Eligibility

To be eligible for the Beale — Orchard-Hays Prize for Excellence in Computational Mathematical Programming a paper or a book must meet the following requirements:

1. It must be in the field of computational mathematical programming, which includes but is not limited to the following:
   • Experimental evaluation of one or more mathematical programming algorithms.
   • The development of quality mathematical programming software (i.e., well-documented code capable of obtaining solutions to some important class of mathematical programming problems) coupled with documentation of the application of the software to this class of problems. (Note: The award would be presented for the paper that describes this work and not for the software itself).
   • The development of a new computational method that improves the state-of-the-art in computer implementations of mathematical programming algorithms coupled with documentation of the experiment that showed the improvement.
   • The development of new methods for empirical testing of mathematical programming techniques (e.g., development of a new design for computational experiments, identification of new performance measures, or methods for reducing the cost of empirical testing).
2. It must have appeared in the open literature.
3. Documentation must be written in a language acceptable to the Prize Committee.
4. It must have been published during the six calendar years preceding the year in which the prize is awarded. The publication year for the paper or book is defined to be the print publication year, for any volume that appears in print, or the electronic publication year, for any volume that appears only in electronic form.

These requirements are intended as guidelines to the Prize Committee but are not to be viewed as binding when work of exceptional merit comes close to satisfying them.

Frequency and Amount of the Award

The prize will be considered every three years. If the prize is awarded, the award will be presented at the awards session of the International Symposium on Mathematical Programming. The prize consists of $1,500 and a plaque.

Judgment Criteria

Nominations will be judged on the following criteria:

• Magnitude of the contribution to the advancement of computational and experimental mathematical programming.
• Originality of ideas and methods.
• Degree to which unification or simplification of existing methodologies is achieved.
• Clarity and excellence of exposition.

The Awards Committee

The MOS chair will appoint a committee of four to eight people (the “Prize Committee”) at least one year prior to the awarding of the prize. Each committee member will read all nominations and provide the chair of the committee with his or her assessment based on the four judgment criteria. The Prize Committee may decide that no prize will be awarded for that International Symposium on Mathematical Programming.

Nominations

Nominations must be in writing and include the title(s) of the paper(s) or book, the author(s), the place and date of publication, and four copies of the material. Supporting justification and any supplementary materials are welcome but not mandatory. All nominations must be received at least six months prior to the awards date. The Prize Committee reserves the right to request further supporting materials from the nominees.

Past Winners of the Beale — Orchard-Hays Prize