9522519 Hass To stimulate interest and activity in mathematical research, the National Science Foundation each year supports a number of NSF-CBMS Regional Research Conferences in the Mathematical Sciences. Each five-day conference features a distinguished lecturer who delivers ten lectures on a topic of important current research in one sharply focused area of the mathematical sciences. The lecturer subsequently prepares an expository monograph based upon these lectures, which is normally published by the American Mathematical Society or the Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics, or jointly by the American Statistical Association and the Institute of Mathematical Statistics. Certain features differentiate these conferences from typical research conferences. These are: (1) Focus on a single important and timely area of research by a leading practitioner, (2) Continued effect and local stimulation through regional emphasis, (3) Panel review for quality, breadth, and timeliness, and (4) Published monographs for a wider audience. This project will support an NSF-CBMS Regional Research Conference in the Mathematical Sciences on Normal Surfaces and Decision Problems in 3-Manifolds to be held August 26-30, 1996 at the University of California, Davis. Professor Hyam Rubinstein of the University of Melbourne will be the principal lecturer.
