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Table of Contents
Preface
Acknowledgments
- Mathematics
Prior to Islamic Era
- Mathematics
During Islamic Era
-
Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries A.D.
- The
International Mathematical Olympiads
- An Overview of TIMSS
- Some Statistical Data
- Payam-e-Noor
University
- Dr.
Mosaheb Institute of Mathematics
- Mathematical Journals
-
Mathematics, Statistics and Computer Science Department of
Iran University Press
-
The Center for Theoretical Physics and Mathematics of the
Atomic Energy Organization
-
The Institute for Studies in Theoretical Physics and
Mathematics
-
Mathematics Department of the Academy of Sciences
-
Mathematics Section of the National Iranian Research Council
-
National Commission for the World Mathematical Year 2000
- Iranian
Statistical Society
-
Development History of the Iranian Mathematical Society
-
President Khatarni’s Message to the 31st National
Mathematics Conference, and the Text of Gratitude
- Comments and
Suggestions
References
We take this wonderful opportunity of holding the 12th General
Meeting of the Third World Academy of Sciences (TWAS) and the
General Assembly of the Third World Network of Scientific
Organizations (TWNSO) in Iran as good fortune. We also believe
that the development of “A Brief Report on Mathematics in Iran:
Past, Present and Future Outlook" is valuable, although we
acknowledge its shortcomings. We developed the report within a
time constraint and less than satisfactory conditions in which,
most of the universities were literally closed for the summer,
and many informed members of the organizations affiliated with
the Ministry of Science, Research and Technology were on their
summer vacations. Thus, in some occasions we were not able to
obtain reliable statistics for providing interesting
information. However, the accessible reliable information
illustrates the continuous qualitative and quantitative growth
of mathematics in Iran.
This growth is promising, due to the fact that from the 12th
Century A.D. for about 600 years Iran was under the rule of
uncivilized invaders, who opposed wisdom and intellectualism.
Ul1til 70 years ago, we rarely had any mathematicians who were
familiar with the progressive trends of the world. However,
within the last 70 years, the mathematical community of Iran has
tried hard and made a tremendous effort to change this
situation. Presently, Iranian mathematicians and young and
talented scholars of mathematics are gaining high status in Iran
and abroad. Many of them are well received by the most
prestigious North American and European universities and
research centers. Thus, we decided to give a thorough account of
the mathematical situation in Iran by presenting the most
influential organizations and by discussing the strengths and
weaknesses of the mathematical community with the existing data.
This report is organized into 19 sections. The first three
sections give a historical account of the situation and
condition of mathematics in Iran. Sections 4 and S are devoted
to mathematics at the general education levels (pre-university
mathematics). The next section contains 6 statistical tables.
Most of the other sections are devoted to the organizations that
are related to mathematics and have contributed in its
development. Section 18 contains H.E.President Khatami.s message
to the 31th National Mathematics Conference and a note of
appreciation from the for and wise remarks. We have deliberately
presented some sections with details, in order to make them
accessible for implementation or criticism by our foreign
colleagues. We will specially appreciate their comments and
advice.
We believe that the present report is in a primordial stage.
It should be completed and revised, and should also be updated
every S years. However, we do hope that the policy makers would
pay serious attention to the suggestions that are given at the
end of this report. (page
top)
According to their responsibilities, a number of dignitaries and
colleagues helped me prepare the “Brief Report on Mathematics in
Iran: Past, Present and Future Outlook." Assuming the
responsibility for all the shortcomings, I would like to
sincerely thank them for their great efforts. The following, in
alphabetical order, are among the most significant contributers: Allahyari, Mojtaba; Baradaran Khosrovshahi, Gholam Reza;
Haghani, Ahmad; Haaji Babaaii, Javad; Kiamanesh, Alireza;
Mirzaii, Hossein; Parand, Kurosh;
Poorkazemi, Mohammad Hossein: Radjabalipour, Mehdi; Vahidi-e AsI,
Mohammad Ghasem; Vesal. Manoochehr.
I would also like to extend my thanks to my colleagues Ismaiil
Babolian and Alireza Jamali. In addition to preparing some
sections, they also cooperated with me in organizing this
report.
I sincerely thank Zahra Gooya for translating various
portions of the Persian scripts into English. Her comments and
suggestions were of immense value.
I am most grateful to Ali Z. Zangeneh for editting and typing
the English scripts. Superb editorial contributions of my friend, Bijan Sheybany,
is greatly appreciated.
Finally, I would like to thank Ali Barzegar for his efforts in
providing me with memorable photographes.
The preparation of the report was funded and supported by the
Ministry of Science, Research, and Technology. The high
officials of the Ministry also gave me guidance and help. My
best regards to them all.
(page top)Mehdi Behzad
September 2000
There is little information about education and research in Iran
before Islam and the two subsequent centuries. Prior to the
invasion of Alexander of Macedonia in the 6th Century B.C., the
Iranian civilization, like those of Indians and Greeks, had an
elaborate practice in mathematics which initiated from the needs
of astronomy, architecture and music. After the invasion by
Alexander until the eighth century A.D., there was a relative
recession in mathematics in Iran. During this period, not only
the previous achievements did not continue, but also some of
them disappeared. After this rather long period, a new era of
mathematics history developed that can be regarded as part of
the scientific movement, spread throughout the Islamic
territories, and had a great effect on the progress of
mathematics.
The historians of mathematics call this period "Islamic Era"
which will be dealt with in the subsequent section. Regarding
this era, Mansouri in [3] notes that:
"There-is no information about the schools of theoretical
sciences.
It seems that philosophy and other theoretical sciences were
dealt i within the scope of religion and were merely taught to
Magi or the clerics." Apparently, dialogue, thinking and
theoretical sciences were at least neglected. II "Scholars and
students from all over the world were engaged in teaching and
learning at those schools."
Considering the above points and the fact that Iranians were
able to construct great palaces like .Persepolis and rule over
the Great Empires of Achaemenides and Sassanids, we can easily
come f to the conclusion that there existed a strong and dynamic
applied mathematics in ancient Iran. This, however, Is just a
surmise, and there are few, If any, references and precise
analytical studies to prove it. However, there are many
unanswered questions. The expert historians of I science and
those interested in the history of mathematics of the ancient
era, in particular, should work in this field to find answers
for these questions. (page
top)During the ruling period of al-Mamun (807-827 A.D.), the
establishment of "Beytol Hekmah" (the house of learning)
provided a great opportunity for Moslem scholars to get involved
in scientific activities. Moslem scientists conducted many
research studies and translated classical works in Greek,
Syrian, Pahlavi and Sanskrit languages to promote scientific
activities. Thus, the Islamic Civilization continued the
tradition of establishing scientific institutions, having the
support of dedicated scholars throughout its vast territories.
According to historians of science, " the beginning of the
history of mathematics in Islamic Era was marked with the
magnificent r work of one of the great Iranian mathematician of
al-Mamun period; Mohammed fun. Musa al- Khawarazmi. His work
entitled "Kitab al-mokhtasar fi hesab al-jabr wal’-moqabalah"
(The Book of Summary in the Process of Calculation for
Compulsion and Equation).
In fact, the development of mathematics in the Islamic Era
started from the establishment of "Beytol Hekmah" and reached
its peak with Khawarazrni and his work. After him, many
mathematicians emerged during Islamic Era, who wrote many books
in Arabic and Persian, and translated many classical works of
mathematics. In particular, Iranian-Moslem mathematicians
completed the system of decimal fractions, innovated algebra,
made important discoveries in plane and spherical trigonometry,
and innovated appropriate methods for finding numerical answers
to equations.
However, this productive era did not last longer than the 18th
Century.Since then, the trend of mathematics in Islamic world
has been mostly influenced by the Europeans instead of creating
genuine works. In fact, "Eyoon al-Hessab" written by "Molla
Mohammad Bagher Yazdi" the Iranian mathematician of the early
181h Century, is the last magnificent mathematics book of
Islamic Era.
Recent discoveries made in the history of mathematics by
scholars such as Franz Woepke, has proved that unlike the
historians’ beliefs of the 19th century about mathematical
knowledge of Moslems in algebra, the Moslems’ algebra had gone
far beyond the first and the second degree of numerical
computations. For example, scholars like Khayyam, the prominent
Iranian mathematician, poet, and philosopher, classified the
first, second and third degree equations. Khayyam regularly
conducted research in solving cubic equations and was able to
find geometrical solutions for them. It has also been proved
that an important part of Leonardo Fibonacchi work is influenced
by Karji"s book entitled "al-Fakhri."
