Deadline: November 15, 2023

One of the aims of ISSMO is to bring together researchers and practitioners in the field of structural and multidisciplinary optimization, by means of international meetings having a high scientific standard. Selection criteria include:

• up-to-date conference facilities,
• affordable costs to all members of the society (including registration, hotel, travel expenses, considering also free lunches, banquet, excursions etc.),
• proven conference organizing experience and strength of the local organizing group,
• geographical diversity reflecting the distribution of SMO researchers over the world.

The last item is meant to imply a reasonably uniform distribution of congresses over three zones, namely Asia-Australia, Europe-Africa, and North & South Americas (see list of past locations at the bottom of this call).

The congress should be held within the mid-May 2025 – mid-June 2025 period and is expected to last between 4.5 and 5 days.

Timeline:

• Submission of proposal to ISSMO EC: November 15, 2023
• Decision by ISSMO EC: January 2024

All proposals must contain the following information:

Costs

1. Registration fee to be charged (including a 10% fee per participant to be transferred to ISSMO as a membership fee).
2. Special rates should apply for students (including PhD students). State this rate and the expected number of students. Student registration should give full access to all congress events, like any regular participant. ISSMO recommends the extension of similar special rates to retired Professors that are members of ISSMO.
3. Details should be provided regarding what is covered by the registration fee (e.g., proceedings, coffee breaks, lunches, social functions, excursions, banquet, transport, etc.). The excursion should be included in the registration fee.
4. Expected amount of financial support to be acquired from, e.g., companies, foundations and universities.
5. Budgeted amount for travel, subsistence, and registration subsidies for participants in need. If part of this amount is requested from ISSMO funds, please state the magnitude of this amount.
6. Budgeted amount for hosting the meeting of the International Papers Committee in advance of the conference (e.g., cost of local accommodations, etc.)

Location and venue

1. There should be at least one room with the minimum 500 seats.
2. Accessibility of the congress site by various means of transport (air, train, car, etc.) and expected costs of travel from various regions of the world to the hosting city.
3. Description of conference facilities for approximately five parallel sessions.
4. Touristic attractions of the surroundings of the conference site, for participants and accompanying persons.
5. Prices of hotels, including expected group rates and low-cost hotel options for participants with very limited budgets.  Distances of these hotels from congress site should also be stated.

Logistics

1. Expected number of participants.
2. Proposed schedule of events, including timing of the Welcome Reception, General Assembly, SOTA Panel, Banquet, and Excursion.  Proposers are encouraged to consider holding the Excursion mid-week (e.g., Wednesday Afternoon) in the tradition of past WCSMO.
3. Details regarding coffee breaks, lunches and banquet are important for a proper quality assessment.
4. Prior experience of the proponents in organization of meetings.
5. A plan for the preparation of the conference, including deadlines for submittal of papers, meeting of the International Papers Committee, payment of registration fee, advertising of the conference, dissemination of abstracts, etc.

It is recommended that the proposal contains letters of endorsement from institutions, universities, and organizations that will support the proposers in organizing the Congress.