "Mathematik zum Anfassen" (Hands-on Mathematics). "Mathematik zum Anfassen" is organized in cooperation with the Deutsches Museum in Munich and will show several mathematical models and related objects. Detailed explanations and guided tours for school classes will help to make this also a major attraction for teachers and pupils. In order to advertise these events in schools we are currently initiating a drawing contest for pupils. The winners of the contest will be honored in the Urania and their work will be exhibited.

At TU Berlin the exhibition "Kolloquiumsplakate" (Colloquium Posters) by Karl Heinrich Hofmann will be shown in the library of the mathematics building. The location of the exhibition "Mathematik in der Kunst" (Mathematics in the Arts) organized by Dietmar Guderian will be announced soon.

Music Events. On Sunday, August 23, there will be a Matinee in the Urania consisting of two concerts, starting at 10:30 am and 12:00 am, respectively. For the evening we have reserved half of the tickets of "Die Zauberflöte" (Magic Flute) in the Deutsche Oper for participants of ICM'98.

10. Social Program

After the opening session a complimentary lunch buffet will be offered to all participants. It will be served in the International Congress Center (ICC). A (complimentary) ICM'98 party will be staged in the evening of Wednesday, August 26, on the campus of the TU.

Besides the official (non complimentary) tourist program of DER Congress several Berlin mathematicians, their friends and spouses have volunteered to offer informal tours of Berlin in order to convey some of the many facets of Berlin to the ICM'98 participants, and in particular to accompanying persons. These "Footloose Tours" will be free of charge (except for possible entrance fees and transportation costs) and will include visits to special museums, sights, and shopping streets as well as an organ recital in the cathedral of Berlin.

11. Publications

11.1 Announcements

Since the end of August 1997 roughly 25000 printed copies of the First Announcement have been distributed all over the world. Furthermore the First Announcement was published electronically on many scientific and news networks. All mathematicians were encouraged to request the Second Announcement by submitting an electronic or printed request form. Till today about 5400 requests have arrived, most of them also requested to be added to the e-mail distribution list of ICM'98 Circular Letters. Distribution of the Second Announcement started on January 12, 1998. On that day roughly 6000 copies were posted. We would like to thank the AMS for publishing a text version of the Second Announcement in the AMS notices. There will be no third announcement, all further information will be made public by means of the WWW-server or e-mail Circular Letters.

11.2. Abstracts and Proceedings Volumes

At on site registration each participant will receive the program, an abstracts volume, and volumes II and III of the Proceedings that contain the papers of Invited Section Speakers. These three will be available electronically shortly before the congress. Volume I of the Proceedings will contain the speeches given at the Opening Ceremony, including the laudationes on the Prize Winners, and the report on the Congress, as well as the papers of the Plenary Speakers and will be distributed shortly after the Congress. The Proceedings will be published electronically and on paper as a volume of Documenta Mathematica, the electronic journal of the Deutsche Mathematiker-Vereinigung (DMV). It will be available on the book market via AMS.

11.3. The Berlin Intelligencer and Daily News

The Mitteilungen of the Deutsche Mathematiker-Vereinigung (DMV) and Springer-Verlag Berlin/Heidelberg will together prepare, publish, and present to all participants a magazine called the "Berlin Intelligencer", which is meant to welcome participants to Berlin and to ICM'98 as well as to guide participants' visit to Berlin and to some of its manifold aspects and attractions.

A newsletter containing program changes, announcements of informal seminars and information of general interest to ICM'98 participants will be available each day at the TU conference office.

12. Fees

Registration Until May 1, 1998 After May 1, 1998
Full registration feeDM 450,-DM 600,-
Students *DM 200,-DM 350,-
*Registration as a student requires an official certificate of the university to be attached.

The registration fee includes a registration package (a bag, the congress badge, the program, an abstract book), the Proceedings of the Congress (except for students), a free public transportation ticket for the duration of the Congress (August 17--27, 1998), the Lunch Buffet at the Opening Ceremony, and the ICM'98-Party.

13. General Assembly

The IMU General Assembly will take place in Dresden on August 15 and 16 at Hotel Bellevue.

V. Nollau (TU Dresden) and his team help with the local organization. The preparations are finished and the program is set. A WWW-server giving detailed and up-to-date information on the General Assembly in Dresden is available at : http://elib.zib.de/IMU/GA-Dresden.

Delegates are expected to arrive on August 14. Complimentary bus transfer to Berlin, including a stop in Meissen, has been arranged for Monday, August 17. The GA program starts on August 15 at 10 a.m. and ends on August 16 at 1 p.m. A boat tour on the river Elbe including a buffet dinner is offered to all delegates and accompanying persons by the State of Saxony in the evening of August 15. Guided tours of Dresden are scheduled for August 16, 3 p.m.

A complimentary concert in the Unterkirche of the Frauenkirche is offered, free of charge, in the evening of August 16.

Berlin, March 11, 1998

Martin Grötschel
President of the ICM'98 Organizing Committee

[previous] [contents] [next] Last modified: Sat Apr 25 04:48:35 1998