The number of prominent Iranian mathematicians who lived between
8th to 181h Centuries A.O. and produced innovative and
significant works in mathematics are remarkable. However, in
this brief report, no reference is made to their names and their
works. To have a relatively comprehensive account of
mathematicians of Islamic Era and their works, one can refer to
the valuable book of Abul-Qassem Qurbani [2]. (page
top)
As mentioned in previous sections, no information is available
about the Iranian mathematics before the Islamic Era. However,
Islamic-lranian mathematicians have made great contributions to
the development of mathematics in general. From the 8th century
A.D., all sciences of the time; including philosophy and natural
sciences, were taught in "Darol Hekmah.’ (House of Learning), "Darol
Elm" (House of Knowledge), "Darol Ketab" (House of Books), "Darol
Hadith" (House of Prophetic Traditions), public libraries,
hospitals, and observatories.
With the establishment of "Schools", the teaching of all
sciences was limited to them. Gradually, the state schools
called "Nezamiyeh" gained great credibility. The monopoly of
these schools restricted ordinary people’s access to education.
Thus, the expansion of scientific thought through a vast, and
unstructured popular educational system of the early Islamic Era
slowed down to a great degree. The "Schools", as higher
education institutes of that time, dedicated most of their
efforts to teaching "Fighh" (Islamic Jurisprudence or Theology)!
"Hadith"(Prophetic Traditions) and "Bayan" (Science of
Figurative Expression) and lost its dynamism. Undoubtedly, this
event has developed within several centuries due to the various
historical, political, economical, and social reasons that many
of them are unknown to us. Thus, this is a rich area to be
studied by the devoted scholars and historians of mathematics of
our time.
Therefore, from the 16th century to the dawn of the 19th
century, and while Europe was enjoying mathematical discoveries
and creations, with few exceptions Iran was in a great
scientific recession. The advent of Renaissance in Europe sent
shock waves throughout the world. One of the influential
dignitaries of that time; Amir Kabir, made a devotion to
compensate for that recession. He therefore, established Darol
Fonoon, the first Polytechnic School in Iran, to provide modem
education. Regarding mathematics, there was no independent
department and mathematics was only dealt with as a service
course. It is worth mentioning that qualified teachers were
invited from abroad, and there was hardly any Iranian
mathematics teacher in Darol Fonoon.
Continuing the development process, several elementary schools
were established in 1918, The Ministry of Culture of the time,
established the Central School for Teachers to train qualified
teachers for elementary schools. The Central School for Teachers
operated until 1928 The curriculum of this school contained
courses in psychology. logic, and teaching methods. All
graduates were employed by the Ministry of Culture.
Gradually, the number of elementary schools increased.
Subsequently, secondary education received special attention and
some secondary schools were established. Thus, there was an
expressed need for qualified teachers at this level. Therefore,
government made an effort to provide training for teachers at
secondary level. To do this, an arrangement was made to train a
group of talented students in Iran and to send another group to
Europe to have further training. A Darol Moallemin-e Aali
(Higher Teacher Training School; HTTS) was established then. The
students were given scholarship for studying at HTTS. Two major
fields, namely; sciences and literature were established at HTTS.
Students could apply for HTTS, after completion of their
secondary education. The HTTS had also developed a mathematics
department and students who graduated from this department were
granted Bachelors Degree. There was no university education in
mathematics prior to 1928.
For a long time, there were only three French mathematics
instructors at HTTS with no Iranians until 1932. In 1931, seven
and in 1932, thirteen students were graduated from HTTS and sent
to Europe for graduate study. All of them came back to Iran
after finishing their studies, and had great influences on the
progress of mathematics in Iran.
On the other hand, HTTS’ name was changed to Daneshsaraay-e Aali,
and after the establishment of University of Tehran in 1934,
HTTS became its centeral core. Still, there was no independent
mathematics department at University of Tehran.
In 1942, HTTS had about 4000 volumes of books including
scientific, literature and philosophical in Persian, Arabic,
German, English, and mostly in French. This is especially
important since there were only five other libraries in Tehran
which, all together, had approximately 100,000 books.
After University of Tehran, establishment of modern public
universities started in capitals of major provinces. The second
modern university was established in Tabriz in 1945 and the
trend has continued since then. Of the present day public
universities, Payam-e Noor University is the only one engaged in
Distance Education. Islamic Azad University, a private
university, was established after the Islamic Revolution and has
branches in most cities and provinces. It is worth mentioning
that most branches offer mathematics programs leading to
different degrees.
In the process of developing mathematics programs, the first
Masters program in mathematics was established in the University
of Shiraz in 1966. All the graduates of this program proceeded
to North America to work towards their Doctoral degree in
mathematics. They mostly came back to Iran and helped further
the progress of mathematics. Prior to the establishment of the
Islamic Republic in Iran, a Doctoral program in mathematics was
founded in 1976 and several students were admitted. This program
was discontinued due to the Cultural Revolution of 1980.
To meet the needs, a number of universities were authorized to
establish Doctoral programs in mathematics in the last 12 years.
Presently, there are more than 14 universities in Tehran and
almost all of them offer programs in mathematics, including the
Ph.D. program [3,4,6]. (page
top)
In 1983, with the support of the Ministry of Education the 1th
Mathematical Contest (FMC) was held at provincial levels in
Iran, In March 1984, sixty selected students. participated in
the final stage of the FMC in chorus with the 15th National
Mathematics Conference held in Shiraz, In the following year, at
Tarbiat-e Moallem University a group or 80 selected students
competed at the 12th Mathematics Contest. In 1985, one Iranian
student participated in the International Mathematical Olympiad
(IMO) in France and obtained 28 out of the possible 42 marks. In
1986, One hundt:red students competed in the 3rd Mathematics
Contest held in Sistan & Baluchestan Province. In this year an
official delegate from the Ministry of Education discussed the
possibility of participation of Islamic Republic of Iran’s team
in IMO, with its organizers. In the spring of 1987, eighty five
students competed in the 4th Mathematics Contest in Birjand in
chorus with the 18th National Mathematics Conference. The
students, who are placed between the 1st and 6th positions in
this contest, participated in the 28th IMO in Cuba in the summer
of 1987. Having won a bronze medal in Iran’s first
participation, the Ministry of Education was convinced to invest
in the training of Iranian students for participation in the
annual IMO competitions. Following this. the Young Researchers
Club (YRC) was established.
1. Selection Procedures for the Mathematics Olympiad Team
In order to have a significant presence in the International
Mathematics Olympiads, YRC selects the most talented students.
The team members are selected through five stages:
stage 1: Capable and interested students participate in
mathematics contests in their home towns.
stage 2: The selected students of the first stage,
participate in mathematics contests at the provincial level.
stage 3: YRC arranges an extensive summer program in
Tehran for students selected at the provincial level. The
program is supervised. and monitored by a Scientific Committee
and operates as a Summer Boarding School. These students do not
pay tuition and their expenses are fully paid by YRC. These
summer programs are aimed at providing appropriate opportunities
for talented students to participate in different training
courses and be able to develop their capabilities, use rich
resources and benefit from qualified instructors. Furthermore,
the trained students can play a significant role in encouraging
other interested students to prepare themselves for mathematical
contests and Olympiads in their cities and provinces, The summer
program provides a good opportunity for YRC to select the most
talented students for the International Mathematical Olympiads
based on more fair and balanced conditions. It’s worth
mentioning that a total of 40 students participate in the summer
programs from all around the country.
stage 4: At the end of each summer program, 9 students are
selected. These 9 students enter university and study in any
field they want, without taking the National Entrance
Examination.
stage 5: The selected team is subjected to another
intensive and crucial training program in YRC and participates
in several examinations. Finally, the six members of the team
for IMO are selected.
2. Future Programs of YRC Regarding Mathematics
· Establishment of YRC branches in the provincial capitals to
encourage more talented students to study mathematics.
· Conducting official negotiations with the Ministry of Science,
Research and Technology to receive permission for university
education in mathematics for all the 40 selected students of the
third stage without taking National Entrance Examination
· Publication of a series of useful books authored by those
selected students for mathematics Olympiad paticipants who
continue their study in mathematics. This effort needs financial
support from different organizations. The YRC also appreciates
any support received from IMS and Iranian mathematicians
throughout the world.
3. Final Remark
Mathematics is well received by talented Iranian students nation
wide. The number of participants at the first stage has had a
remarkable growth from 7,900 in 1993 to 51,000 in 1999.
The following table, contains information about the
participation of the Iranian Mathematics Olympiad teams in the
last fourteen IMO contests.
