SIAG/Optimization Prize
Principal Guideline
The SIAM Activity Group on Optimization (SIAG/OPT) Prize, established in 1992, is awarded to the author(s) of the most outstanding paper, as determined by the prize committee, on a topic in optimization published in English in a peer-reviewed journal.
Prize Committee
Formation
The prize committee will consist of a panel of five members of the SIAG/OPT. The Vice Chairperson of the SIAG/OPT during the last year of the award period will serve as chairperson of the committee. The SIAG Chair, in consultation with the other officers, will form a list of people to serve in the other four places on the committee and will submit the list to the SIAM Vice President at Large (SIAM VP) for approval prior to inviting the committee members to serve. The SIAG officers will seek to ensure a diverse composition of the prize committee in research area, gender, geography, employment sector (industry, national laboratories, universities), and under-represented groups. The appointments will be made at least twelve months in advance of the prize award date.
Tenure
The term of office will be from the date of appointment until the date of
the prize award.
Rules of Operation
The committee will solicit nominations for the prize from the general
membership of the SIAG/OPT, using SIAM office resources as needed, and
from other members of the scientific community. If a committee member is
nominated for the award, the SIAM President will appoint a replacement
upon notification by the committee chairperson.
Selection Procedures
Eligibility
Candidate papers must be published in English in a peer-reviewed journal
bearing a publication date within the award period. They must contain
significant research contributions to the field of optimization, as
commonly defined in the mathematical literature, with direct or potential
applications.
The chair of the SIAG, the vice chair of the SIAG, and the members of the prize committee are not eligible to receive the prize.
Committee's Recommendation
The prize committee will notify the SIAM VP of its selection at
least five months prior to the award date. The prize committee must select
one paper that determines the prize winner(s). The notification must be
accompanied by a written justification and a citation not exceeding 25
words that can be used for a certificate and read at award time.
The SIAM VP will accept or reject the recommendation at least four months prior to the award date.
If the recommendation is accepted, the award presentation will be made according to the procedure below. If the recommendation is not accepted, the SIAM VPand the Chairperson of the Prize Committee will select an acceptable paper at least three months prior to the award date.
Notification of Award
The Chairperson of the Prize Committee will notify the recipient(s) of the award at least three months in advance of the award date. An invitation will also be extended to the recipient(s) to attend the award ceremony to receive the award and to present the paper.
Description of the Award
Type
The award will consist of a certificate containing the
citation. If the selected paper has multiple authors, each author will
receive a certificate. There will be no cash award associated
with the prize.
Award Date and Period
Beginning in 1995, the prize will be awarded every third year at the
triennial SIAM Conference on Optimization. The award period will be the
four calendar years preceding the year of the meeting. The overlap in
award periods is intended to ensure that no paper will fail to be
considered because of differences between the official publication date of
the journal issue containing the paper and the actual time when that issue
reaches its subscribers or because of the requirements that the committee
notify the SIAM VP at least five months prior to the awarding of
the prize.
Obligations of Recipient
At least one of the awardees is expected to attend the award ceremony and to present the paper at the meeting. Travel funds will be made available to reimburse the speaker for reasonable travel expenses incurred in attending the award ceremony and giving the lecture.
The Prize Fund
Since there is no cash award and minimal expenses associated with the prize, there will be no prize fund. The cost of the plaque and certificate will be financed by the SIAG/OPT membership dues.
The Award Presentation
The Chairperson of the SIAG/OPT will announce the award at the chosen meeting and present the award to the recipient(s) who is present. The co-author recipient(s) is not required to be present to receive the award.
An announcement of the award recipient(s) will appear in SIAM News and the SIAG/OPT Newsletter.
Prize History
Previous recipients of the SIAM Activity Group on Optimization Prize:
- 1996 Dimitris J. Bertsimas and Michel X. Goemans
- 1999 Michel X. Goemans and David P. Williamson
- 2002 Kurt Anstreicher, Nathan Brixius, Jean-Pierre Goux, and Jeff Linderoth
- 2005 Raphael Hauser
- 2008 Alexandre d'Aspremont, Laurent El Ghaoui, Michael I. Jordan, and Gert R.G. Lanckriet
- 2011 Christine Bachoc and Frank Vallentin
- 2014 Yinyu Ye - View Presentation: SIAG/OPT Prize Lecture: Efficiency of the Simplex and Policy Iteration Methods for Markov Decision Processes
- 2017 Jérôme Bolte, Shoham Sabach, and Marc Teboulle
The next award is to be made in 2020.
Selection Committee
Click here to see a list of selection committee members by year.
