Awards of SAMS

The two Awards of the South African Mathematical Society are the following:

• The SAMS Award for Research Distinction serves to recognise and stimulate excellence in research. It is only made in recognition of important research contributions to Mathematics or to the applications of Mathematics in any field. The intention of the Society is that this Award should recognise and reward substantial research carried out in South Africa, which does credit to South African Mathematics. The Award is presented in the form of a silver Möbius band with golden rim and appropriate inscription.
• The SAMS Award for the Advancement of Mathematics serves to recognise and reward exceptional and distinguished service to the cultivation of Mathematics in South Africa. Advancement of Mathematics in all areas that fall within the competence of Society, in accordance with its Mission Statement, is taken into account. The Award is presented in the form of a silver medal with appropriate inscription.

Each of the two awards is made at most once per year, and usually the two are not both made in the same year. A person can receive the same Award only once.  Members of the SAMS Council are also eligible for an award, provided that they are not also members of the Awards Committee.

A nominee for an award shall have been duly nominated on the prescribed form by two members of the Society. Nominations are considered annually by an Awards Committee appointed by the Council,
which enlists referees and makes recommendations to the Council. No member of the Awards Committee shall be a nominator.

NOMINATION PROCEDURE

Nominations are called for annually in the Notices of the SAMS, but may be submitted at any time. The procedure is the same for both awards, except that each has its own nomination form, which is
obtainable from the Secretary of the SAMS. Alternatively these forms may be downloaded by clicking on the link below.

Download File

For each nomination two nominators are required, who must be SAMS members and not members of the Awards Committee of the Council. They must send the appropriate nomination form together with the information required on it to the Awards Committee, care of the vice-President under confidential cover and without the knowledge of the nominee. No person can nominate more than one person for the same award. To be considered for a specific year, Such forms must reach the vice-President of the Society before or on 31 May of that particular year. The postal and email addresses of the vice-president is given on the downloadable form.

Each nomination is considered by the Awards Committee. The Awards Committee appoints at least three referees who need not be the same as those proposed by the nominators. The Awards Committee finally makes a recommendation to the SAMS Council. Strict confidence is maintained; a nominee is only informed of  his/her nomination after the Council has decided to offer the award to him/her. Unsuccessful nominations remain under consideration for two further years.