For many years it has been a tradition that the ICM offers a Travel Grants Program for mathematicians from developing countries. Usually the applications have been divided into regional groups as well as into young mathematicians and senior mathematicians.
Information about the travel grant program for mathematicians from developing countries to attend the ICM 2026 will be published on the ICM website in 2024/2025.
International Congress of Mathematicians (ICM) | 6–14 July 2022
! A decision has been made by the Executive Committee of the IMU on the upcoming ICM 2022 and IMU General Assembly. The statement issued by the IMU can be found here.
Regarding the ICM travel grants please note that :
Open Arms was sponsored by IMPA – Instituto de Matemática Pura e Aplicada and SBM – Sociedade Brasileira de Matemática, with a generous contribution from IMU – International Mathematical Union.
The Open Arms travel grants subcommittee received 1.565 valid applications, as follows: Asia and Pacific = 903, Africa = 280, Eastern Europe = 138, Latin America = 244. The four regional panels were asked to base their evaluations on academic merit, with a special attention to diversity, including gender balance.
Overall, there are 630 travel grants were awarded, as follows: Asia and Pacific = 200 (60 female), Africa = 130 (44 female), Eastern Europe = 100 (49 female), Latin America = 200 (76 female). In all four regions the percentage of women among the grantees matches or surpasses the percentage of female applicants.
Further information can be found on the website of the ICM 2018.
NANUM is a Korean word meaning “gracious and unconditional sharing.”
Some members of the Korean Mathematical Society (KMS) enjoyed the benefits of the IMU travel assistance program to travel to ICMs in the 70’s and 80’s. Such assistance not only benefited the recipients of the travel assistance but also the students and young researchers with whom the recipients of IMU assistance shared the excitement and experience gained from ICMs. The KMS and its members fully acknowledge the gracious and friendly support received from the international math community, and hope more countries can share in the benefits. Being a late starter, based on its own experience, the mathematics community in Korea understands the challenges met by mathematicians in many developing countries. This had motivated the theme of Korea’s bidding for the ICM 2014 proposal: "Dreams and Hopes for Late Starters".
In order to realize the proposed theme, the Organizing Committee of ICM 2014 offered to invite 1,000 mathematicians in developing countries to Korea to participate in ICM 2014, many of whom would not have been able to visit an ICM otherwise, stand to bring the ICM excitements and new knowledge back to their home countries. The ICM 2014 Travel Fellowship Fund was set up and the Organizing Committee of ICM 2014 estimated the average cost to be approximately 1,500~2,500 USD per person, making the total cost 2 mill. USD.
The application and selection procedures for "NANUM 2014" was based on merit and with due regard for gender and geographical balance.
Before the opening of ICM 2014 the MENAO event was held and all NANUM recipients were invited to participate.
ICM 2010 TRAVEL GRANTS
770 applications were received from the developing countries. Among these 360 mathematicians were of age 35 of less (these are referred to as Young Mathematician Category). The remaining 410 applications came from the senior mathematicians from these countries.
A total of 120 awards were available and during a teleconference among the reviewers, region wise award distribution was decided.
53 of the 63 Young Mathematicians and 53 of the 57 Senior Mathematicians who were offered grants actually travelled to Hyderabad, India. For all of the 106 mathematicians who attended the ICM 2010, the Local Organizing Committee of the International Congress of Mathematicians 2010 covered the registration fee and also provided board and lodging, for which IMU is most grateful.
The funds for these grants were given by: American Mathematical Society, London Mathematical Society, Unione Matematica Italiana and Deutsche Mathematiker-Vereinigung.
ICM 2006 TRAVEL GRANTS
A total of 457 applications from young mathematicians in developing countries and 630 applications from senior mathematicians in developing countries had been received via the online application process which had been specifically developed.
80 of the 115 young mathematicians and 65 of the 88 senior mathematicians who were offered grants actually travelled to Madrid. For 133 of these 145 participants the Local Organizing Committee of the International Congress of Mathematicians 2006 covered the registration fee, and for 131 of them provided board and lodging, for which IMU is most grateful.
The funds for these grants were given by:
American Mathematical Society, USA, European Mathematical Society, London Mathematical Society, UK, Mathematical Society of Japan, Unione Matematica Italiana, Italy, U.S. National Academies of Science, USA, Science Initiative Group, USA, Het Wiskundig Genootschap, Netherlands.
Finally, IMU is very grateful to the the Local Organizing Committee for providing local expenses for 146 senior mathematicians from Latin America and Mediterranean developing countries and for 32 young mathematicians from Spain, and for providing travel expenses for 43 senior mathematicians from Latin America and Mediterranean developing countries, as well as for one Indian.