Basilis Xanthopoulos International Award: Governance

The Award is supervised by the Advisory Board which consists of the President and the Vice President of ISGRG, members of the first four Selection Committees, winners of the last two Awards and a representative of FORTH. The Advisory Board ensures that the original intent of the Award continues to be served. In addition, it may discuss and make recommendations on any matter regarding the Award. But is not responsible for the selection of awardees. The President of the GRG Society serves as the Chair of the Board. The representative of FORTH serves as the Secretary of the Board. The members of the Advisory Board cannot be less than nine. If for any reason the number falls below nine, the ISGRG appoints additional members in consultation with the members of the last two Selection Committees and the Advisory Board.

The Selection Committee consists of 5 or 7 distinguished scientists with a fair distribution among sub-areas and geography, at least one of whom is preferably from Greece. Members serve 2-3 rounds. A year and half before the next tri-annual ISGRG conference, in consultation with the Advisory Board, the President of the Society decides which of the members should be rotated off and selects their replacements. The President consults with the continuing members before sending out the new invitations to ensure that the committee will function in a smooth and synergistic fashion.

A year and half before the next tri-annual conference of ISGRG, the Award is announced through ISGRG and its daughter societies. The Executive Committee should ensure that the prize is widely publicized. Nominations are due roughly 9 months before the next conference, normally by September 30th of the year before the conference, and should be sent to: Mr. Nikos Sinanis, University of Crete, Department of Physics, P.O. Box 2208 GR-710 03 Heraklion, Crete GREECE, (Tel.: +30-2810-394200 Fax: +30-2810-394201) email: sinanis@physics.uoc.gr Electronic nominations are preferred. The winner is chosen at least six months before the conference to allow ample time to make travel arrangements.

FORTH has urged the Society to present the Award during the Opening Ceremony of the conference. If it were to be given during the business meeting of the Society, many conference participants (who are not members of the Society) would miss the ceremony. FORTH would also like (but does not require) the winner(s) to give talks at the conference. The format is left to the Society. As soon as the winner is selected, the President informs the Chair of the Scientific Committee of the conference so that the winner can be invited to speak either in the plenary or a parallel session. This may not be possible because of time constraints. In that case the winner(s) give the talk during the Business Meeting of the Society, typically during the period when the votes are being counted.

Past Selection Committees:

1st: S. Chandrasekhar (Chair), Abhay Ashtekar, George Contopoulos, Roger Penrose, Kip Thorne.

2nd: S. Chandrasekhar (Chair), Abhay Ashtekar, George Contopoulos, Roger Penrose, Kip Thorne.

3nd: Abhay Ashtekar (Chair), Roger Penrose, Sotirios Persides, Kip Thorne, Robert Wald

4th: Abhay Ashtekar (Chair), Juergen Ehlers, Sotirios Persides, Saul Teukolsky, Robert Wald

5th: Juergen Ehlers (Chair), Gary Horowitz, Kostas Kokkotas, Saul Teukolsky, Robert Wald

6th: Saul Teukolsky (Chair), Gary Horowitz, Werner Israel, Kostas Kokkotas, Bernard Schutz

7th: Bernard Schutz(Chair), Gary Gibbons, Werner Israel, Kostas Kokkotas, Jorge Pullin.

Advisory Board (2007-2010): Abhay Ashtekar, Martin Bojowald, George Contopoulos, Eanna Flanagan, Nick Kylafis, Roger Penrose, Sotirios Persides, Thomas Thiemann, Kip Thorne, Robert Wald, Clifford Will.

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