Council

The GAP Council, consisting of a number of senior mathematicians and computer scientists engaged in a broad spectrum of areas in computational group theory, was formed in 1995 to provide broad policy advice for the future development of GAP. It served as an editorial board for GAP packages until 2024, but its interests extend more broadly, to include enhancing recognition not only of GAP itself but also of the whole field of computational group theory. This larger role means, in particular, that if you become aware of ways in which the Council can promote greater understanding and awareness of CGT (computational group theory) we would appreciate your telling us, so we can lend our support.

Although the Council is not intended to be a representative body, its members come from all over the globe and from many parts of the CGT landscape, so there is a good chance that you already know, or know of, at least one Council member. Since one of the Council’s roles is to seek out and encourage the development of new contributions to GAP, and since we may not be aware of your interests, we encourage you not to wait to be contacted but to correspond directly with any of the Council members if you have information that we can use.

In its former role as editorial board, the GAP Council used to coordinate the process by which submitted GAP packages were refereed. This process has been abolished by the GAP Council in February 2024, since there are other avenues for publishing software that did not exist in the past, such as specialist journals for research software packages. We still continue the list of deposited packages and encourage all users to submit their GAP packages to this list.

The present (March 2024) members of the GAP Council are:

  • Bill Allombert, Bordeaux (since June 2022)
  • Laurent Bartholdi, Saarbrücken (since August 2011)
  • Anton Betten, Fort Collins (since August 2011)
  • Willem A. de Graaf, Trento (since June 2022)
  • Bettina Eick, Braunschweig (since July 2001)
  • Graham Ellis, Galway (since September 2007)
  • Derek Holt, Warwick (since June 1995)
  • Max Horn, Kaiserslautern (since August 2016)
  • Alexander Hulpke, Fort Collins (since July 2001)
  • Chris Jefferson, St Andrews (since April 2020)
  • Olexandr Konovalov, St Andrews (since July 2003)
  • Steve Linton, St Andrews (since June 1995)
  • Frank Lübeck, Aachen (since July 2001)
  • James Mitchell, St Andrews (since June 2022)
  • Alice Niemeyer, Aachen (since August 2011)
  • Götz Pfeiffer, Galway (since September 2007)
  • Colva Roney-Dougal, St Andrews (since June 2022)
  • Leonard Soicher, London (since June 1997)

Chair: Bettina Eick, Braunschweig (since October 2021)

Former members of the GAP Council are:

  • Mike Atkinson, Dunedin (from June 1995 to June 2001)
  • Andrea Caranti, Trento (from June 1995 to June 2001)
  • Gene Cooperman, Boston (from June 1995 to September 2021)
  • Gerhard Hiss, Aachen (from November 1996 to September 2021)
  • David Joyner, Annapolis (from July 2006 to September 2021)
  • Joachim Neubüser, Aachen (from June 1999 to March 2006)
  • Max Neunhöffer, St Andrews (from August 2011 to September 2021)
  • Mike F. Newman, Canberra (from June 1995 to November 2011)
  • Eamonn O’Brien, Auckland (from June 1997 to February 2003)
  • Herbert Pahlings (from June 1995 to September 2007)
  • Cheryl Praeger, Nedlands (from June 1995 to August 2016)
  • Sarah Rees, Newcastle (from August 1999 to June 2001)
  • Edmund Robertson, St Andrews (from June 1995 to September 2021)
  • Ákos Seress, Columbus (from June 1995 to February 2013)
  • Charles Wright, Eugene (from June 1995 to September 2007)

Former chairs:

  • Charles Wright, Eugene (from June 1995 to October 2003)
  • Edmund Robertson, St Andrews (from October 2003 to March 2009)
  • Leonard Soicher, London (from March 2009 to September 2021)