The Staged Call No 2 is open till December 2025 for potential donors** to submit their proposals for physical objects to be included in the ISSMGE TIME CAPSULE 2026.
Physical objects must have some institutional significance (e.g. iconic tools of ISSMGE governance such as a presidential gavel) or represent milestones of geotechnical engineering (e.g. something used by pioneers in the field).
Due to the limited space (about 1 m3 overall) the size of objects should be small. As examples, proposals may include, but they are not limited to:
Responses to Staged Call No. 2 are to be made on a prescribed HTC form for objects, accessible from August 2025 on the HTC website, https://htc.issmge.org/. A selection panel led by the HTC Physical Time Capsule subcommittee (https://htc.issmge.org/what-is-htc) will develop applicable criteria and rank submissions to help the ISSMGE Board decide on objects to be placed in the physical time capsule.
Potential donors whose proposed objects have been accepted by the ISSMGE Board for inclusion in the physical time capsule will be contacted, before the end of January 2026, by the ISSMGE Secretariat, [email protected]. No physical material should be forwarded to the ISSMGE until notified in writing by the ISSMGE Secretariat with instructions as to when and where the material is to be forwarded to.
** If selected by the ISSMGE Board, potential donors must make the items available to the ISSMGE at no cost. The transport costs to Vienna (Austria) is expected to be covered by the donor, but alternative arrangement can be made and this can be decided between the donor and the ISSMGE at a later stage.
If you have any questions, please contact the HTC team at https://htc.issmge.org/contact
Please note that this call no.2 is dedicated to physical objects only: the deadline of Staged call No. 1 for published or printed documents has been extended to December 2025, too. Therefore, published material can be proposed using the usual form for Staged call No.1.
The 100-year time capsule, initiated and sponsored by the ISSMGE Board (2022 - 2026), is an important legacy of the geotechnical community. In November 2024, the Board approved the issue of a number of staged calls to improve receipt of diversity of materials to be considered for preserving in the physical time capsule, and, help improve the allocation of space to various materials within a 1 m3 time capsule that is transparent, with a number of compartments. These staged calls are firstly for published material, printed on paper, secondly, for physical objects, particularly material considered to be of significance to the development of geotechnical engineering, and lastly, for other material. Potential donors** are members of the ISSMGE cohorts of Member Societies, Technical Committees, Corporate Associates, Past Presidents, Key Persons, Vice Presidents, and Board Level Committees. Others interested in donating material can convey their proposal through and with the support of a member of the above ISSMGE cohorts.
Staged Call No 1, open till December 2025, is for potential donors to submit their proposals for published material printed on paper, on,
Responses to Staged Call No. 1 are to be made on a prescribed HTC form, accessible from about mid - January 2025 on the HTC website, https://htc.issmge.org/. A selection panel led by the HTC Physical Time Capsule subcommittee (https://htc.issmge.org/what-is-htc) will develop applicable criteria and rank submissions to help the ISSMGE Board decide on material to be placed in the physical time capsule.
Potential donors whose proposed published material has been accepted by the ISSMGE Board for inclusion in the physical time capsule will be contacted, possibly towards the latter part of 2025, by the ISSMGE Secretariat, [email protected]. No physical material should be forwarded to the ISSMGE until notified in writing by the ISSMGE Secretariat with instructions as to when and where the material is to be forwarded to.
**Potential donors are to make available to the ISSMGE the published material if selected by the ISSMGE Board, and no payment is to be made by either party. ISSMGE can meet the costs of transport of the selected published material(s) to Vienna, Austria, if requested and agreed.
If you have any questions, please contact the HTC team at https://htc.issmge.org/contact