ICM98-CL17 (97/11/13): CALL FOR PRESENTATIONS, Mathematical Software Session

E-mail information service of the INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF MATHEMATICIANS Berlin, Germany, August 18 - 27, 1998 Seventeenth Circular Letter Subject: ICM98-CL17: CALL FOR PRESENTATIONS, Mathematical Software Session Dear colleague: The first (tentavive) call for participation in a Session on Mathematical Software at ICM'98, see ICM98-CL13, generated enthusiastic replies from many different groups working on the design and implementation, distribution and sale of mathematical software. Therefore, the ICM'98 Organizing Committee and IMU - consulting various experts in this area - decided to add a session of this type to the ICM'98 program. This session will be part of a newly created "Section of Special Activities", focussing on mathematics related topics of broad interest, not covered by the scientific program determined by the IMU appointed Program Committee. Please find below the CALL FOR PRESENTATIONS. This call will also be distributed via other channels (such as newsgroups, digests, etc.). Sincerely Martin Groetschel President of the ICM98 Organizing Committee ------------------------------------------------------------------------- CALL FOR PRESENTATIONS Mathematical Software Session at the International Congress of Mathematicians 1998 (ICM'98) Berlin (Germany) August 18-27, 1998 The International Congresses of Mathematicians, taking place roughly every four years since 1897, belong to the most important mathematical events in the world. One distinguishing feature, among others, is the award of the Fields Medals and the Nevanlinna Prize (the "mathematical Nobel Prizes") during the opening ceremony. The ICM'98 will take place in Berlin, Germany, from August 18 to 27, 1998. In addition to the scientific program (with plenary and invited speakers chosen by the IMU-appointed ICM'98 Program Committee) a "Section of Special Activities" is planned. One of these activities will be a session on mathematical software, to be held on two afternoons during the congress. The focus of this session will be the presentation of a broad spectrum of mathematical software systems ranging from general purpose systems to specialized systems, e.g., systems from numerical analysis, computer algebra, optimization, mathematical visualization, or mathematical education. The presentations should include typical applications. This session is planned to attract a broad audience: ICM attendees, students, teachers, etc., with a special interest in mathematical software. The session will take place at the conference site of the ICM'98 congress at the Technische Universitaet Berlin. PROGRAM COMMITTEE A program committee for this particular session has been appointed. It will be chaired by Johannes Grabmeier, IBM Germany (speaker of the special interest group for computer algebra of DMV (German Mathematical Society), GAMM and GI) ORGANIZATION Winfried Neun Konrad-Zuse-Zentrum fuer Informationstechnik Berlin, Germany Email: neun@zib.de CALL FOR PRESENTATIONS The systems to be presented should meet the highest standards with respect to mathematical content. Mathematical originality, new solutions, or uncommon fields of application will be highly appreciated. The technical quality in design and implementation is also an important issue. Submissions for the Session on Mathematical Software are encouraged from all fields of mathematics where software systems are used. Systems which are available free of charge (e.g., public domain) are especially invited and clearly preferred when the presentations will be chosen. There will be a software exhibition and a book fair in connection with the ICM'98 congress, too. This may be more suitable for the demands of vendors of commercial software systems. Please contact the chairman of the local arrangements committee, Prof. Rolf H. Moehring, email: moehring@math.tu-berlin.de for details about the exhibition. Talks in which various commercial packages are compared from an independent viewpoint, pointing out particular strengths and weaknesses of the systems, are also sought. The program committee, a group of internationally renowned mathematicians and experts on mathematical software, will evaluate the entries and select a number of contributions according to quality and thematic balance. To facilitate adequate judgement, a submission should include material (either in paper form or an electronically readable format, e.g., an URL) which explains to the committee the mathematical background of the systems, the fields of application and the software design and techniques. SUBMISSIONS Submissions should be sent, preferably by electronic mail, to: ICM'98 -- Session on Math. Software c/o W. Neun Konrad-Zuse-Zentrum (ZIB) Takustr. 7 D-14195 Berlin Germany EMAIL: neun@zib.de and must be received by March 1, 1998 (Deadline for Submission). Submissions that arrive after this deadline will not be considered. Some guidelines that will help the program committee to review the submissions are: 1. For a first glance a URL is usually very helpful. 2. For each system it should be very clear where information about the mathematical content can be found. This is usually not trivial if the submission consists, say, of uncommented pictures. 3. The special features and the targetted user community should be identified. 4. The availability of the software and the terms and conditions for distribution should be easily accessible. The scheduled length of the presentations including discussion is 30 minutes. This allows the organizers to put approx. 12 lectures into the time available for the session. Financial support for presentations is not available. Presenters are required to register for ICM'98. UPON ACCEPTANCE Contributors will be notified of the acceptance or rejection of their submission by the program committee. Based on this selection, the organizing committee will arrange a timetable in cooperation with the contributors of the presentations. Demands for special equipment needed for presentations can be discussed at this time, but the resources will be limited. Therefore, it is not advisable to rely on any special hardware and software support from the session organizers. It is the contributor's responsibility to secure any necessary permissions and licenses for any material contained in his presentation or handouts. The organizers of ICM'98 would appreciate it if the commercial attitude of the system providers were modest. DEADLINES Submission of Presentations March 1, 1998 Notification of Acceptance April 1, 1998 ************************************************************************* This is a message from the ICM'98 e-mail server distributing information about ICM'98 and the International Mathematical Union to all persons who have electronically preregistered for the INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF MATHEMATICIANS 1998 IN BERLIN. More information about ICM'98 can be found on the ICM'98 WWW-server. Its master site in Berlin has the URL: http://elib.zib.de/ICM98 To subscribe to this e-mail service and to obtain the Second Announcement of ICM'98, fill out the request form on the ICM'98 server. Alternatively, send an empty e-mail to icm98@zib.de with `Second Announcement' in the `SUBJECT' line to receive an e-mail form. *************************************************************************