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Scientific Committee Meeting Minutes for 2000

Minutes of the Scientific Committee Meeting, School of Mathematics, University of Leeds, held on Tuesday 18 April 2000, 8.30 p.m.

Present:
A Carbery (carbery@maths.ed.ac.uk), EMS
F Clarke (F.Clarke@Swansea.ac.uk), elected at 52nd BMC, Leeds, 2000
R T Curtis (r.t.curtis@bham.ac.uk), 55th BMC, Birmingham, 2003
J P C Greenlees (J.Greenlees@sheffield.ac.uk), LMS
J Howie (j.howie@ma.hw.ac.uk), EMS
H D Macpherson (h.d.macpherson@leeds.ac.uk), 52nd BMC, Leeds, 2000
R W K Odoni (r.odoni@maths.gla.ac.uk), 53rd BMC, Glasgow, 2001 (Chair)
S J Pride (sjp@maths.gla.ac.uk), EMS
G R Robinson (g.r.robinson@bham.ac.uk), 55th BMC, Birmingham, 2003
G P Rourke (cpr@maths.warwick.ac.uk), 54th BMC, Warwick, 2002
A J Scholl (a.j.scholl@durham.ac.uk), LMS
C M Series (cms@maths.warwick.ac.uk), 54th BMC, Warwick, 2002
R J Steiner (r.steiner@maths.gla.ac.uk), 53rd BMC, Glasgow, 2001 (Secretary)
H G Dales (pmt6hgd@leeds.ac.uk), 52nd BMC, Leeds, 2000, attended for items 1-8.

  1. Proposal to co-opt Prof. H. G. Dales to the committee (for today's meeting only)

    This was accepted.
  2. Minutes of 1999 Scientific Committee Meeting in Southampton

    These were approved.
  3. Minutes of Sci. Comm. Meeting, 20 October 1999 in Warwick

    These were approved.
  4. Matters arising

    A working party consisting of H G Dales, J Howie, R W K Odoni, C P Rourke (convener) and A J Scholl was established to consider the future organisation of the BMC. It should report to the Scientific Committee, which should approve proposals for the next Annual General Meeting.

    The LMS Archivist (Norman Biggs) has asked for key BMC documents (minutes, programmes, etc.) to be sent [to] the LMS for storage in De Morgan House.
  5. Report on 52nd BMC in Leeds

    The LMS made a grant of £7000 (£1000 for each special session and £5000 for other purposes). Mathematics Year 2000 made a grant of £1000 for posters and for videos of the plenary lectures. Speakers, research students, organisers of special sessions and organisers of groups were exempted from the registration fee; research students were granted up to £50 for accommodation and travel. The attendance was 345, including attendants at the HoDoMs meeting. There was an extra plenary lecture, by M F Atiyah. Splinter groups were organised in advance more than in recent years. There were satellite conferences on harmonic maps; model theory; regular dynamics; rings and quantum groups; there was also the British Topology Meeting.

    S J Pride commented that the advance organisation of the splinter groups discouraged people from volunteering talks on arrival, but the system was generally approved.

    HoDoMs is reluctant to associate itself with the BMC regularly, because this would associate it with pure mathematics and not applied mathematics.

    The local organisers were congratulated on the success of the colloquium, in particular on the increased attendance.
  6. Progress report on 53rd BMC in Glasgow

    Four plenary speakers have accepted invitations: Henri Berestycki, Michel Broué, Henri Darmon, Clifford Taubes. There will be special sessions on modular forms, organised by A J Baker and S Delbourgo, and on partial differential equations, organised by S Kuksin and S Merkulov. The LMS has made a grant of £9000. HoDoMs has declined an invitation to meet in Glasgow.
  7. Host institutions in 2004 and 2005

    Belfast was accepted as host for 2004 (subject to formal approval at next year's annual general meeting). There was some concern about difficulties in getting to Belfast, and it was suggested that cheap flights might be negotiated. The Irish Mathematical Society has offered £1500, and the Chairman should write to thank them.

    Liverpool has given a formal letter of invitation for 2005, and is also willing to host the BAMC. It was agreed to accept the offer, subject to reconsideration in the light of decisions by the BAMC, and to recommend acceptance at the next annual general meeting unless something unexpected happens.
  8. Special sessions for 54th BMC (Warwick 2002)

    The local organisers are considering combinatorics, dynamical systems, computational mathematics and number theory. The committee gave its approval.

    Borcherds, Fefferman, Knuth, Mazur and Ribet were suggested as possibilities for additional plenary speakers.
  9. Possible UK based morning speakers for Glasgow (2001)

    It was remarked that the lists of previous speakers are inaccurate. There may be improvement if BMC programmes are archived (see item 3).

    The following suggestions were made.

    Logic:
    M. Rathjen (1), A. Wilkie (2), D. Evans (3).

    Geometry and Topology:
    subarea 1: Levi (1), Arone (2);
    subarea 2: Corti (1), Bridgeland (2);
    other subareas: Joyce (*), Roberts (*), J Anderson, Bielawski, Nikulin, Whitehouse.

    Analysis:
    Bournaveas (1=), Kozlowski (1=), I Leader (3), K Ball (4=), P Macmanus (4=), A Epstein, T Körner, S Pott.

    Number theory:
    Buzzard (1), Snaith (2), Heath Brown (3), Nekovar (4), MacQuillan (5).

    Algebra:
    subarea 1: Graham (1), Grojnowski (2), S. Koenig (3);
    subarea 2: 1 Leary (1), T Brady (2), M Dunwoody, G Niblo;
    other subareas: S Majid, C Parker, J Wilson.
    History: D Fowler, R Wilson.

    Theoretical computer science:
    M Jerrum, U Martin.

    Combinatorics:
    S Blackburn, K Edwards, J Siemons.
  10. Any other business

    There was none.
Minutes unsigned and undated.