Terms of Reference

SETI is an acronym for the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence. The primary goal is to examine all aspects of possible future contact with extraterrestrial civilizations, with special reference to international issues and activities. These aspects include technical efforts to find evidence for extraterrestrial intelligence as well as the social consequences of such a discovery. In addition, this group promotes the interest and eventual involvement of students in this work, primarily through education initiatives, the Internet, and the mass media.

Establishment

The International Academy of Astronautics (IAA) formally established a Permanent SETI Study Group, as well as a SETI Program Committee, under its Commission on Space Physical Sciences, at the 52nd International Astronautical Congress in Toulouse, France. Together, the Permanent Study Group and the Program Committee replace the long-standing IAA SETI Committee, which was phased out (along with various other IAA Committees) on 1 October 2001, as part of an overall restructuring of the IAA.

Click here to obtain the Proposal which established this Study Group, in Portable Document Format. You are welcome to download the free Adobe Acrobat ® reader to allow you to view PDF files.

Duties

The SETI Permanent Study Group, designated IAA SG 1.3, assumes many of the duties formerly performed by the late IAA SETI Committee. The primary task of the Study Group is to organize and conduct two SETI sessions at the annual International Astronautical Congresses. Study Group members also conduct workshops and Cosmic Studies for the International Academy of Astronautics, and publish papers on topics related to the scientific Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence.

Leadership

The SETI Permanent Study Group is chaired by a Member of the International Academy of Astronautics. Its membership draws from members of the Basic Sciences section of the Academy, as well as other Sections, but is not restricted solely to Academy members. Prospective members are nominated by the Chair, and confirmed by the Study Group as a whole, to serve a five-year, renewable term. Prospective members are chosen on the basis of their involvement in the SETI discipline, their contributions to SETI science or social science, and their willingness to serve actively as a member of the Study Group. Current members of the Study Group are listed on this Website. The current leadership of this Study Group is as follows:

• Chair: Seth Shostak, USA
• Co-Vice Chairs: H. Paul Shuch, USA; Claudio Maccone, Italy
• Secretary: Guillermo Lemarchand, Argentina
• Webmaster: H. Paul Shuch, USA
• Deputy Webmaster: Chris Neller, USA

The terms of office and selection criteria for members of the SETI Permanent Study Group leadership team may be found here.

Status Report

The Chair of the IAA SETI Permanent Study Group provides a Status Report to the International Academy of Astronautics annually. Our most recently filed Status Report can be downloaded by following this link.

Website

A website for the late IAA SETI Committee was established by the SETI Institute in 1999. At its 2001 meeting in Toulouse, the Study Group voted to rotate web hosting duties between participating organizations, on a three-year cycle. The IAA SETI Permanent Study Group thanks the SETI Institute for its efforts, which form the basis of this new website.

In September, 2001, The SETI League, Inc. accpeted responsibility for developing a new website for the Study Group in its present form, and has been hosting and maintaining this website since that time. These pages are accessed via the domain http://iaaseti.org, which users should bookmark, as it forwards to wherever the site is being physically hosted.

By majority vote of the Study Group members assembled at its October 2006 meeting in Valencia, Spain, The SETI League, Inc. was assigned responsibility for continuing to host and maintain the IAA SETI Permanent Study Group Website on an ongoing basis, and has agreed to continue providing this service at the pleasure of the Chair of the Study Group.

Contributions of website material by members of the IAA SETI Permanent Study Group, as well as former members of the IAA SETI Committee, are hereby solicited. Such materials should be sent as straight ASCII text, via email to the Webmaster at paul_at_setileague_dot_org. Please do not send email attachments without the prior approval of the Webmaster.