Information about the Iranian Teams which Participated
in the last 14 International Mathematical Olympiads
Remark: In the 38th IMO Iman Eftekhari placed first overall. In
the 391th IMO Omid Amini was the absolute winner. (page
top)
To meet the challenge of preparing children for the 21st
Century, having access to accurate information about students’
understanding of mathematics and science, is an undeniable need.
The Third International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS)
has done much to meet the information needs of educators and
policymakers and provided invaluable data to academicians,
researchers, and decision makers around the world.
The TIMSS was conducted in Iran at two levels of educational
system:
· Population 1: The two adjacent grades with largest proportion
of nine year olds (third and fourth graders with grade four as
the target grade)
· Population 2: The two adjacent grades with largest proportion
of thirteen year olds (seventh and eighth graders with grades
eight as the target grade).
Students’ achievement in mathematics and science was measured in
TIMSS through written tests requiring students to select
appropriate response or solve problem and answer questions in a
free-response format. In addition, in Populations land 2,
sub-samples of students in grades 3 and 4, and 7 and 8 were
selected to participate in the TIMSS performance assessment.
Students designed experiments, manipulated materials, tested
hypotheses, and recorded findings when completing a range of
mathematics and science tasks. Nine countries from population
land nineteen countries from population 2; including Iran,
participated in the performance assessment.
In addition, to measuring students’ achievement, TIMSS collected
information from students, teachers. and school principals on a
wide range of such contextual variables related to the teaching
and learning of mathematics and science as instructional
strategies, classroom activities, school characteristics,
students’ socio-economic status and attitudes and home
background variables.
The result of the study shows that the overall percentage of
correct answers of Iranian students in the mathematics written
test and performance assessment tasks was lower than the
international mean at the both Population land 2 levels. The
findings of subsequent studies carried out in Iran like
"Assessing Basic Competitions: An Evaluation of Educational
Inputs and Outputs (Grade 5 of Primary)" and TIMSS -R are to a
great extent in accordance with TIMSS results. Unfortunately,
all are indicative of students’ very low performance in
mathematics. Isn’t it the time to give considerable attention to
educational issues such as the quality of mathematics education
in Iran? Wouldn’t it be better to approach these issues with
vigor rather than being boastful of the very small minority of
Iranian students who have fared well in different international
Mathematics. Chemistry, and Physics Olympiads? (page
top)
This Section contains six tables. Data are taken from [7,8,9].
Some interesting facts can immediately be seen from these
tables, one of which is the rapid growth of the number of female
students versus the male!
Table 3 indicates that about 10% of the high school graduates
enter colleges and universities through the National Entrance
Examination. If we include the Islamic Azad University, this
figure will rise to about 20%. Islamic Azad University is a
private institution founded about 20 years ago, and has branches
in many cities. This university conducts its own entrance
examination.Table 1. Approximate Size of Student Populations at
Different Levels
Table 2. Approximate Number of Faculty & Administration
Employees (Ministry of Education)
Table 3. Approximate Number of Participants in the
National Entrance Examination for Undergraduate Studies
Table4. Approximate Number of Participants in the
National Entrance Examination for M.A. & M.S. Degrees
Table 5. Approximate Number of University Students in
Mathematical Sciences (Government Run Universities)
Table 6. Approximate Number or Students in Mathematical
Sciences (Islamic Azad University)
(page
top)
1. Historical Background
Payam-e Noor University is the only Open University in Iran that
operates distance education. Before the establishment of this
university, two universities; namely Abu- Rayhan and Azad were
established in 1971 and 1973 respectively; provided distance
education. Abu-Rayhan University provided correspondence
Education and Azad University provided Open Education. The
activities of these two universities came to an end in 1980.
Thus, from 1980 to 1987, there was no distance education. In
this period, a group of high ranking officials of the higher
education were involved in a lengthly study to investigate the
feasibility of raising the capacity of universities in order to
increase the number of specialized and capable educated people.
As a result of this study, the preparation for establishing a
comprehensive distance university was made and Payam-e Noor
University was founded in 1987. The establishment of a distance
university was especially important since the universities that
already existed had only limited capacity for accepting high
school graduates. With the establishment of Payam-e Noor
University, some of the facilities and equipment of the Abu-Rayhan
and Azad Universities as well as a number of faculty and staff
members of these two universities were transferred to this new
university. At present Payam-e Noor University is a member of
the Asian Union of Open Universities.
2. Goals and Objectives
· To increase the scientific knowledge and cultural
understanding level of the society;
· To create new opportunities for certain groups of people such
as housewives, government employees and those who are not able
to continue their study in a traditional education system;
· To increase the capacity of higher education by using
different potentials of the society that are not used in a
traditional system;
· To train part of the specialized manpower for the society;
· To update the knowledge of some of the capable forces of the
society.
3. Educational System
In Payam-e Noor, the educational system is based on
self-instructing textbooks. In addition, the following means are
provided to support students’ learning:
· Individual and group tutoring;
· Supporting material;
· Correspondence tutoring;
· Audio-Visual material;
· "Computer-Instructed Learning’. programs;
· Laboratory kits;
· Conducting weekend classes;
· Conducting laboratories or workshops.
4. Preparation of Materials
A number of highly qualified professional groups are cooperating
with Payam-e Noor , University to prepare curriculum materials.
These groups include; authors, educational technologists,
artists. curriculum developers, scientific and linguistic
editors. TV directors, laboratory kits. designers and software
specialists. These groups are assigned to prepare self-
instructing contents, study guides. audio-visual material.
educational films, laboratory kits, Computer- Instructed
Learning programs, and supporting books and material.
Up to now, 789 books, 12 TV programs and 3 Computer-Instructed
Learning programs have been prepared. The process is continued
to develop curriculum material for other courses based on their
priorities.
5. Student Evaluation
The student evaluation is usually based on final examinations at
the end of each term, completion of course questionnaires.
homework. mid-term examinations and projects. The test material
for most of the examinations are prepared and developed at the
central office, and the examinations are administered
simultaneously, in all branches of this university.
6. Faculty Members
Payam-e Noor University has 507 full time faculty members. In
addition, about 5000 part time faculty members are cooperating
with this university .The number of university staff is 3692.
7. Organization
Presently, 144 centers and 23 units are aperating in Payam-e
Noor University. In the future plans these numbers are to
increase. These centers are responsible for the students.
registration. distribution of educational material, individual
and group tutoring, and administering the examinations. The
central office is responsible for developing and publishing
books, films and other educational materials. There are 21
studying fields at this university at Bachelors level; they
include science, humanities and software computer engineering.
Presently, the number of students that are studying in distance
education is 193,643.
8. Student Enrollment
Student enrollment is possible by two different methods. The
first is accepting students for formal programs via the National
University Examination. The second is accepting students for I
widespread programs based on the GPA of their last year of high
school or pre-university level.
9. Programs
Recently, the Ministry of Science. Research and Technology has
approved, in principle, the University.s proposal to establish
Masters and Doctoral programs.
Payam-e Noor University has mathematics programs leading to
Bachelors of Science degree in 49 centers. The University has
published 33 textbooks for its mathematics courses[5]. (page
top)
I Considering the ever increasing needs of universities and
other higher educational institutes for capable and trained
instructors and lecturers in different branches of mathematics,
the "Mathematics Instructor’s Program" was approved by the
Government appointed "University Council" in 1965. The program
started, in the framework of an institute, at Danesh Sara-ye
Aali (presently known as Tarbiat-e Mo’allem University) in the
same year. This institute officially It started its work under
the gui?ance.oft.he late Or. Gholam Hossein Mosaheb (1910-1979),
who was one of the renowned Iranian scientists, researchers and
mathematicians of his time.
The most important characteristics of this institute were its
specialized library with 520 books in foreign languages, 67
prestigious international journals and the cooperation of
experienced university professors from foreign countries.
From 1966 to 1979, three female and 69 male students graduated
from this institute, more than 80% of whom received their Ph.D.
in mathematics. Presently, most of the Institute’s graduates are
teaching and doing research in mathematics departments of
various universities throughout the country.
After the Islamic Revolution, and in particular after the
Cultural Revolution, the Institute continued its work under the
new name “Dr. Mosaheb Institute of Mathematics". Presently, 6
full professors, 5 associate professors, and 5 assistant
professors (all former students of the Institute themselves) are
teaching and guiding graduate students. From 1989, a Masters
program in applied mathematics and statistics and a Doctoral
program in applied mathematics have been added to the other
programs of this institute.
Currently, the Institute’s library has 4320 books in various
languages and 93 international journals in different fields of
mathematics. From 1989 till the beginning of the summer of 2000,
thirty three female and 134 male students and researchers have
received Masters degrees in pure and applied mathematics and in
statistics. In addition, 13 students have received Ph.D. degrees
in mathematics. Presently, 46 Masters and 22 Doctoral students
are doing graduate work in this institute.
