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Guidance for Organisers of LMS Events and LMS-funded Events

An alphabetical list (by activity) of guidance for organisers of LMS events and LMS-funded events is given below and refers to the Society's policies and guidelines for events, which are organised on behalf of the Society e.g. Regional Meetings and funded by the Society e.g. Conferences funded by Scheme 1 grants. The LMS' Society Lectures and Meetings Committee reviews and updates the list twice a year and would be happy to hear about any further guidance, which could benefit mathematicians. If you know of any further guidance that could be included, please email lmsmeetings@lms.ac.uk

 Creating Positive Environment at Events

Conferences, workshops and meetings are the lifeblood of the mathematical community and foster productive research. It is important to create a positive research environment at all mathematical meetings that allows for all to fully participate in, engage with, and access the meeting in a safe and welcoming way. The Society has published advice on how a positive environment can be created here.

Ensuring wellbeing at Events

To ensure that the wellbeing of organisers and delegates is supported before, during and after an event, there should be someone and/or a team of people who can be contacted by delegates in the situations when delegates might need help.

For example:

  • The University Welfare Team
  • A Welfare Lead on the conference/event organising committee.

Details of who to contact and how to contact them should be readily available to delegates before, during and after the event e.g. on the event website, in the registration confirmation email. 

Hosting a Hybrid Event

The London Mathematical Society recognises that, over the past few years, the format of mathematical events (e.g. conferences, research workshops, seminars) has evolved with some activities taking place online, in-person or in a hybrid format. The Committee has produced this guidance to provide further support to the organisers of, and participants at, hybrid mathematical events. The Society is grateful for the input to this guidance from the experienced staff at the INI and the ICMS, which can be found here.

Increasing Accessibility of Meetings

  • Accommodate to attendees using assistive hearing aid by having an induction loop facility or hiring one.
  • If required, include ramped access where necessary for mobility impaired people.
  • Provide facilities for service dogs for the sight impaired.
  • Have seating reserved for attendees who present the following:
    • Hearing impaired to be seated closely to interpreters, captionists, note-takers.
    • Vision impaired.
    • Short-statured.
    • Sign interpreters.
    • Wheelchair users.
  • Have a scent-free meeting venue for people with scent sensitivities or allergies.
  • Provide alternative sources to access information after the event (video streaming and handouts).

Increasing Visibility of Meetings

  • More marketing of events through various platforms (Facebook, Twitter/X, LinkedIn)
  • Post and promote with hashtags on Twitter/X, LinkedIn

 Inviting Speakers

Women in Mathematics

As an advocate of the advancement of women in mathematics, the Society expects the LMS Events and LMS-funded events to accommodate at least 20% female speakers, as far as this is possible. A copy of the Society’s policy on Women in Mathematics is available to view on the LMS website here. 

Diversity in Mathematics

Diversity has many forms. These include, but are not limited to, gender, race and ethnicity, age, geographic location, and mathematical school. The health of mathematics relies on most conferences/seminars/workshops allowing mathematicians with different mathematical perspectives to mingle. The LMS has published advice on diversity at conferences/workshops/seminars on the LMS website here.

Advising Invited Speakers to give talks accessible to a general mathematical audience.

The talks at the LMS Society Meetings should be accessible to a general mathematical audience and organisers should alert their speakers to this when issuing invitations. A suggestion for wording is given below:

“The LMS Society, Lectures and Meetings Committee wishes to stress that lectures at Society meetings need to appeal to the general membership of the Society. This means that context and motivation are important, that the broad sweep of the ideas are favoured over technical details, and that visual materials are attractive and can be understood from the back of the room. The advice regarding the level of technical detail is: "aim low and then halve it". Further, titles of talks and published abstracts need to convey that the talk will appeal to a general LMS membership, and therefore need to be expressed in words understandable to a final year undergraduate. Society meetings are not specialist workshop talks, and must be, and be seen to be, accessible and interesting. A lecture at a Society meeting is a great opportunity to convey the excitement and vibrancy of a speaker’s research area to a wider mathematical audience.”

Planning a Sustainable Event

In 2020/21, the London Mathematical Society adopted a new environmental policy statement as it seeks to be a leader in the mathematical community in relation to sustainability. The Society has continued to work towards a Sustainable Future in 2021/22 by reviewing its own activities, while encouraging others in the mathematical community to do the same, before taking steps towards reducing the negative environmental impact of the Society's activities. Examples of Actions for reducing harmful environmental effects of mathematical activities are available here.

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