Dear Commission B Representative,

The purpose of this letter is first of all to thank you all for your proposals and suggestions concerning the 2001 EM Theory Symposium and the 2002 GA. The comments I have heard about the 2001 EMTS have been very appreciative and the more intimate nature of these symposia appear to be a very attractive feature. During the symposium we had a Commission B business meeting and we will come back concerning minutes from that meeting. Let me just mention that a point of discussion was how we can develop these symposia so that can increase their attractiveness and it was decided to form an ad hoc working group to with the task of generating proposals to this end ( they will depend on input from all of you; more about this in the minutes ). As before, a report on the whole EMTS will be written and it will be available from the Commission B website.

Other matters that will come up towards the beginning of the fall semester is an invitation to submit proposals for the venue of the 2007 EMTS, and a request for names of candidates for the election of the new incoming vice-chair ( the final step in that process is taken at the 2002 URSI GA in Maastricht ). Again, there will be more about this in the minutes from the business meeting.

The preparatory work concerning the scientific programme at the Maastricht GA has been intense the past few months and in the attachments you will find lists of the different types of sessions that Commission B will be involved in. The call for papers and preliminary programme is expected to become available in a few weeks' time.

I wish you all a pleasant summer and I look forward to getting in touch with you again towards the end of the summer.

Staffan Ström

Chair, Commission B of URSI.