The programme of scientific meetings is one of the most important means by which the IAU pursues its goal of promoting the science of astronomy through international collaboration. A large fraction of the Union's budget is devoted to the support of the IAU scientific meetings. The Executive Committee (EC) places great emphasis on maintaining high scientific standards, coverage of a balanced spectrum of subjects, and an appropriately international flavour for the programme of meetings sponsored by the IAU.
The IAU currently supports the following types of meeting:
a. Symposia
b. Colloquia
c. Regional Astronomy Meetings
d. Joint Discussions during General Assemblies (GAs)
e. Co-sponsored meetings
These types of meeting are characterised as follows:
b. For IAU Colloquia, equally high scientific standards are expected as for Symposia, but their subjects may be somewhat narrower or more specialised in scope. Accordingly, Colloquium proposals may be forwarded to the EC with the support of a single Commission, and IAU travel support is lower (see Application Form). Proceedings of IAU Colloquia are normally published, but their format and the choice of publisher are left to the discretion of the Scientific Organising Committee (SOC); there is no regular series of IAU Colloquium volumes. In the years of a GA, Colloquia are scheduled no closer than three months to the GA itself.
c. IAU Regional Astronomy Meetings, currently held in the Latin American and Asian-Pacific regions in years between General Assemblies, are usually held at the invitation of a national astronomical society in the region. Their purpose, in addition to the discussions of specific scientific subjects, is to promote contacts between scientists in the region concerned, especially amongst young astronomers. Therefore, both a much wider range of scientific topics, a larger SOC, and a larger total attendance are accepted than normal for Symposia and Colloquia. IAU travel support is provided at a similar level as for Symposia. Presentations by young astronomers, including Ph.D. students, are particularly encouraged. Proceedings are usually published in a regional astronomical publication series.
d. Joint Discussions, taking place during General Assemblies, address scientific themes of interest to more than one IAU Commission. They require the approval of the EC and normally last between 0.5 and 1.5 days at the GA. No separate financial support is allocated to Joint Discussions, but participants may apply for General Assembly Travel Grants, and the proceedings of Joint Discussions are published in the Highlights of Astronomy without cost to the organisers.
e. The IAU may decide to co-sponsor meetings which are organised by other Scientific Unions. Main organisational and financial responsibility for such meetings rests with the main sponsoring Union. The IAU expects to be represented in the relevant SOC(s) and to be consulted about publication of the proceedings and other major issues, and the IAU may make a financial contribution to the travel expenses of participants at the meeting.
Responsibility for the preparation and timely submission of the final proposal to the EC rests with the Chairperson of the proposed Scientific Organising Committee (SOC). The practical preparation of the submission may be delegated to another person, normally another SOC member or the Chairperson of the proposed Local Organising Committee (LOC), but ultimate responsibility for the scientific and other factual contents of a proposal remains with the SOC Chairperson.
Before submitting an application for an IAU meeting the proposers should send, at the earliest possible date, a letter of intent to the Assistant General Secretary (AGS) stating the topic and proposed dates of the meeting. The AGS will then be able to inform the proposers of any pending plans for other meetings in the same or a similar field in order to avoid unintended competition between similar proposals.
Application procedures have been designed so as to ensure that the information necessary for the evaluation of the proposals by the EC is complete and in a uniform format that allows direct comparison between proposals as far as possible. Therefore, proposals are to be submitted on the official IAU Symposium and Colloquium application forms, which are available from the IAU WEb page, but can also be requested from the Secretariat or from AGS.
In all cases, an IAU Commission should accept to act as the main scientific sponsor of the proposed meeting (the "Proposing Commission"). If the Proposing Commission belongs to an IAU Division, the proposed SOC Chairperson of the meeting should submit the proposal to the President of that Division before the deadline, with a copy to the Presidents of the Proposing and all supporting Commissions.
Each Division President will then ascertain the degree of Commission support within the Division, and forward all proposals to the EC via the AGS with a suggested priority ranking and overall scientific quality assessment, as well as an appropriately detailed motivation for this evaluation. Commissions not belonging to a Division, or Working Groups of the EC, may forward meeting proposals, or support of proposals, directly to the AGS. The AGS forwards all proposals, with the recommendations of the Divisions Presidents as outlined above, to the EC for final decision.
