A Forum section discusses a current issue which is of sufficient professional interest to the structural and multidisciplinary optimization community. Discussions represent constructive and meaningful comments and criticisms on any publication in the journal, submitted within twelve months of the appearance of the latter. They should not exceed two journal pages. Author's replies should be restricted to commenting on discussions in a constructive manner and should not exceed two journal pages. Obituaries present the brief biography and important achievements of a recently deceased leading scientist in a field related to the scope of the journal.
Announcements usually inform readers in detail about a forthcoming conference in the field.
Mathematical formulae Equations and displayed formulae should be numbered consecutively. Scalar variables and constants in mathematical expressions should be denoted by letters in italics. Springer Illustrations Figures should be numbered consecutively with arabic numbers and should not be regarded as mere illustrations, but restricted to the minimum needed to clarify the text. Each figure must have a short legend and the legends should be submitted on a separate sheet. Information given in the legends should not be repeated in the text and, similarly, the same data should not be represented in both graph and table form.