The NSF/CBMS series of Regional Research Conferences in Mathematics is an ongoing cooperative project administered by the Conference Board of the Mathematical Sciences (CBMS) and supported continuously by NSF for the past 41 years. CBMS promotes, administers, and provides support services for the series. Each conference features a distinguished lecturer who delivers a sequence of ten lectures on a topic of important current research in one sharply focused area of the mathematical sciences. The local organizer of each conference invites other established researchers in the field and interested newcomers, including graduate students and post doctoral fellows, to participate in the conference. The lecturer promises to prepare a substantial expository monograph based upon his or her lectures. Through 2009, a total of 320 such conferences have been held and 198 monographs have been published in the series.
The purpose of these conferences is to promote research in areas of the mathematical sciences which have recently seen significant new results and which hold promise for continued significant development. A conference achieves that purpose by having the principal lecturer, who is both a major researcher in the area of the conference and a good expositor, deliver 10 lectures over a five day period to the participants. The lectures typically cover the recent development of the field and chart the possible new directions and open problems. Thus the format of the conferences is primarily educational, but at the research level. Approximately one-half of the participants at these conferences are graduate students and postdocs and the conferences give them a good perspective on both the current research and the interesting open problems in an important area of mathematics. The resulting monograph reaches a broader audience and provides an introduction to readers who wish to begin research in the field. Moreover, the conferences are typically held at institutions that are not yet among the top research institutions, but which are interested in enhancing their local research activity. Up to six or seven conferences will be offered in each of the next three years.
The Conference Board of the Mathematical Sciences (CBMS) is an umbrella organization consisting of 17 professional societies all of which have as one of their primary objectives the increase or diffusion of knowledge in one or more of the mathematical sciences. Its purpose is to promote understanding and cooperation among these national organizations so that they work together and support each other in their efforts to promote research, improve education, and expand the uses of mathematics. With a view to promote good research in the mathematical sciences, CBMS began In 1969 to administer the NSF/CBMS Regional Research Conference Series. This series has continuted uninterrupted since then with continuous support from NSF. Through the end of 2013, the total number of conferences held is 345. The series has thus far produced 214 monographs based on conference lectures and the total sales of these books has now passed 250,000 copies. Conferences have been held in all states except Vermont and South Dakota. Individual conferences are proposed by, and when funded, then organized and hosted by a local institution which receives a separate grant from NSF to hold the conference. The goal of the confences is to promote research in an area of the mathematical sciences that has seen recent interesting development and is deserving of increased attention by researchers. Each conference features 10 lectures over 5 days by a major contributor to the field giving the important results and possible future directions and applications of the field. The conferences are thus primarily educational in nature, but at a high research level to acquaint researchers with interesting new results and the potential research projects they suggest for further attention. The target audience is researchers who want to get into the field of the lectures, especially young researchers who could profit greatly from such an introduction to an important area of research with lots of interesting problems. The bulk of the NSF support to each host institution goes for participant support to enable young researchers to attend the confernces. The NSF grant to CBMS supports the administration of the series and the stipends paid to the lecturers for delivering the lectures and writing the monographs based on the lectures.
