Hosting The World
The ethos of this ICM bid is one of collaboration, between people and between nations.
This is a joint bid between Ireland and the UK – the first two-country bid, and together with our 2km congress in which the density of mathematicians will create many unexpected conversations, one which we hope will provide a new model for the future.
Whilst mathematical talent is distributed evenly across the world, financial resource is not. Accordingly, one major part of our bid is the Developing Countries Fund (described p23), through which we will be able to extend the opportunity to participate by fully funding 900 mathematicians worldwide.
Glasgow as a city is very affordable, particularly the student accommodation at $55 per night, which can be used by any participant. Another key barrier to attending the ICM, particularly for Early Career mathematicians, is the conference fee. Our bid will keep this as low as possible, ensuring that the conference fee will be at most at the level of ICM2026 (adjusted for inflation), with significant reductions for Early Bird registrations, and fee waivers as part of the Developing Countries Fund. We will furthermore strive to maximise the sponsorship between now and 2030, and through this we expect to be able to lower the conference fee to below 2026 levels.
Science flourishes through open discussion – principles laid out by UNESCO in their Open Science report:
“By promoting science that is more accessible, inclusive and transparent, open science furthers the right of everyone to share in scientific advancement and its benefits as stated in Article 27.1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights”.
As described below, the ICM proceedings will be published by EMS Press, a not-for-profit organisation with significant experience, and all articles will be fully open access. Through manifold outreach activities – and, for example, the declaration of 2030 as a Maths Year in the UK and Ireland – we also aim to showcase the power and beauty of our subject to a wider audience.
Glasgow is a city that reflects on and learns from its past, and like any 850-year-old city, its history is a complicated mix.
From the scientific discovery of CO2 by Joseph Black in 1754 (a Glasgow professor 1756–66), to its high-pollution coal-based industrial peak in the 1900s in which Glasgow built over 20% of the world’s ships, through to today where the city has hosted international meetings such as COP26 and has been at the very forefront of sustainability drives and initiatives, the legacy is both positive and negative. Climate change is a major crisis, and one concrete step this ICM bid will take is to develop metrics and indices to enable the IMU and other major organisations to model the sustainability and carbon footprint of future large conferences at the bid stage, to inform their decision-making processes. This is coupled to the net-zero commitments of the City and University of Glasgow, and the ICM venue, the SEC itself.
Developing Countries Fund
Application Process
The Developing Counties Fund application process will be managed by the ICMS (International Centre for the Mathematical Sciences) in Edinburgh, who have extensive related experience through their Mathematics for Humanity programme.
Maximising ICM Involvement and Reach
To further extend global involvement in the ICM, we will:
- Organise a global network of satellite events leading up to the congress, building on our connections with research centres across the globe.
- Facilitate development of training events leading up to and after the conference, specifically aiming to support early career researchers and colleagues from developing countries. This will include summer schools, short courses, and satellite-seminars (as for example proposed by Oberwolfach, building on their existing high-profile seminars) covering a wide range of mathematical concepts and locations.
- Support researchers new to attending the ICM by offering them the opportunity to participate in a mentorship scheme, connecting them to more experienced participants.
- Organise a pre-conference virtual orientation to further support (first-time) international attendees.
- Set up a slack community space to allow attendees to build connections leading up to the conference, and to allow for continued collaborations afterwards.
- Host multiple events during the ICM itself, with regards to networking and geography-specific regions and needs. This will include a conference app, where attendees can propose their own meetups and post calls for collaboration and job opportunities.
- Provide recorded videos of all ICM sessions, publishing these on a dedicated online channel within 24 hours of their happening.
Proceedings and Virtual Component
Our publication strategy aims to innovate how mathematics reaches people, setting new accessibility standards that can serve as a model for future congresses.
Through our partnerships with highly experienced partners such as the European Mathematical Society (EMS) Press, we will ensure that expenditures serve a non-profit purpose.
EMS Press
The Glasgow ICM has a preliminary agreement with EMS Press, publishers of the ICM Proceedings in both 2006 and 2022. EMS Press is fully owned by the not-for-profit European Mathematical Society, and any surplus they make is reinvested into the mathematical community to advance mathematics publishing and the sponsorship activities of the EMS such as grants and conferences.
Editorial arrangements
Proceedings of the ICM will be produced with an open CC-BY-4.0 license under the editorial leadership of Prof. Karen Vogtmann FRS (Warwick) and Prof. Stuart White (Oxford).
In our bid, for the first time the ICM proceedings will be available in both a traditional open-access PDF format, and a fully accessible E-PUB format optimised for people with disabilities.
Video streaming
In order to guarantee optimal delivery and accessibility, video recordings will be available on an asynchronous basis shortly after each lecture, to be consumed across all time zones. In a global event such as the ICM this is, to us, more important than live streaming (although the Opening Ceremony and plenaries will be live streamed), since it allows people to interact with the ICM whilst it is happening but in a time and speed most convenient to them.
The SEC has significant in-house experience and is a highly experienced venue in this domain, having previously streamed large-scale world events like COP26.
Opening Ceremony
The opening ceremony, attended by all ICM participants, will take place in the OVO Hydro on the congress site featuring state-of-the-art multimedia facilities. We are keenly aware of the public significance the event holds for both the IMU and the wider mathematical community. The awards ceremony of the IMU prizes will be in the presence of dignitaries, and we are actively seeking the attendance of HM King Charles III. In particular, adequate professional arrangements will be made for an internationally broadcast livestream of the event.