In order to allow sufficient time for evaluation of the proposals by Division Presidents before final review and decision by the EC, and for timely announcement of the approved meetings, proposals must be submitted before the deadline published annually in the IAU Information Bulletin. Normally, this deadline will be in February or March of the year preceding the year of the meeting. If desired, proposals may also be submitted one year earlier.
The application forms, which should be filled in completely, are mostly self-explanatory. However, the following points deserve clarifying comments:
(10) Scientific Organising Committee (SOC)
The Scientific Organising Committee has overall responsibility
for the scientific standards of the meeting. It exercises this
responsibility in three main respects: (i) Definition of the
scientific programme of the meeting, including the choice and
distribution of topics for individual sessions, and the selection
of invited reviews and shorter papers, and contributed and
poster papers; (ii) Choice of key speakers for invited reviews,
and (iii) Proposals for the allocation of individual travel grants
from the IAU (and possibly other) funds provided for the
meeting. The Chairperson and other members of the SOC are
appointed by the EC as part of the approval process.
The composition of the proposed SOC is therefore a key element in assessing the potential scientific value of an application. Thus, the SOC should cover the principal subjects to be treated in the discussions. As experience shows that large committees tend be inefficient, the SOC should be no larger than ten persons in total (Regional Meetings excepted), but at the same time appropriately composed with regard to geography, gender, etc. The composition of the SOC should thus conform, in a constructive manner, to the intent of the ICSU Statement on Freedom in the Conduct of Science (see below). Normally, any one institution should not be represented on the SOC by more than one person. It is customary, but not required, that SOC members are also members of the IAU.
(13) Editor(s) of Proceedings
As a rule, it is considered important that the Proceedings of
IAU meetings be published as a valuable record of the event,
for future reference. Arrangements for the publication of
Proceedings from the various types of meetings are somewhat
different and are summarised in a separate section below.
In all cases, the proposal should make clear whether it is intended to publish the Proceedings. If so, the name(s) of the proposed Editor(s) must be given. In the case of two or more Editors, it has been found rational to designate one of these as Chief Editor, with primary responsibility for the contacts to the IAU and the Publisher. The proposal should identify the person who will serve in this capacity. Confirmation of the name(s) is part of the approval process; any change of Editor(s) after a meeting has been accepted for IAU sponsorship requires the prior approval of the EC, through the AGS.
(15) Registration fees
Every effort should be made to keep registration fees and
administrative expenses low so as to make the meeting
accessible to all. Such efforts include the use of low-cost
meeting facilities and other sources of local support or
sponsorship. The acceptable level of a registration fee will
depend on circumstances, and proposers should carefully
specify which services are covered by the fee. Currently,
about 150 USD should be considered an absolute upper limit
for IAU sponsored Symposia and Colloquia, and the EC may
reject or withhold approval of otherwise valid proposals if the
proposed registration fee is exorbitant.
Substantially lower sums should be aimed at, using the following guidelines: Social events and meals during the conference should be optional rather than paid from the mandatory registration fee. If found desirable by the SOC, a copy of the Proceedings may be included in the fee. In such cases, the SOC should negotiate a substantial discount from the publishers.
(16) Price of hotels and/or other accommodation
Again, in the interest of enabling interested and qualified
colleagues from all parts of the world to attend the meeting,
affordable accommodation should be available. It is recognised
that in some cases, conference centres offering meeting rooms,
meals, and accommodation in one location may offer an
environment which is favourable to the overall scientific
outcome of the meeting. However, such centres tend to be
expensive. In these cases, efforts should be made to secure
additional affordable accommodation in shared rooms,
neighbouring, cheaper establishments, or by any other suitable
arrangements.
(19) Free access to meeting by all qualified scientists
The statement that the ICSU rules on non-discrimination in the
access to the meeting (see below) will be strictly observed
MUST be explicitly confirmed before any proposal will
receive final approval by the EC. A summary of the measures
taken to ensure this should be given, and the signatures of
both the SOC and LOC Chairpersons are required.
