In 1967 academicians L.A. Melentiev and N.N. Moiseev came up with the idea of organizing and regularly holding the regional Siberian school devoted to the optimization methods and their applications.
It was the time when the famous Moiseev's school of optimization and control flows started developing and gaining strength. The school was held in European Russia, therefore many scientists from Siberia and the Far East were unable to participate in its work. This gave impetus to organization of a regional school.

The first Siberian school of optimization was held in June 1969 in Peshchanaya Bay on Lake Baikal and attracted 200 scientists from 30 cities of the USSR. Among the participants of the school were 16 Professors including 2 Corresponding Members of the USSR Academy of Sciences.
The first lecturers of the school were A.B. Bakushinsky, V.P. Bulatov, Yu.B. Germeyer, I.I. Eremin,
N.F. Krotov, A.N. Panchenkov, A.A. Pervozvansky, G.S. Pospelov, D.A. Pospelov, T.M. Eneyev, etc. The school worked for 3 weeks, its proceedings were published in 2 volumes. For about 40 years the school has been held every 2 or 3 years at different picturesque places of Lake Baikal: cape of Hakusy near lake Frolikha, Olkhon island, Barguzin Cove, Peshchanaya Bay, the source of the Angara.

The regional school has become international. At different times, famous Russian and foreign scientists participated in the school's work: academicians of RAS L.A. Melentiev, V.M. Matrosov, N.N. Moiseev, G.S. Pospelov, P.S. Krasnoshchekov, Yu.N. Rudenko, F.I. Chernousko, T.M. Eneev; academicians of the Ukrainian AS Yu.M. Ermoliev, B.N. Pshenichny, N.Z. Shor; academicians of the Estonian AS G.M. Vainikko, L.A. Krumm; the Corresponding Members of RAS V.V. Vasin, Yu.G. Evtushenko, I.I. Eremin, A.A. Makarov, A.P. Merenkov, Yu.N. Pavlovsky; the Corresponding Member of the Lithuanian AS A.G. Zhilinskas; professors I. Barns, H. Kushner, S. Martin, T. Tarn (USA), P. Kall, D. Klatte (Switzerland), G. Pheichtinger (Austria), F. Lootsma (Holland), B. Kummer, J. Guddat, K. Lommatch, D. Palashke, U. Zimmermann (Germany), M. Vlah (Czechia), Z. Pales (Hungary), Budnyam (Mongolia) and key specialists in Global Optimization P. Pardalos (USA), P. Hansen (Canada), H. Tuy (Vietnam), W. Forster (England), G. Wood (New Zealand), T. Chendes (Hungary), Tz. Meyte (China) and others.

In the last years, it has been very difficult to hold scientific schools and conferences because of the financial problems. Many famous scientific events ceased to exist mainly for this reason. Nevertheless, the Baikal schools-seminars are still existing owing to support of sponsors and organizers.