Dear Colleagues,
1. Please find enclosed the Guidelines for the operation of the Site Committee for ICM-98 and Bids for ICM-98- Requested Information.
2. SPECIAL DEVELOPMENT FUND - The Union is making a major effort to bring as many qualified young mathematicians from developing countries to the International Congress of Mathematicians-98 as possible. For the ICM-94 in Zürich the IMU financed the trip of 78 young mathematicians and the Swiss Organizing Committee kindly cover the local expenses. (See the list in the IMU Bulletin number 37, 1994). We hope to increase this number to 100 or even 120 in 1998. As you may know, the American Mathematical Society, has asked its members to make a donation to the SDF when paying their membership fees. We hope that other societies could consider a similar action. Also, from the start the London Mathematical Society and the Royal Society have made major contributions. Other countries that have been making important contributions to the Fund: Brazil, Finland, Holland, Japan, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland.
Donations to the SDF can be sent at any time and any convertible currency to the following account:
IMU ACCOUNT NUMBER 0862-656208-21
SCHWEIZERICHE KREDITANSTALT
STADTFILIALE ZURICH - RIGIPLATZ
UNIVERSITATSTRASSE 105
CH-8033 - ZURICH - SWITZERLAND
3. I am also enclosing the Procedures for the Election of the Executive Committee of IMU, as well as those of ICMI and CDE, following the Resolution 6 of the last General Assembly upon discussions at the Executive Committee. Your comments are very welcome..
Thank you very much for your cooperation,
Sincerely Yours,
Jacob Palis Secretary of IMU
Procedures for the Election of the Executive Committee of IMU 1998
1. Not less than a year before the meeting of the G.A., the E.C. shall request proposals for the membership of the E.C. from the National Committees for Mathematics, to be considered before the meeting of the E.C. in the spring before the Assembly. The E.C. shall then draw up its own list of nominations, making certain that each candidate is willing to serve if elected. The slate should be mailed to the National Committees at least three months before the G.A., together with background on the candidates, their fields and countries/geographic areas.
2. After the slate drawn by the EC is known, the National Committees can make further proposals of names specifically for the offices of President, Secretary, Vice-President, and Members at large. These proposals shall reach the Secretary not less than one month before the G.A. The same information as above concerning the nominees, including their willingness to serve if elected, should be provided. The Secretary will inform all National Committees of these last proposals before the G.A. The National Committees are asked to cooperate in having their delegates to the G.A. fully informed.
3. Further nominations may be made in writing before the last session on the first day of activities of the G.A. provided that they are signed by at least ten delegates and convey the same information as in items (1) and (2) above.
4. On the first day of the meeting, the General Assembly shall appoint a Nominating Committee consisting of:
a) the President (chairman),
b) all Past Presidents who are present (ex-officio),
c) eight further delegates.
Election to (c) shall be from names either proposed by the President or proposed and seconded from the floor; and shall be by show of hands unless the meeting decides otherwise.
5. The Nominating Committee shall propose a slate from the nominations made under (1), (2) and (3) above and shall make it known to the meeting.
6. The General Assembly shall then elect the new President, Vice-President, Secretay and members at large by written ballots.
The voting slips shall contain all the names nominated under (5) and (3) (unless a candidate withdraws), but no others. A vote shall be invalid if more names are marked in any category than the number of places to be filled (i.e., one each for President and Secretary, two for Vice-Presidents and five for Members at large). A candidate for President or Secretary may be elected only if unopposed or if he or she obtains a majority of the votes cast. If the first ballot is indecisive, there shall be a second ballot. In the ballots for the Vice-Presidents and Members at large, the two or five candidates respectively who obtain the largest numbers of votes shall be elected. In the event of a tie, the President shall decide.
Note: Statute (9) provides (inter alia) that: ``each delegation shall be free to cast the votes to which it is entitled either as a unit or divided in such a manner as it may determine''.
Procedures for the Election of the Executive Committee of ICMI
The rules for the election of the Executive Committee of ICMI are similar to those for the election of the Executive Committee of IMU with the same Nominating Committee.
The E.C. of IMU shall request proposals for the membership of the E.C. of ICMI from the National Committees for Mathematics and will conduct extensive consultations with the existing Executive Committee of ICMI before proposing slates to the Nominating Committee.
Procedures for the Election of CDE
The rules for the election of the Commission of Development and Exchange are similar to those for the election of the Executive Committees of IMU and ICMI with the same Nominating Committee.
The E.C. of IMU shall request proposals for the membership of CDE from the National Committees for Mathematics and will conduct extensive consultations with the existing CDE before proposing slates to the Nominating Committee.
I C M - 2002
Following the recommendation of the 1990 General Assembly in Kobe, Japan, the Executive Committee has approved the following guidelines for the operation of the Site Committee for ICM-2002.
1. The Site Committee will consist of the members of the Executive Committee and Prof. Martin Groetschel, President of the Organizing Committee of the ICM-1998.
2. All Adhering Organizations are now formally invited to place bids to hold ICM-2002. To be considered by the Site Committee, these bids must be received by the Secretary of IMU by November 30, 1996. The Site Committee will then make its recommendation by May 31, 1997. The recommendation of the Site Committee will immediately afterwards be communicated to all Adhering Organizations.
3. The final decision will be taken by the General Assembly to be held at the middle of August, 1998, just prior to the ICM-98 in Berlin. The General Assembly is free to consider bids placed after November 30, 1996 but the E.C. considers most advisable that the Adhering Organizations comply with the above procedure.
4. While it is impossible to spell out precisely all factors that will influence the final recommendation of the Site Committee, it will take into account the mathematical ambiance, the infrastructure and the economic conditions offered by each bidder , as well as the accessibility of the proposed site and the broad geographical distribution of congresses. All countries interested in making a bid are strongly encouraged to do so.
Notes on what information the Site Committee would like to have for each bid are:
REQUESTED INFORMATION
Among other relevant information that each potential host country may want to supply, the Site Committee wishes to know about the following items:
I. FINANCES
Clearly, costs may vary considerably from country to country. However, according to the reports of the latest ICM'S, a potential host country may consider a budget of about 1.5 million US dollars, of which about 0.5 or 0.6 million US dollars might be raised through registration fees (such fees should be at most about 200 US dollars). Again, these numbers may go up or down according to local costs and facilities. In considering the budget, printing costs of the Proceedings and other material (posters, announcements, summary of invited lectures,...) as well as mailing, deserve special attention. The host country should be prepared to lodge freely about 120 young research mathematicians from developing countries, selected by IMU; they get their trips paid by IMU through its Special Development Fund. Also, in special cases, invited speakers are expected to receive some financial support for attending the meeting when other funds to cover their expenses are not available. Registration fees are waived for invited speakers and the above young research mathematicians from developing countries. On the other hand, is to be noted that there is an IMU subvention to the ICM as well as some provision in its budget to defray costs of the General Assembly Meeting that takes place just before the Congress; for 1998, these sums amount to 106,000 Swiss Frs. and 16,000 Swiss Frs., respectively.
II. INFRASTRUCTURE
It is important that good facilities to hold the Congress are available. All lectures should take place in sizable, well equipped, pleasant and audible rooms. Special attention should be given to the plenary talks.
III. ACCESSIBILITY
The city and site of the Congress should be easily accessible. That is, flight connections from all over the world should be easily available, as well as transportation to the site of the Congress. Lodging facilities constitute an important item.
Finally, it is expected that the local mathematical community gets involved in the preparations of the Congress, so as to create a nice ambiance during the meeting.