Scientific Committee Meeting Minutes for 1994

Minutes of the BMC Scientific Committee held in Cardiff Institute of Higher Education, Cardiff on Tuesday 29 and Wednesday 30 March 1994.

This Committee has replaced the BMC Committee following the Annual General Meeting held in Cardiff.
  1. The members present were F. T. Brawn (Cardiff), K. A. Brown (Glasgow), J.W. Bruce (Liverpool), M.D. Coleman (UMIST), J. Howie (Heriot-Watt), B.E. Johnson (Newcastle upon Tyne), A.C. McBride (Strathclyde), E.G. Rees (Edinburgh), H.E. Rose (Bristol), M.A. Youngson (Heriot-Watt).
  2. The minutes of the last meeting of the BMC Committee (on 30 March 1993 at Reading) were approved.
  3. Matters arising from the minutes
    The major changes in the format of the Colloquium had been implemented and seemed to be working well so far. Various aspects were reviewed.
    1. The morning split session lectures should (if possible) be of equal length; the suggested time being 40 minutes.
    2. Special sessions seemed to be taking away some of the audience from splinter groups in related areas.
    3. More time was required in the splinter groups in the areas of the special sessions. It was agreed to move the Annual General Meeting to the evening (before the Education Forum) to free more time in the afternoon.
    4. The London Mathematical Society had not provided funding for the special sessions but had informally indicated willingness to provide a guarantee.
    5. The budget for each special session should be continued in the same way next year. This should be reviewed when the financial position after the Cardiff meeting becomes known.
    6. For the 1995 Colloquium, E. Bombieri, G. Pisier and J.-P. Serre have accepted invitations to be principal speakers and there will be two special sessions in Functional Analysis (organised by A.M. Sinclair) and Ring Theory (organised by K.A. Brown).
    7. Further suggestions were made for improving publicity for the Colloquium in particular on how to attract more graduate students.
  4. Invitations to future Colloquia
    The venues for the next three Colloquia are Heriot-Watt (1995), UMIST (1996) and Royal Holloway (1997). It was agreed to invite Manchester and Southampton to host future ones. [ACTION HERIOT-WATT]
  5. Future Speakers
    It was decided that the list of potential speakers for the Colloquium should be reviewed.

    Morning speakers and reserves for the 1995 Colloquium were agreed. Potential evening speakers and special sessions for the UMIST 1996 Colloquium were identified. [ACTION UMIST]
  6. Any other business
    It was agreed that a list of all special sessions (with organisers) should be kept and that the views of members of the colloquium should be canvassed on topics for special sessions. [ACTION HERIOT-WATT]