Participation in Symposia or Colloquia is by invitation of the SOC Chairperson. Invitations may be sought by suitably qualified scientists working in the field.
It is the policy of the IAU to promote the full participation of astronomers worldwide in its meeting programme. Symposia and Colloquia must be open to all who are qualified to participate. It is recognised that there may be occasions where logistical constraints force the SOC to limit the total number of participants in a meeting, but it is essential that no restriction based on sex, race, colour, nationality, or religious or political affiliation be imposed on the full participation of all bona fide scientists in any aspect of the organisation and conduct of IAU sponsored meetings, either by the organisers of Symposia, Colloquia, or Regional Meetings, or by the authorities of the host country.
Approval of a proposal for an IAU sponsored meeting requires explicit guarantees that this principle will be respected. Failure to honour such a commitment may result in cancellation of IAU sponsorship, and indeed of the meeting.
The commitment of the IAU to this principle is consistent with and backed by its membership of the International Council of Scientific Unions (ICSU). ICSU is the oldest existing non-governmental body committed to international scientific cooperation for the benefit of humanity, and is recognised as such by the relevant United Nations organisations. In this capacity, ICSU pursues a consistent and vigorous policy of non-discrimination in matters of inter- national scientific cooperation, expressed in the ICSU Statement on Freedom in the Conduct of Science. The central paragraphs of this document are reproduced below (October 1995 version):
ICSU seeks to protect and promote awareness of the rights and fundamental freedoms of scientists in their scientific pursuits. ICSU has a well-established non-political tradition which is central to its character and operations, and it does not permit any of its activities to be disturbed by statements or actions of a political nature.
As the intrinsic nature of science is universal, its success depends on cooperation, interaction and exchange, often beyond national boundaries. Therefore, ICSU strongly supports the principle that scientists must have free access to each other and to scientific data and information. It is only through such access that international scientific cooperation flourishes and science thus progresses.
On these grounds, ICSU works to resolve such cases as do, nevertheless, arise from time to time when such open access is denied or restricted and in cases primarily involving members of the ICSU family. In most cases, private consultations involving members of the ICSU family have been successful. Where private consultations have failed, ICSU has publicised acts of discrimination against scientists and taken steps to prevent their repetition, including, if necessary, such measures as encouraging members of the ICSU family to decline invitations to hold or attend meetings in the country concerned.
On the basis of its firm and unwavering commitment to the principle of the universality of science, ICSU reaffirms its opposition to any actions which weaken or undermine this principle."
The organisation of the scientific programme of the General Assemblies, including the programme of Joint Discussions but not the Symposia attached to the General Assemblies, is the responsibility of the General Secretary (GS). Contacts concerning proposals for Regional Meetings should also be made with the GS.
Inquiries and proposals concerning Symposia, including the Symposia held together with the General Assemblies in GA years, Colloquia and Co-sponsored Meetings, and correspondence on approved Regional Meetings, should be directed to the Assistant General Secretary (AGS).
In order to avoid last-minute complications, prospective meeting organisers are strongly encouraged to contact these persons well in advance of the announced proposal deadlines.
First, the scientific merit of a proposal is evaluated by the EC, taking the comments and advice of Commission and Division Presidents into consideration. An IAU sponsored meeting should have a well-defined scientific theme, be scheduled at a propitious time for significant progress in the field, and be of interest to young researchers as well as senior experts. After reviewing the scientific content of a proposal, the EC may decide to move the meeting to a different category from that proposed, e.g. from Symposium to Colloquium or vice versa.
Second, since the IAU embraces all major fields in astronomy, the IAU meeting programme should maintain a broad and balanced scope and cover the main active fields at appropriate intervals. Accordingly, even scientifically strong proposals in the same or largely overlapping fields cannot be approved at very short intervals.
Third, given the international nature of the Union, IAU sponsored meetings must be internationally oriented. This implies a well-balanced geographical distribution of both organisers and key speakers; normally, substantially less than half of the proposed SOC and/or key speakers should come from any single country.