A Continuous Doctoral Program has been started since September
of this year, and a number of mathematics Olympiad students as
well as some high-ranking participants of the University
Entrance Examination are to enroll in this program. In addition,
the establishment of the Masters program in mathematics
education and computer science as well as the Doctoral program
in statistics will take place in near future.
(page top)
From the time of the establishment of Darol Fonoon as a small
university in 1847, which provided courses in French literature,
medicine, natural sciences, engineering, music, and mathematics,
up to 1926, there is not much information on whether any
scientific journal had been published in Iran. Apparently, the
first mathematics journal called "Majale-ye Riaziat" was publ
ished in 1926 with the effort of 3 people who were interested in
mathematics. Another mathematics journal called "Khayyam" was
published one year later: in 1927, but it did not take very long
for it to close down. It seems that "Majale-ye Riaziat" and "Khayyam"
that were both published in stone prints; were only published in
a limited number of copies and only a few people received
copies. The first Iranian mathematical journal, about which a
reasonable amount of information exists, is the "Basic & Higher
Mathematics Journal"(BHMJ) better known as "Vaahed", was first
published in 1930. The editor in chief and founder of this
journal was the late Dr. Gholam Hossein Mosaheb who later became
one of the most prominent mathematicians and scholars of Iran.
The BHMJ was published biweekly until the spring of 1931. The
four cover pages were in lead print and the inside pages were
hand written and in stone print. There was a recess, and the
first issue of the second volume was published in December 1935,
with lead print as well. One part of the BHMJ was devoted to
basic mathematics at the high school level and the other part,
to higher mathematics at university level. At present, only few
issues of the Basic & Higher Mathematics Journal still exist in
private libraries or in the libraries of such old universities
as Tarbiat-e Mo’allem University.
1. The "Yekan" and "Ashty ba Riaziat" Journals
After BHMJ apparently no popular mathematics journals were
published until 1963. In that year, with the efforts of Abdol
Hossein Moshafi, a basic mathematics journal called "Yekkan" was
published. The Journal was extremely successful at that time and
was able to attract many talented students and high school
mathematics teachers. Parviz Shahriari is another devoted and
hard working scholar who has been publishing a number of
mathematics journals since 1978 I. It is not exajurating to say
that Moshafi with his Yekkan, and Shahriari with his various
mathematics journals and books, either translated or authored,
are parts of the Iranian mathematical heritage.
2. Research Journals in Mathematics and Sciences
With the growing number of universities, research centers,
higher education institutes and scientific societies; the number
of descriptive and research journals in mathematics and sciences
has increased. The most reliable research journal of mathematics
in Iran is the "Bulletin of the Iranian Mathematical Society"
that started in 1973. At the beginning, the Bulletin included
descriptive articles and news, while at present it only contains
research articles in mathematics. .This bulletin is published
biannually and so far, 26 volumes have been published. The
significant aspect of the bulletin is that its aI:ticles are
reviewed by the American Mathematical Society, and that all the
articles are written in English. The second most reliable
research journal in Iran is the "Basic Science Journal of the
Islamic Republic of Iran", published by the Ministry of Science,
Research and Technology. This journal was first published in
1989 and accepts research articles in basic sciences and
mathematics in English. Forty issues of this journal have so far
been published.
Furthermore, different universities in Iran publish another 12
research journals in the field of basic sciences and
mathematics.
3. Descriptive Journals
Different institutes publish a number of descriptive mathematics
journals. The ones that are widespread and have received
positive attentions are:
· Nashr-e Riazi: published by Iran University Press since 1988;
· Farhang Va Andishe-ye Riazi: Published by the Iranian
Mathematical Society since 1982:
· Roshd-e Riazi: Published by the Ministry of Education since
1985. Roshd-e Riazi is the only mathematics teacher education
journal in Iran.
Presently, there are about 20 descriptive mathematics journals
in Iran with acceptable quality.
(page top)
The High Council for the Cultural Revolution (former Commission
of the Cultural Revolution) was established in 1980. One of its
main goals was to prepare dependable academic textbooks instead
of non-reliable textbooks of that time. The universities were
closed down for 3 years due to the Cultural Revolution. Thus,
under the supervision and guidance of a committee, the
academicians spent their working time to write, translate and
edit academic textbooks. Soon the committee changed its name to
Iran University Press. This center formed various specialized
Departments including the Mathematics, Statistics, and Computer
Science Department (MSCD), which prepared textbooks based on
educational needs of the universities.
Thus far, 130 mathematics books have been published by MSCD. The
major part of this work is the translation of such academic
textbooks as a complete translation of the "New Mathematical
Library Series", originally published by the Mathematical
Association of America. This Department enjoys the cooperation
of university mathematics professors as well as the Iranian
Mathematical Society. The "Dictionary of Mathematics and
Statistics" is a joint work of this department and IMS. The
descriptive journal of "Nashr-e Riazi" (Mathematics Publication)
is being published biannually since 1988 by the Department, and
its editorial board consists mainly of university mathematics
professors. (page
top)
1. Historical Development
Before the Islamic Revolution most of the theoretical researches
conducted at the Atomic Energy Organization (AEO) was numerical
in nature. The main purpose was to have theoretical estimates
for such physical quantities as the surface area of atomic and
nuclear reactions; atomic, molecular and nuclear properties, and
gain access to numerical technology. Part of these activities
continued for a short while after the Revolution. However, these
research activities stopped a short while after.
After a few years, some of the researchers as well as the
president of the organization paid attention to theoretical
research. Due to the closure of universities in the 3-year
period of the Cultural Revolution, the Organization could easily
attract university researchers. Dr. Jamshid Parvizi was the
first theoretical researcher, and a prominent mathematician of
the Sharif University of Technology who joined this
organization. Although his stay did not last very long. he is
still respected as one of the people who first started
theoretical physics and mathematics research in AEO. In that
short period a small group started working for the establishment
of the "Center for Theoretical Physics and Mathematics" of the
Atomic Energy Organization.
2. ActivitiesThe most important ongoing activities of the Center include:
· The provision of necessary inducements to attract theoretical
researchers from all over the country;
· Formation of a scientific council;
· Granting memberships based on the member’s scientific quality
and research proposals;
· Evaluation of papers and annual reports;
· Running weekly lectures.
At first, the Center’s scientific activity was limited to 5
research proposals in combinatorics, mathematical physics,
fundamental particles, astro and nuclear physics. There were
only 10 researchers doing all these activities. Gradually, the
extended activities were organized to introduce the center to
the universities and research institutes inside the country and
abroad. Also, the center appealed to university professors in
Iran for cooperation. To do this. the first conference on
theoretical physics and mathematics was held in Ramsar in 1988.
A number of researchers from Iranian universities and 6
prominent researchers from abroad participated in this
conference. A number of workshops and short programs have been
organized in, and out of the Center, regarding different
branches of mathematics and physics. Presently about 30, mostly
part time, faculty members are working and doing research at
this center. (page
top)
With the purpose of expanding and enhancing research in
different fields of theoretical physics and mathematics, “The
Center for Theoretical Physics and Mathematics" of the Ministry
of Science, Research, and Technology, was established in 1989.
Following its expansion in the fields of cognitive science and
theoretical computer science, the Center’s name was changed to
"The Institute for Studies in Theoretical Physics and
Mathematics" in 1996. The main goals and objectives of the
Institute are:
· Conducting genuine research in the fields that the Institute
was established for;
· Establishing a specialized library, electronic network,
computer facilities, etc.. for enhancing and supporting research
activities;
· Acting regionally and internationally by arranging seminars,
workshops, and exchanging scientific publications;
· Cooperating with other universities and research institutes
for training graduate students with high research interests;
· Admitting native and foreign students for post doctoral work;
· Establishing temporary Doctoral programs to provide and expand
research in new fields.
The governing body of the Institute includes: Board of Trustees;
President of the Institute; Scientific Council; and Executive
Council.
Presently, the Institute consists of the following three
schools: School for Mathematics, School for Theoretical Physics,
and School for Intelligent Systems. All the three schools are
relatively autonomous, especially with regard to financial
affairs.
Permanent and temporary members. postdoctoral students, resident
and non-resident researchers, and research groups are
responsible for conducting all types of research projects. The
time allocated for each research project is 3 years and it could
be extended for another 3 years, under special circumstances.
Each research group consists of one senior researcher (associate
or full professor), one postdoctoral student and maximum of
three doctoral students. Some schools such as mathematics, offer
a limited number of annual scholarships that are given to highly
qualified graduate students.
