Dear members of IAU Division J, Galaxies and Cosmology:

Please be aware of two upcoming deadlines on September 15, 2017.

1. Letters of Intent (LOI) for proposing IAU symposia for 2019 are due on September 15. See the IAU website at https://www.iau.org/science/meetings/rules/#31 for the detailed procedure. LOI’s are mandatory prior to submission of the full proposal on December 15. Their purpose is to identify overlapping proposals far in advance and to solicit early feedback to the proposers. The Steering Committee of Division J will gladly assist you in the preparation of the LOI.
2. Nominations of new individual members by the Divisions Presidents will be made from September 15, 2017 until March 15, 2018. Suggestions for new members should be sent to me as soon as possible. The bulk of nominations should come from the National Members. Therefore the nomination by the Division Presidents should be limited, in general, to special cases that, for some reasons, may not be reached by the regular invitation of the National Committees of Astronomy. See https://www.iau.org/administration/membership/individual/qualification/ for details. I draw your attention to the new membership category of “Junior Members”, which will most likely be approved during the General Assembly in Vienna.

Please take note of the upcoming IAU Symposium 342: Perseus in Sicily: from black hole to cluster outskirts
Date: May 14-18, 2018
Place: Noto, Italy
Contact: Marcello Giroletti (m.giroletti@ira.inaf.it)

As always, feel free to contact me (leitherer@stsci.edu) or any other Steering Committee member for questions or comments.

Claus Leitherer
(President, IAU Division J)