For Regional and Co-sponsored Meetings, less restrictive criteria apply. As outlined above, the stimulation of contacts between (especially young) astronomers in the region concerned is an important function of the Regional Meetings. Accordingly, much broader subject areas are acceptable than for Symposia. In Co-sponsored Meetings, main responsibility for the scientific content and organisation of the meeting lies with the main sponsoring Scientific Union, and the IAU assumes only an advisory role on the relevant aspects of the overall programme.
Stimulating and improving the teaching of science, and of astronomy in particular, is becoming increasingly urgent, and parallel educational activities of the above kind in connection with IAU sponsored meetings are encouraged. While the quality of the proposed scientific programme will remain the primary selection criterion for IAU sponsorship, a good parallel educational programme will certainly add to the overall merit of a proposal.
After final approval, a letter of award is issued, accompanied by an official form listing the essential facts of the meeting as approved by the EC. Any change of the circumstances recorded on this form require approval by the IAU EC, obtained through the appropriate contact person.
Procedures for publication differ somewhat for the different types of meeting. For Symposia, proceedings are published by the IAU Publisher in the IAU Symposium Series at no cost to the organisers. For Colloquia there is no regular IAU series, and the SOC is free to propose, based on scientific and financial considerations, whether to publish the proceedings, and if so where and in which format. Proceedings of Regional Meetings are normally also published, under the responsibility of the SOC.
For all three types of IAU sponsored meeting, the format and editorship of the proceedings are fixed by the EC as part of the approval process, and any changes require prior approval by the EC, through the Assistant General Secretary. For Co- sponsored meetings, the format and editorship of the proceedings are decided by the main sponsoring Scientific Union in consultation with the IAU.
The IAU Publisher will automatically supply a copy of the Proceedings of all IAU Symposia to the IAU archive. For IAU Colloquia and all other IAU sponsored meetings, the Editors should send one copy of the published Proceedings to the IAU Secretariat in Paris.
Proposals for the distribution of IAU Travel Grants to individual participants are made by the Scientific Organising Committee (SOC) and sent to the Assistant General Secretary (AGS) for approval. IAU priority is to support qualified scien- tists to whom few or no other means of support are available, e.g. colleagues from countries in economic difficulties and young scientists. Also, a reasonable geographical distribution is expected: Normally, no more than 50% of the funds should be allocated to a single country or region. Moreover, the IAU support should preferably carry significant weight in ensuring the participation of the selected grantees, rather than adding comfort for colleagues whose attendance is already assured.
Within these general guidelines, it is left to the scientific judgment of the SOC whether to allocate funds in a few major grants to ensure the participation of key speakers, or broaden attendance at the meeting by supporting several participants, maintaining the overall scientific standard of the meeting as the primary criterion.
The recommendations of the SOC should be sent to the AGS (e-mail is accepted and preferred), specifying for each person: Name, nationality, full mailing address, e-mail address when useful, amount of proposed grant (in Swiss Francs), place from which journey will be made, and title and nature of contribution (review talk, thesis presentation, ...). A sample application form is found below, summarising the required information; use of the form itself is optional. It will help to avoid difficult last-minute reallocations if the SOC verifies that grantees expect to be able to attend with the proposed amounts of support. The SOC recommendation should reach the AGS:
The normal administrative procedure is to transfer the entire IAU grant to the LOC bank account. Individual grants are then paid to each recipient upon arrival and registration at the meeting. This procedure has been found safe and convenient, especially in accommodating the occasional, but inevitable cases of late cancellations. Currency conversions are made at the official ICSU exchange rates in force at that time.
There are cases, however, when a cash advance is needed for a participant to be able to travel to the meeting at all. Such cases should be argued in reasonable detail to the SOC and AGS, and individual cheques may then be sent directly from the Paris Secretariat. These procedures are explained in the individual grant letters.
For all other meetings than IAU Symposia, the Editors should send one copy of the published Proceedings to the IAU Secretariat in Paris.
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