Thus far, the School of Mathematics has established such
different research groups as, Combinatorics, Dynamical Systems,
Mathematical Logic, Communitative and Non-communitative Algebra,
Group Theory, and Theoretical Differential Equations. Up to now,
189 nonresident research projects have been, or are being
conducted. Presently, there are 14 full time postdoctoral
fellows in the Institute, six of which belong to the School of
Mathematics. This number is hoped to rise to 10 soon.
In the fast seven years, the Institute has produced 500 research
articles accepted by International Journals, 210 of which belong
to the School of Mathematics. The School of Theoretical Physics
has been quite active too. On the whole, some of the best
researchers in the field of mathematics and theoretical physics
are affiliated with the Institute. A number of temporary
educational programs have been developed to fill the gap that
exists in the higher education of the country .For example, in
plasma physics 5 students have been awarded Ph.D. degrees after
completio.n of the requirements. In addition, one student has
been graduated in mathematical logic and obtained his Ph.D. Five
others are in the process of completing the requirements towards
Ph.D. degree in mathematics.
For enhancing and supporting research activities, the Institute
has established a specialized library. This library has an
excellent collection of books and periodicals. The library’s
services are extended to all graduate students, in related
fields, from all over the country.
The Institute is proud of being the first to be connected to the
International Electronic Network (Internet) and being its main
node. Most of the major universities and research centers in
Iran are using the Internet and its facilities via this
institute.
For further information please visit the Institute’s web site
at:
http://www.ipm.ac.ir/ (page
top)
The 1st Iranian Academy of Sciences was established in 1977, and
it was dissolved after the Islamic Revolution of 1979. During
its operation, this academy did not have any significant
achievements. In fact, an earlier Iranian academy, i.e. the
Academy of Persian Language and Literature. did not succeed in
even coining Persian equivalents for mathematical terms and
expressions. The Iranian Mathematical Society. has accelerated
work on this important task, in collaboration with the Academies
of Sciences and of Persian Language and Literature.
The Academy of Sciences of the Islamic Republic of Iran was
established in 1990, comprised of seven groups, namely:
Humanities, Basic Sciences, Agricultural Sciences, Engineering,
Islamic Studies, Veterinary Medicine, and Art and Architecture.
Recently, the Art and Architecture group was split from the
Academy. The members of the Academy are chosen among researchers
as full, associate, or honorary. Each group is composed of
several departments. The Mathematics Department is part of the
Basic Sciences Group. Other departments in this group are
Geology, Biology, Chemistry, and Physics.
The most important activities of the Mathematics Department are:
· Inspecting mathematics departments of the Iranian universities
to investigate the quality of their educational and research
facilities. The report of this investigation has been submitted
to the Academy.
· Taking part in joint sessions with the other four departments,
to discuss the scientific policies of the government, allocation
of research budgets, support methods for scientists in pure
sciences, and allocate responsibility to researchers to disclose
their priorities to both the officials and the public.
· Taking part in joint sessions with the other four departments,
in order to investigate the quality of education in Iran.
· Discussing the project of assigning suitable Persian
equivalents of mathematical terms, and coordinating cooperation
between the Iranian Mathematical Society. the Academy of
Sciences, and the Academy of Persian Language and Literature.
· Cooperating with the other four departments to hold the first
University Olympiad in pure sciences in 1992. The success of
this project, motivated the Ministry of Science, Research and
Technology to continue the contest.
· Taking active part in the evaluation of the projects that are
candidate for the "Khawarazmi Festival."
· Participating actively, in the evaluation of the books for
presentation in the "Book of the Year Festival".
· Conducting the project of the "Evaluation Test for the
Undergraduate Studies in Mathematics" in 1993. This test that
was similar to the GRE in Mathematics; provided interesting
data. for tackleing some of the existing problems of the
National Entrance Examination and finding partial solutions for
them.
· Participating in the project of the "World Directory of
Mathematicians", with the aim of preparing a reference book on
the correct pronunciation, and standard Persian spel1ing of the
names of mathematicians. The first phase of this project has
been finalized.
· Cooperating in the publication of the Academy’s periodical
"Name-ye Farhangestan".
· Investigating the quality of the research done by the Iranian
mathematicians in 1990’s. Eighty percent of this project has
been done.
· The project "Mathematical Heritage of the Year 2000" is under
consideration.
(page top)
National Iranian Research Council (NIRC) came into existence in
I 990 at the recommendation of the Supreme Council of the
Cultural Revolution.
Initially there were 170 researchers. deputy ministers, and
heads of research centers in the country that started the
activities of NIRC .In addition to the Supreme Council and the
Special Committees, 12 specialized working committees were
formed of which the Basic Sciences Committee (BSC) was one. The
BSC, comprizes of 3 mathematicians. the other members being from
such disciplines as Physics. Chemistry, Biology, and Earth
Sciences.
A two-day seminar was held in 1994 by BSC in order to suggest
future policies for the promotion of basic sciences in Iran. The
outcome of this seminar. known as Taleghan Statement. has
remained the main guideline for BSC for policy making.
Since 1996, over 33 research projects in mathematics have been
approved and supported by BSC. These projects, known as National
Projects are for two years and have been carried out mostly by
faculty members and Ph.D. students. Moreover, a so-cal1ed
"Chal1enging Project" in mathematics education has been
supported. The subjects of research projects cover a large
portion of mathematics including algebra. analysis. logic.
geometry, combinatorics, differential equations, statistics, and
computational mathematics.
The BSC considers mathematics as a united entity and will
continue to support al1 of its branches. Because of the growing
applications of mathematics in technology and other sciences,
BSC strongly supports research projects in which mathematicians
are effectively involved. In order to have a dynamic policy and
to recognize priorities, BSC seeks the views of mathematicians
both inside and outside Iran. (page
top)
The International Mathematical Union (IMU) launched the World
Mathematical Year (WMY 2000) with the sponsorship of UNESCO. A
document was issued for this cause and was named "Declaration of
Rio de Janeiro for Mathematics." The general goals of the WMY
2000 include:
· Meeting the mathematical challenges of the 21st century;
· Looking at the relation between mathematics and its
application. as well as regarding mathematics as a key to full
scale development;
· Promoting the image of mathematics and to poblicize it;
To achieve these goals, the "National Commission for the World
Mathematical Year 2000" (NCWMY 2000) in Iran was established in
1997. This commission is headed by Dr. Mostafa Moeen, the
Minister of Science, Research and Technology and includes 20
dignitaries, cabinet ministers and mathematicians. In 1998, H.
E. Seyyed Mohammad Khatami (the President of the I.R. of Iran)
became the honorary chairman of the NCWMY 2000. An Executive
Committee (EC) headed by Dr. Mohammad Tavakkol, the Vice
Minister of Research of the Ministry of Science, Research, and
Technology, supervises the day-to-day activities of the NCWMY
2000.
All the initiatives of the NCWMY 2000 are guided and coordinated
by 7 working committees. Each working committee has arranged its
own meetings to discuss the issues related to different aspects
of mathematics and its growth. Plans and proposals made by these
working committees have been submitted to EC.
Considering the limitations in terms of time, budget and other
facilities, the NCWMY 2000 gave the final approval to EC
approved plans and proposals and asked for their implementation.
Some of the everlasting achievements of the NCWMY 2000 are:1.Translating several classic mathematics books into Persian;
2.Re-publishing many master pieces of mathematics books;
3.Collecting and documenting the existing Iranian mathematical
hand-written manuscripts; In 1999, a group led by Dr. S. S.
Banihashemi established a Data Bank of Mathematics Manuscripts
by identifying more than 6,000 manuscripts from private and
national libraries. These books mostly belong to 9’h to 13th
Centuries A.D. The collection contains about 10% numbers theory,
30% geometry, 30% algebra, and 30% in applied areas. .Helping
the establishment of "The House of Mathmatics " in various
cities of Iran;
4.Helping the establishment of "The Mathematics Teachers
Society" in different provinces of Iran.
