Scientific Committee Meeting Minutes for March 2013

Minutes of the meeting of 27 March 2013
Hicks Building, University of Sheffield

Present: Charles Goldie, Cathy Hobbs, John Hunton, Phil Rippon, Tom Leinster, Eugenia Cheng, David Jordan, Rachel Camina, Tom Fisher, Konstantin Ardakov, Tim Dokchitser, Lynne Walling, Raymond Vozzo, Fiona Nixon.
  1. Welcome and confirmation of membership

    Raymond Vozzo (Glasgow) was welcomed as a representative of the current BMC. Tim Dokchitser and Lynne Walling were welcomed as representatives of Bristol whose invitation to host the 2016 BMC had been accepted at the AGM. Konstantin Ardakov was welcomed in substitution for the QMUL representatives, who could not be present.

    The membership was confirmed as:
    Chair: Charles Goldie (Sussex) until 31 May 2014.
    LMS representatives: Cathy Hobbs (UWE) until 31 May 2013, John Hunton (Leicester)
    until 31 May 2014, Phil Rippon (Open) until 31 May 2014.
    EdMS representatives: Radha Kessar (City) until 31 May 2013, Tom Leinster (Edinburgh) until 31 May 2014.
    Sheffeld (2013): Eugenia Cheng, David Jordan.
    QMUL (2014): Peter Cameron, Ivan I Tomašić.
    Cambridge (2015): Rachel Camina, Tom Fisher.
    Representative of the 2013 BMC: Raymond Vozzo (Glasgow). As Dr Vozzo does not expect to be available for the Autumn 2013 meeting, Stuart White (Glasgow) takes over for the remainder of the year.
    Ex officio: Fiona Nixon (Executive Secretary of the LMS).
    Phil Rippon agreed to act as Secretary.

  2. Apologies for absence

    Peter Cameron, Ivan I Tomašić, Radha Kessar.

  3. Minutes of Scientific Committee meeting at the LMS, 18 September 2012

    These had been circulated by e-mail before the meeting, and were approved.

  4. Immediate impressions of the Sheffield BMC

    Comments were generally very positive with many excellent speakers and good attendance, particularly of some of the workshops. A full report will be on the agenda for the Autumn 2013 committee meeting.

  5. Plans for BMC at QMUL, 7-10 April 2014

    As neither of the QMUL representatives had been able to attend, there was no formal report but Konstatin Ardakov kindly reported on some known plans.

    A public lecture will be given by Persi Diaconis, associated with the 100th anniversary of the birth of Martin Gardner; plenary speakers will include: Endre Szemerédi (Combinatorics), Ngô B?o Châu (Number Theory) and Robert Guralnick (Algebra); workshops will be: Combinatorics, Ergodic Theory, Geometry, Group Theory and Number Theory.

    The Committee is happy to discuss suggestions for morning speakers by email. It was pointed out that information about all previous BMCs, including speakers, is available on the St Andrews MacTutor website: http://www-history.mcs.st-and.ac.uk/BMC/index.html
    Accommodation will be in hotels only. There was no discussion of the potential sponsor mentioned at the previous meeting.

    QMUL was urged to follow, where possible, arrangements that have worked well in Sheffield, such as the joint registration for Young Researchers in Mathematics 2013 participants that was subsidised by the LMS, and the way of organizing the publishers' reception.

    Charles Goldie undertook to contact the organisers of the British Colloquium for Theoretical Computer Science in order, if possible, to avoid clash of dates.

  6. Plans for the Joint Meeting with BAMC in Cambridge, 30 March-2 April 2015

    The BMC organizers are Rachel Camina and Tom Fisher, and the BAMC organizers are Peter Haynes, Stephen Cowley, Nigel Peake and Ed Brambley, from DAMTP. Current plans are to have accommodation in Selwyn, Fitzwilliam and Robinson Colleges, joint plenaries in Lady Mitchell Hall, BMC plenaries in Robinson, morning lectures in the Centre for Mathematical Sciences, and the conference dinner in Churchill College. There are likely to be 4 BMC/BAMC plenaries and 3 BMC plenaries.

    The cost of accommodation will be a little higher than usual, but this was thought to be acceptable. The arrangements for lunches were discussed - the Committee would wish lunches to be as informal as possible, to facilitate mathematical interchange. Post-meeting note: the cost of the lunches will be included in the registration fee.

    Some ideas for plenary speakers were discussed.

  7. Proposed meeting in Bristol in 2016

    An invitation from Bristol had been issued and accepted at the BMC AGM. The organizers are Lynne Walling and Tim Dokchitser.

  8. Tentative plans for BMC 2017

    It was suggested that a meeting outside England would be due and Tom Leinster agreed to consult EdMS colleagues. The advantages of St Andrews were discussed. Consultation with the Committee would proceed by email.

  9. Young Researchers in Mathematics

    Next year's organisers will probably be identified only when YRM meets in June this year. Close cooperation, particularly over dates, should ensure continuation of the high level of research student cross-participation that is occurring this year.

  10. Committee expenses for this meeting

    David Jordan reported that registration fees for the LMS delegation were expected to cover the expenses of the Chair, who is retired. Others were expected to look for support to their institution or sponsoring body.

  11. Chairmanship of the Scientific Committee

    CG explained that his term as Chair will end on 31 May 2014 and described the usual process for choosing a successor. It was agreed that a 'search group' of two people should consult as appropriate and find a suitable candidate who is willing to chair the Scientific Committee for three years from 1 June 2014, and whose appointment would be approved at the Autumn 2013 committee meeting. Peter Giblin (Liverpool) has been approached and is willing to join the search group. Post-meeting note: Radha Kessar has agreed to join Peter to form the search group.

  12. Any other business
    CG thanked Cathy Hobbs for her contributions to the BMC Scientific Committee over two terms.

  13. Date of September/October 2013 meeting at the LMS

    This would be agreed by email. There appeared to be a preference for September.