Spring 2009 message from the President of the GRG Society

I am writing to wish you a healthy and productive 2009, and encourage you to join the International Society of General Relativity and Gravitation. The GRG Society runs the triennial GR conferences, publishes the GRG journal, and participates in policy making decisions of the International Union of Pure and Applied Physics (IUPAP).

Members are eligible for significant discounts on books from leading publishers in our field. The Society has just instituted two thesis awards - the Juergen Ehlers Prize in classical general relativity and Bergmann-Wheeler Prize in quantum gravity - for which nominations are being sought from its members. It also administers the thesis prize in gravitational wave science given by GWIC and the International Xanthopoulos Award sponsored by the Greek foundation FORTH. This Award is the most prestigious international honor for researchers in gravitational science below the age of 40. Finally, the Society has just instituted Fellowships to recognize the leaders of our field.

Over 60% of our annual budget is used to provide grants to enable third world scientists and others with inadequate funds to attend the GR meetings. The next one is GR19, to be held in Mexico City, July 5-9, 2010.

To join the GRG Society, you can fill out the form that can be found at http://grg.maths.qmul.ac.uk/grgsoc/membership_dues.php and pay the annual dues of US $35 (US $10 for students); Visa and Mastercard are accepted. Life memberships are also available. Any queries that may arise should be sent to Malcolm MacCallum, m.a.h.maccallum@qmul.ac.uk. Note that if you attend GR19, the first years' dues will be offset by the reduction in the registration fee. By joining now, you will also be able to participate in the election of the new President and other leaders of the GRG society in the upcoming elections to be held at GR19.