A significant part of the budget and facilities of the NCWMY
2000 is devoted to the "Popularization of Mathematics " through
a working committee whose main goals are to promote the image of
mathematics in our society and popularize it. To achieve these
goals several activities have been launched by this working
committee that are in line with NCWMY 2000 initiatives. The most
important of these activities is preparing a series of radio and
television programs to:
1.Discuss the importance of mathematics and its role in the
modern complex world;
2.Present the views of the selected group of Iranian
mathematicians on topics they expect to be essential to
mathematical activities in the 21st Century;
3.Introduce various aspects of Mathematics Education such as
mathematics content, context, assessment, teaching and learning:
4.Discuss the new directions in school mathematics;
5.Talk about appropriate mathematics curriculum to meet the
needs of people with diverse interests;
6.Introduce the aims and programs of the Iranian Mathematical
Society and the Iranian Statistical Society:
7.Present the historical development of Islamic-Iranian
mathematics;
8.Introduce the ancient Iranian mathematicians;
9.Discuss the strengths and weaknesses of Mathematics Education
in Iran;
The "Popularizing Mathematics" working committee has also
supported the following activities that were accepted by EC and
were approved by the NCWMY 2000:
1.Holding mathematics seminars at local, provincial and national
levels regarding the general aspects of mathematics:
2.Commemorating great Iranian mathematicians Hakim Omar Khayam,
Hatem Nayrizi, Abul Vafa Buzdjani and Ghiased-din Jamshid
Kashani;
3.Supporting and aiding scientific and professional societies
including IMS, ISS and Mathematics Teachers Societies.
In Iran, the celebration of the WMY 2000, through the NCWMY
2000, has provided various opportunities and remarkable growth
for the mathematics community at large. The IMS hopes to be the
torch bearer of the NCWMY 2000 and will hopefully have the full
support of the authorities to reach its goals. (page
top)
Unlike some theoretical sciences, the science of statistics can
only thrive, if its roots are deep beneath the foundations of
experimental sciences and in union with other disciplines.
Knowing this, and in order to bridge the gap between " Academia"
and "Industry" in their broad sense, about ten years ago, the
"Iranian Statistical Society" (ISS) was established by a group
of dedicated scholars of this field. The main objective of ISS
was to provide an opportunity for all the scholars of
statistics, as well as all the users of statistics from
universities, executive branches of the government, industries,
and everyone practicing statistics at large.
In spite of being young and having limited resources, it has
been active and productive in different aspects. The following
highlights some of the ISS’ activities:
· Membership: There are over 700 active and about 15
institutional members.
· Periodicals: At present, the ISS publishes its seasonal
Newsletter, as well as an expository Journal called " Andishe-ye
Amari" literally "Statistical Thoughts". In near future ISS will
also publish a student journal, "Neda-ye Arnari", literally
"Voice of Statistics" and a research journal called the "Journal
of Iranian Statistical Society".
· Other publications: ISS has published a translation of the
book "Statistics: a guide to the unknown" in order to enhance
the public awareness of the nature of statistics and promote its
status among the layperson.
· Conferences and Seminars: Since its establishment, ISS is
determined to bring together all the users of statistics in
scientific meetings, and has organized a biennial conference.
the 5th of which was held in Esfahan Universiy of Technology
this year and a biennial "Probability and Stochastic Processes
.Seminar ", the third of which will be held next year. In
addition, ISS has organized "Student Statistics Seminar",
"Actuarial Sciences Seminar". and "Students Statistics
Competitions".
The ISS is governed by its "Executive Council" consisting of 5
members elected for a two-year term. A "Secretary" who acts as
the President of the Society heads this council. (page
top)
1. Historical Background
Before the establishment of the first university in Iran in
1934, and for about 3 subsequent decades after that, there was
no recognized need in Iran for a mathematical society. One of
the main reasons was that most of the Iranian mathematicians
were residing in Tehran. Gradually, in the 1960’s, with the
continuous establishment of more universities, there was a
growing need for cooperation and collaboration among university
mathematics professor;. For this recognized need; in 1970, the
1st National Mathematics Conference was held in University of
Shiraz and the need for the establishment of the Iranian
Mathematical Society (IMS) was expressed and emphasized by all
participants. At the 2nd National Mathematics Conference, the
Founding Body approved the proposed constitution of IMS. In that
conference, the members of the Executive Council were elected.
Finally. in 1971, IMS was officially registered.
In 1972, the General Assembly nominated three committees to
pursue the following agenda:
· Publishing the IMS Bulletin;
· Holding University Student Mathematics Contests;
· Choosing appropriate Persian equivalents for mathematical
terms.
Since then, IMS has been improving and expanding its activities.
2. Membership
IMS encourages all members of the mathematics community at large
to become its members. At present, IMS has about 700 full, about
2000 associate and 3 honorary members. These three individuals,
are among the most outstanding Iranian mathematicians living
abroad. In addition, IMS has about 45 institutional members.
During the last 30 years, IMS has been responsible for
organizing a number of academic and social events regarding
mathematics. The following is a short summary of these
activities.
3. Annual Gatherings:
1. The National Mathematics Conferences
IMS has successfully held annual National Mathematics
Conferences since its establishment in 1970. The 31st National
Mathematics Conference was held in University of Tehran in
August 2000. The significance of these activities is that for
the last 22 years, the Iranian society has undergone major
social changes. Universities were closed for 3 years, and the
country suffered from an 8-year war. The period of post-war
reconstruction caused severe financial restrictions and resource
shortages for the universities. However, the National
Mathematics Conferences never ceased to convene and this is
quite significant! The number of participants and papers
presented at these conferences grew significantly. This growth
prompted IMS to hold specialized meetings for different interest
groups within the mathematical community at large.
2. Annual Iranian Mathematics Education Conferences
Since the number of teachers and educators of mathematics were
growing in the National Mathematics Conferences, the need for
organizing a separate conference for this interest group was
acknowledged in various occasions.As the result, the necessity
for organizing the annual Iranian Mathematics Education
Conference (IMEC) was officially declared at the 26th National
Mathematics Conference in Kerman in 1995 by the then Minister of
Education who was a mathematician himself: He appealed to the
mathematicians and mathematics teachers to cooperate and
organize such a conference. The result of this cooperation was
the opening of the 1st IMEC that was held in Esfahan in the
Summer of 1996. IMS has its delegates in the scientific
committees of IMEC to monitor the scientific activities. The
organizer and financial supporter of IMEC is the Ministry of
Education.
More than 1000 teachers and university scholars are
participating at each IMEC. At present, the research papers,
refereed and presented at the IMEC, are improving in terms of
quality and quantity. The IMEC has been providing valuable
opportunities for teachers and educators to become interested in
research issues within the Discipline of Mathematics Education.
As a result, there was a recognition for this discipline, and
the proposed Masters program in Mathematics Education was
officially approved by the Ministry of Science, Research and
Technology in December 1999. The last four such conferences were
held as follows:
· The 1st IMEC in Esfahan, 1996
· The 2nd IMEC in Kermanshah, 1997
· The 3rd IMEC in Kerman, 1998
· The 4th IMEC in Tehran. December 1999 (celebrating WMY 2000).
The 5th IMEC will be held in Mashhad in December 2000.
3. University Student Seminars
Another interested group affiliated with IMS are university
students. In 1998 a specially designed seminar for the
interested students of mathematics was held in Ahwaz. The second
one was held in Sharif University of Technology in 1999, and the
third in Khajeh Nasir-e din Toosi University of Technology in
the year 2000 with more than 600 student participants. The
significance of these seminars is that almost all the scientific
and organizational activities including writing, and presenting
papers as well as running workshops, round table discussions,
exhibitions and so on, are done by the students themselves.
4. Specialized Seminars and Conferences
A number of specialized gatherings have been held annually or
biannually in the last few years under the supervision of IMS.
During the year 2000, the following have been held or will be
held:
· The l2th Algebra Seminar;
· The 4th Seminar on Differential Equations and Dynamical
Systems;
· The Mathematics For All Conference;
· The Summer Workshop for Group Theory;
· The 3rd Seminar on Numerical Analysis;
· The 2nd Linear Algebra Seminar;
· The 1st Seminar on Combinatorics and Computing Algorithms;
· The 11th Mathematical Analysis Seminar;
· The Role of Mathematics in Human Sciences and Medicine
Seminar;
· The 2nd Applied Mathematics Seminar- A Joint Seminar by
University of Zandjan- Iran and University of Baku-Azerbaijan;
· The Gathering for the Commemoration of Ghiathedin Jamshid
Kashani;
· The 2nd International Applied Mathematics Conference;
· The 1st Coding Theory Gathering.
It is worth mentioning that all these activities are being
organized by different universities across the nation and are
supervised by IMS.
5. Monthly Seminars Since 1999
IMS has been organizing monthly seminars to disseminate new
ideas, as well as presenting thorough account of each
specialized field including historical overviews, important
theorems and findings and open problems of that field. The main
audience of these monthly seminars are Masters and Doctoral
students. The interested students not able to attend these
seminars can have access to the proceedings and communicate with
the presenters. The Monthly Seminars are held at different
universities located in Tehran.
