Abstract
Minute 5. Matters arising.
H. G. Trüper noted that time did not allow delegates to attend Committee meetings and the scientific sessions of the Congress. It was agreed to explore the possibility of holding Committee meetings prior to the start of future Congresses, possibly in a local academic institution, to avoid clashes. Funding for this arrangement could possibly be obtained from FEMS.
Minute 6. Report of the Chairman.
Chairman E. Stackebrandt reflected positively on the work of ICSP in the last 3 years. He highlighted the performance of ICSP's journal, the International Journal of Systematic and Evolutionary Microbiology (IJSEM), since its publication was transferred to the Society for General Microbiology (SGM). He thanked A. C. Parte and R. Dunford for their work as Managing Editor and Deputy Managing Editor, respectively. He gave details of the ICSP web page (), listing contact details for the Executive Board of ICSP, members of Taxonomic Subcommittees and the taxa they cover. Hyperlinks allow users to view subcommittee minutes, details of forthcoming meetings and J. P. Euzeby's List of Bacterial Names with Standing in Nomenclature (). The Chairman listed a number of meetings he had attended during the last 3 years, highlighting his participation at the IUMS Executive Board meeting, Cape Town, South Africa, 67 April 2001, at which he reported on the activities of ICSP. He also represented the committee at a number of additional meetings (ESA, OECD) and gave a brief description of two recent ad hoc meetings supported by ICSP, details of which are given in Minutes 11 and 12 of these minutes. The Chairman concluded by announcing his retirement as Chairman of ICSP and Editor of IJSEM at this Congress, thanking the committee for its support over the years.
Minute 7. Nominating Committee.
The following individuals were appointed members of a nominating committee for the Executive Board, Editor of IJSEM and the Judicial Commission vacancies: D. P. Labeda, H. G. Trüper, E. Stackebrandt and G. M. Garrity.
Minute 8. Executive Secretary/Treasurer's Report.
G. S. Saddler listed a number of nomenclatural changes that had occurred since the Sydney Congress to the Committee, the Code and the Journal, with the new names the International Code of Nomenclature of Prokaryotes, the International Committee on Systematics of Prokaryotes' and International Journal of Systematic and Evolutionary Microbiology, respectively.
He reported on the nomination process for The van Neil Prize. The committee's nomination for this session was L. Wayne (USA) for his contribution to the biology of Mycobacterium and to bacterial systematics in general. L. Wayne was duly awarded The van Neil Prize. The announcement was made during the IUMS Congress, and the Committee extended their congratulations to L. Wayne on this much-deserved award.
With regards to the secretarial work for the committee, 264 letters were sent out at the end of May 2001 to member societies seeking nominations for persons to serve on the ICSP. From this mailshot, only 38 responses were received, and three were sent back as addressee unknown. Time did not allow a follow-up mailing. From the 38 respondents there have been eight subsequent apologies for absence at this meeting.