Dear Members of IAU Division H, "ISM and Local Universe"

We would like to follow Teresa Lago's note of yesterday with our own invitation to submit a Letter of Intent for an IAU Symposium or Focus Meeting in 2018.

As you probably know, proposals for IAU Symposia in 2018, both at the General Assembly in Vienna and outside the GA, and proposals for IAU Focus Meetings at the GA, are due on December 15th of this year.

Prior to that, Letters of Intent are highly recommended. They are visible by all IAU members and used by the Division Steering Committee to coordinate topics, give advice, and prevent overlaps and unnecessary work. As Teresa just noted, these Letters of Intent are due September 15th.

Please submit them using this web-based form:

https://www.iau.org/science/meetings/proposals/loi/

For reference, the web page for final proposals (December 15th deadline) is here:

https://www.iau.org/science/meetings/proposals/lop/

The Division Steering Committee would also like to see your draft final proposal as early as possible before the deadline of December 15th, so that we can give advice and write letters of endorsement for you to include in the submission. Each proposal has a main or "Coordinating" Division, and may have several associated Divisions. Our Steering Committee welcomes all draft proposals on related topics and will endorse good proposals from other Coordinating Divisions if they are of interest to Division H members.

In 2018, 6 of the 9 yearly Symposia will be held at the General Assembly. A GA Symposium typically lasts for 3.5 days. The other 3 symposia in 2018 should not be held within 3 months of the GA. A typical Focus Meeting at the GA lasts for 1.5-2 days.

What the Division Steering Committee looks for in a good proposal are (1) balance among the SOC and suggested speakers with regard to gender and geography; (2) a timely and important topic of interest to many IAU members; (3) a feasible venue with reasonable local rates and travel options; and (4) a detailed preliminary program illustrating the possible topics and speakers (without contacting these speakers until the proposal is approved). The final proposal selection will be made by the Executive Committee of the IAU in May.

For a list of future IAU symposia, see:

http://www.iau.org/science/meetings/future/symposia/

For a list of past IAU symposia, see:

http://www.iau.org/science/meetings/past/symposia/

For more information on writing a proposal, see http://www.iau.org/science/meetings/rules/#31

We encourage you to think about an exciting and timely Symposium or Focus Meeting for 2018, and to submit your brief Letter of Intent by September 15th.

Thanks,
Bruce, Leonardo, and Ciska

Bruce Elmegreen (President, Division H)
Leonardo Testi (Vice President)
Ciska Kemper (Secretary)