4. Mathematical Contests:
1. The University Student Contests
The proposal for arranging mathematical contests among
undergraduate students was approved in the IMS General Assembly
of 1972. The decision was also made to use the experience gained
from these contests to prepare school students for participation
in the World Mathematical Olympiads.
The first University Student Mathematics Contest was held in
March 1973 and is being held annually with the exception of the
period of the Cultural Revolution in which the universities were
closed for three years, from 1980 to 1983.
Up to the year 1998, these competitions were simultaneously held
with the National Mathematics Conferences. Since 1998 when the
student seminars started, the IMS Executive Committee decided to
hold these competitions concurrent with student seminars. The
24th University Student Mathematics Contest and the 3rd Student
Seminar were held in May 2000. One hundred and sixty four
students from 37 universities and institutions participated in
this contest. These contests have created an excellent
opportunity for students to compete in a healthy and friendly
environment.
2. International Mathematics Contests for University Students
For the first time in 1999, a team of students from Sharif
University of Technology participated in the 6th International
Mathematics Contest of University Students in which each
participating team had four undergraduate members, and each
university from throughout the world could send separate teams.
The host country for the 6th International Mathematics Contest
of University Students was Hungary and the Iranian team ranked
second overall in this contest.
In the summer of 2000, the teams who won the first three
positions in the 24th Iranian University Student Mathematics
Contest from Sharif University of Technology, University of
Tehran, and Shahid Beheshti University, were sent to the 7th
International Mathematics Contest. The members of the Iranian
teams received gold, silver and bronze medals.
5. Publications:
1. Periodicals
The first publication of IMS is "The Bulletin of IMS" which was
first published in 1973. The bulletin contained various
original, descriptive, and informative articles in both Persian
and English and had a section for news.
Since 1979, in which the publication of the IMS’ quarterly
Newsletter started, the bulletin devoted most of its effort to
publish extended research reports and papers with high quality.
The Bulletin is internationally recognized, and reviewed cover
to cover.
In 1982, the first issue of "Farhang va Andish-ye Riazi "(The
Culture and Thoughts of Mathematics) was published. This
periodical and the Bulletin are published twice a year. Farhang
va Andish-ye Riazi is devoted to expository articles regarding
various issues of mathematics; including history and teaching,
as well as different branches of applied and pure mathematics.
The cooperation of Iranian mathematicians living abroad as well
as internationally known mathematicians with these periodicals
is invited and highly recommended. Extended use of electronic
facilities and the Internet for more efficient communication and
faster evaluation is suggested.
2. Books
The Dictionary of Mathematics and Statistics is the only
non-periodical publication of the IMS. This book is the joint
voluntary work of the members of the committees which have been
set up since 1972. The result of this effort was finally
published in 1991 in a book that is called by many, the "Bible
of Iranian Mathematicians." It is worth mentioning that after 8
years of delay, a number of committees were set up in 1999 to
update and complete this work.
IMS needs its own publishing facilities and a strong staff to
act professionally. Publication can and should be the main
source of income for IMS.
6. Commemorations
In order to commemorate great Iranian mathematicians, the
following awards are given to selected papers presented at
different meetings organized by IMS:
· Professor Riazi Kermani Award is given to the best research
paper presented at the National Mathematics Conference;
· Professor Manoochehr Vesal Award is given to the best research
paper presented at the annual Mathematical Analysis Seminar;
· Professor Taghi Fatemi Award is given to the best research
paper presented by a school teacher at the annual Iranian
Mathematics Education Conference;
· Professor Mohsen Hashtroodi Award is for the best paper
presented by an undergraduate student at the annual University
Student Seminar.
Besides, the pioneers of mathematics in the country are
occasionally honored and appreciated in some of the IMS’ annual
meetings.
7. Educational Contracts and Research Studies
In 1974, IMS made a contract with the Ministry of Science,
Research and Technology (the then Ministry of Science and Higher
Education) to develop a mathematics curriculum at the
undergraduate level. The prepared curriculum under this contract
is still being used in all the universities in Iran.
The second contract of IMS was made with Iran University Press
to publish the Dictionary of Mathematics and Statistics.
The Executive Council of IMS is studying the feasibility of
making various contracts with the Ministry of Education and the
Ministry of Science, Research and Technology in order to
investigate and evaluate the different mathematics programs at
general education, undergraduate and graduate levels.
8. International Affiliations and Communications
IMS is a member of the International Mathematical Union (IMU),
and was promoted to group 2 in 1995.
It is worth mentioning that IMU, along with other international
scientific unions of different fields of inquiry, is a member of
the International Council of Scientific Unions. The Council is
under the supervision of UNESCO (United Nation’s Educational,
Scientific and Cultural Organization). At present, IMU has 61
members which are categorized into 5 groups: 27 countries are in
group I, fourteen countries are in group 2, eight countries are
in group 3, Sweden and Switzerland make up group 4. Finally, the
10 following countries, in alphabetical order, Canada, China,
England, France, Germany, Israel (Occupied Palestine), Italy,
Japan, Russia, and the United State of America are in group 5.
IMS has reciprocal relationships with many mathematical
societies around the world. It exchanges its bulletin for their
publications for the purpose of enhancing cooperation and
communications with other mathematical societies.
IMS has its representatives in all major universities of the
country. The duties and responsibilities of these
representatives are approved by the IMS’ Executive Council. In
addition, many universities and scientific organizations in Iran
are institutional members of IMS. However, communication between
IMS and its members, and affiliated groups leaves much to be
desired.
IMS needs a strong public and international relations office to
have better communication at local and global levels.
9. Facilities and Finance
IMS is a non-governmental and non-profit organization with no
solid source of income. Even its publications are distributed
almost free of charge among its members. Thus IMS is suffering
from severe financial problems. In terms of the facilities,
after 30 years, IMS has only recently been able to acquire a
building for its activities.
Within the last 30 years, IMS has enjoyed the volunteer works of
its dedicated members. However, mere dedication is not enough,
considering the needs of the 21st Century and the rapid
expansion of IMS’ memberships and activities. In terms of
technological facilities, IMS is in a poor condition. It lacks
even the most elementary needs for running a productive
scientific society, among which to name just a few, are proper
computer facilities, copying machines, laser printers, scanners,
and video cameras. In addition, IMS’ office should at least have
a few qualified employees. Last, but certainly not least, is the
need for an affiliated publishing center to help IMS to become
financially self sufficient through elevating the quality and
quantity of its publications.
10. Future Goals
With more than 2700 members and 30 years of service, IMS should
be sensitive to all the mathematical affairs across the nation,
to be able to take preventing measures against probable and
recognizable difficulties, and to be ready to make plans to
enhance the mathematical activities of the country. In order to
do this, IMS’ aims are:
· to create a strong data-base about the past and present status
of mathematics in Iran;
· to improve its national and international communications,
specially with Iranian mathematicians living in and out of Iran;
· to deepen its members’ understanding via information
technology;
· to encourage Iranian mathematicians inside and outside the
country to face the challenging mathematical problems;
· to strive to change its ranking from 2 to 3, 4, or even 5 in
IMU.
· to plan for the next four, 5 -year periods and to set goals
for mathematics in the year 2021 (1400 AH):
· to monitor and influence the educational and research
activities in the field of mathematics.
In order to achieve these goals, IMS should extend its
activities to meet the different interests of the members of the
mathematics community. Also, the Executive Council should become
more tolerant to diverse ideas. and to encourage members of all
age groups to take part in different activities. The elected
members of different committees and councils affiliated with IMS
should institutionalize democracy among themselves. We hope that
the quality of IMS’ activities will reach such high standards
that its Emblem automatically implies it.
11. Concluding Remarks
It is true that mathematics is a key to the sustainable
development of any civilization, and plays a crucial role in any
society’s efforts to pave the road of prosperity. Presently,
Iran’s mathematics enjoys strengths and suffers from
shortcomings. But IMS is dedicated to its goals and missions.
Its members believe that, the academic societies are pillars of
any civilized society. Thus the importance of the academic
societies should be stressed and their position, as building
blocks of a nation that has opened up an international dialogue,
should be firmed and deepened.
(page top)
I sincerely congratulate the organizers and participants of the
31st National Mathematics Conference that is being held in
conjunction with the World Mathematical Year 2000. I also extend
my greetings to all the university professors, researchers,
teachers, and high school and university students for
participating in this important scientific gathering.
Today, mathematics is recognized to be one of the conduits for
"understanding the global society and its development". In the
midst of the ever increasing development of science and
technology, this fundamental role will surely find new aspects.
Understanding this significant role is a necessity that should
be paid more attention to by country and government planners.
