Centre International de Mathématiques Pures et Appliquées

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CIMPA is an international organisation whose aim is to promote mathematics in developing countries. CIMPA is sponsored by UNESCO and supported by the French Ministry of Higher Education and Research (MESR), the University of Nice-Sophia Antipolis (UNS), the Spanish Ministry for Science and Innovation (MICINN) and the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS).

CIMPA is an international organisation working to promote the development of mathematics in developing countries.

CIMPA was founded in 1978 and is located in Nice. Its aim is to promote international cooperation in the area of higher education and research in pure and applied mathematics and interactions between these, as well as in related disciplines.

CIMPA was created in France and is recognised by UNESCO. It is sponsored by MESR (France), UNS (France) MICINN (Spain) and CNRS (France). CIMPA has the status of an association (French law of 1901) and works with a large number of mathematicians and member institutions throughout the world.

Since 2007, CIMPA’s Governing Board has expressed the wish to transform CIMPA into a European centre so that other countries can provide financial support and participate in its scientific work. Currently underway, this development will make it possible to better meet the numerous requests from developing countries that cannot be met with current resources.

Fundamental and applied mathematics are at the heart of the scientific fields tackled by CIMPA. CIMPA also carries out cross-disciplinary activities with other scientific fields.

CIMPA’s main work concerns the organisation of research schools, concentrated in locations where there is a real desire to promote and develop mathematics, and where a research project seems conceivable. Every year, a call for research projects is issued with a view to organising around a dozen research schools, each lasting approximately two weeks, all in developing countries and throughout all the continents. Their aim is to contribute to training the next generation of mathematicians of both sexes through research. Each research school attracts around 50 participants. The projects for the research schools submitted to CIMPA are assessed by a Scientific Council which strives to respect three of the main balances which CIMPA considers important, namely geographic, thematic and male/female. CIMPA has gained strong recognition in France and abroad and regular assessments of its performance are carried out.

CIMPA encourages and supports initiatives and does not believe in taking the place of local mathematicians. CIMPA neither can nor wants to do or fund everything, which would defeat its purposes.

The other activities of CIMPA include the support of thematic networks, activities in partnership with other organisations with similar aims such as the International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP), projects in cooperation with international and regional societies such as the International Mathematical Union (IMU), the International Council for Industrial and Applied Mathematics (ICIAM), the European Mathematical Society (EMS), the South-East Asia Mathematical Society (SEAMS), the African Mathematics Union (UMA) and the Latin American and Caribbean Mathematical Union (UMALCA), as well as documentation activities and the dissemination and sharing of knowledge.

CIMPA’s activities are not limited to providing aid for the administrative or financial management of projects or programmes. Despite its limited financial means, CIMPA considers it essential to participate and contribute to scientific activity and to the emergence and strengthening of structures for mathematical research in developing countries. CIMPA is an association of mathematicians for the development of mathematics.

The members of CIMPA are both individuals and institutions and include the French Academy of Sciences, the Mathematical Society of France (SMF), the French Society of Applied and Industrial Mathematics (SMAI), the French Statistical Society (SFdS), the Royal Mathematics Society of Spain (RSME), the Catalan Mathematics Society (SCM), the Spanish Society for Applied Mathematics (SEMA), the Spanish Society of Statistics and Operations Research, the French National Committee of Mathematicians (CNFM), the Spanish Committee of Mathematicians (CEMAT), the French National Institute for Research in Computer Science and Control (INRIA), the French Institute of Research for Development (IRD), the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS), the Centre for Mathematical Modelling (CMM, Chile), the EMS, the ICIAM, the UMALCA, the UMA, and the SEAMS.

CIMPA’s Scientific Council (CS) is made up of well known mathematicians and the Governing Board includes ex-officio members (UNESCO, the MESR/Directorate General for Research and Innovation (DGRI), the MESR/Directorate for European and International Relations and Cooperation (DREIC), the MICINN of Spain and the UNS) and elected members including a professor from the University of Yaoundé and a professor from Buenos Aires University. The Governing Board agrees on the budget and monitors its execution. It has extensive powers in all administrative areas.

The Executive Committee of the Governing Board is made up of the Vice President, the Secretary and the Treasurer. They are elected for four years by the Governing Board and may not serve more than two consecutive terms of office.

The Steering Council (COP) orients CIMPA policy, suggests priorities and makes recommendations. It decides on the research school programmes and other activities, based on the opinion of the Scientific Council.

CIMPA’s management team is made up of the Director, Regional Scientific Managers and Communication Manager. An IT Manager and two secretaries take care of operational activities in Nice.