Paying attention to mathematical research at the highest levels.
developing cooperation and scientific exchanges between
mathematics and other fields of sciences and industry, the
enhancement of modern mathematical teaching and popularizing
mathematics can all make sustainable and full scale development
more logical and facilitate reaching its goals. Although
understanding the importance of mathematical discoveries within
the society, usually requires a greater time span, but
undoubtedly paying attention to the expanse of boundaries of
science in today’s world, and the cultural and scientific
privileges of the society could shorten the time needed to
understand this necessity.
Mathematics has created a significant part of our Islamic and
Iranian civilization, and today the intellect and talent of our
youths and adolescents are great assets for improvement. Our
future scientific pillars can and should be built upon this
foundation and by this means be hopeful for scientific,
educational and research prosperity and flourishing of the
society.
The roles of scientific societies in making this dream come
true, are fundamental and superb, and I am hopeful that the
continued expansion of mathematical societies within school and
university level, will accelerate the expansion of mathematical
sciences and the popularization of mathematics. I pray to God
for everyone’s success in this endeavour.
Seyyed Mohammad Khatami
President of the Islamic Republic of Iran
The Text of Gratitude
Advisor to the president, Dr. Mohammad Ali Najafi delivered H.E.
President of the Islamic Republic of Iran’s message to the 31st
National Mathematics Conference during the opening ceremony,
which was held in August 26th, 2000. More than one thousand
Iranian and foreign mathematicians participated in this
ceremony. President Khatami’s highly inspiring message was well
acknowledged by the audience. Thus in the General Assembly of
the Iranian Mathematical Society, which was held on the second
day of the conference, a decision was made to send an
appreciating message to President Khatami. The following is the
reply message, which was unanimously approved by the
participants at the closing ceremony of the conference.
Y. E. Presidcnt of the Islamic Republic of Iran,
Seyyed Mohammad Khatami As you mentioned in your message, convention of the 31st
National Mathematics Conference; in union with the World
Mathematical Year 2000; in the University of Tehran, was of
considerable importance. It was a great pleasure for us to hear
that the Head of the Executive Branch of the country and the
person who announced the Year 200 I as the "Year of Dialogues
Between Civilizations" was saying that ’.mathematics is
recognized as one of the conduits for understanding the global
society and its development" and "understanding the importance
of this role is a necessity for the country and government
planners, and should be paid more attention to." This issue is
greatly appreciated by the mathematics community of Iran and is
not on]y inspiring, but is a promise for a new era with a long
lasting policy for support and guidance of the mathematical
activities in the country.
We believe that it is the appropriate time to sincerely ask you
to appoint a powerful committee under your supervision to follow
up the National Commission of the World Mathematical Year 2000
activities. In cooperation with the Iranian Mathematical
Society, the appointed committee would guide all the activities
in the field of mathematical sciences in Iran, and provide
financial and moral support for all theoretical, applied and
educational activities of the country. In addition, this
committee would have the leading role of mathematics in
cultural, scientific, research, technological, educational,
industrial and administrative programs, Briefly, this new
committee would work as a driving force and coordinating body
for the progress and development of mathematical sciences in
Iran. This would raise the status of mathematics in Iran up to a
level that fits the dignity of the Islamic Republic of Iran. We
hope that in consequence, Your Excellency’s approval will assure
"sustainable and full scale development" for the society at
large. (page
top)
In the previous sections, we gave an honest account of the
strengths and weaknesses of mathematics in Iran. In these
concluding remarks, we summarize some of them to attract the
attention of the planners and developers of the country; those
who hope for a full scale sustainable development of the
country.
1. Strengths:
· Existence of a strong scientific tradition in Iran and the
importance of knowledge in our religion;
· Existence of brilliant talents in mathematics;
· The attention that people pay to general education and the
society’s desire to discover and nurture different talents;
· The low budget and minimum facilities needed for the
development of mathematics;
· Existence of many prominent, patriotic and dedicated Iranian
mathematicians all around the globe;
· Willingness of many prominent mathematicians to help the
progress of mathematics internationally;
· The experience of translating mathematics texts to Persian in
the last few decades;
· Existence of several active mathematics research centers, and
attraction of young researchers to these centers;
· Easy access of researchers to the international information
network known as the Internet and the possibility of making easy
communication with mathematicians from other countries;
· Establishment of the Masters and Doctoral programs in
mathematics in many universities in Iran:
· Existence of an experienced and wide spread mathematical
society in Iran;
· The special attention paid by a number of the country’s
dignitaries to mathematics.
2. Weaknesses:
· Shortage of qualified elementary and secondary school teachers
in comparison to the number of students interested in continuing
their studies in mathematics, and a severe shortage in the
number of mathematics educators;
· Ferquent changes of school mathematics curriculum, and
textbooks; and reduction of time allocated for mathematics in
the school system without extensive research and sufficient
planning;
· Insufficient coordination among the country’s organizations
that are influential in mathematics;
· The general unwareness of people, specially the wielders of
influence and wealth, of the importance of mathematics and its
fundamental role in society;
· Lack of balance between teachers’ income and costs of living;
· The significant brain drain that currently plagues the
country;
· Existence of administrative red tapes;
· Insufficient harmony between the society’s needs and
qualification of graduates of mathematics at all levels;
· Lack of communication between mathematicians and industries;
· Inefficient methods of selecting new students for
universities;
· Lack of accurate and continuing assessment of mathematics
teachers, programs, textbooks, and departments;
· Lack of true understanding of Civil Society by the majority of
people, and that in such a society the power of scientific
communities originates from people:
· Insufficient allocation of budget to research.
Undoubtedly, many of these strengths and weaknesses are not
limited to the field of mathematics and to Iran. All third world
countries have similar difficulties. To overcome these
difficulties many factors are needed such as; using other
countries experiences; precise, coordinated and efficient
planning and sincere support of the stakeholders and policy
makers, to name just a few. Although the local and temporary
solutions are sometimes necessary and effective, to find a
coordinated general solution for all difficulties, a group of
highly qualified specialists should take the initiative and
create a leading role for mathematics. To achieve its goals this
group should develop four 5-year plans for the advancement of
the country’s mathematics towards the year 2021 (1400 AH).
Furthermore, with regards to considering the capabilities, and
specialty of Iranian mathematicians and the memorable conference
of "Mathematical Challenges of the 21st Century" which was held
in August 2000, at UCLA in the United States of America, this
group should plan to select one or two challenging problems and
appeal to the young and talented Iranian mathematicians for
their solution. It is certain that with the Group’s appropriate
support and planning, the Iranian mathematicians can play an
effective role in solving these problems and in developing self
confidence. With this effort, we can hope that after these four
5-year plans, the country’s mathematics will be more fruitful
and more dynamic than today. Thus, the country’s mathematics
will not only come closer to its true position gradually, but
will also acquire international credibility.
Finally,to facilitate and speed up the development of
mathematics in the third world countries, and to optimize the
use of their capabilities and experiences, I humbly ask for the
establishment of the "Third World Mathematical Society" and/or
the "Third World Mathematical Union" directed and guided by the
Third World Academy of Sciences with the cooperation of the
International Mathematical Union. The Iranian Mathematical
Society is ready and willing to cooperate and to exchange
experiences. Needless to say, the establishment of specialized
societies for the third world countries in other branches of
science is desirable as well. One of the advantages of these
societies is to extend, deepen and maintain the "Dialogue Among
Civilizations". (page
top)
1.Akbari, S., The 6th International Mathematics Olympiad for the
University Students, Newsletter of the Iranian Mathematical
Society, 21,2,1999.
2.Ghorbani, A., Biography of the mathematicians of the Islamic
Era. Iran University Press, Tehran, 1986.
3.Maansouri, R.. National Determination for Scientific and
Cultural Development, Tarh-e No. Tehran, 1999.
4.The 1st Annual Iranian Mathematics Education Conference,
Colleagues and Students of Professor Taghi Fatemi, Isfahan,
1996.
5.Editors, Proceedings of the 1st Seminar on Distance Education,
Payam-e Noor University Press, Tehran, 1992.
6.Editors, Annals of the Higher Teacher Training School-
Academic Year 1932-33, Rowshanaie Press, Tehran, 1933.
7.Statistical Data: Academic Year 1998-99. Planning and Human
Resources Department, Ministry of Education, 1999.
8.A Publication of the Information, Statistical Data, and
Computer Center, Islamic Azad University, 1999.
9.Statistics of Higher Education in Iran: Academic Year 1998-99,
Institute for Research and Planning in Higher Education, Tehran,
2000. (page
top)
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