Commission for
Developing
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CDC

News and Events

CDC Webinar 2025 held on November 3, 2025

The CDC held its annual webinar on November 3, 2025. This time, the webinar focused on the Volunteer Lecturer Program, inviting host institutions and volunteer lecturers who have benefited from the program to share about their experience. Additionally, the CDC extends an invitation to everyone planning to attend the ICM in Philadelphia next year to join the CDC Special Activity which will be held during the ICM.

We are pleased to share the recording of the event for those who were unable to attend.

A big thank you to all participants for their active engagement!

Watch the full webinar below.

The IMU CDC successfully hosted its third webinar!

On October 17, the CDC provided insights into its existing grant programs, including the ICM Travel Support Grant. We are pleased to share the recording of the event for those who were unable to attend.

A big thank you to all participants for their active engagement!

Watch the full webinar below.

IMU-CDC announces new program: IMU-Simons Research Fellowship Program for Developing Countries

The IMU's Commission for Developing Countries is proud to introduce the IMU-Simons Research Fellowship Program for Developing Countries, generously funded by the Simons Foundation under its Targeted Grants to Institutes initiative.

This new grant program supports mathematicians based in developing countries in undertaking collaborative research at mathematical institutions abroad. By fostering international collaborations, the program seeks to enhance their engagement with the global mathematical community.

The program, spanning three years starting from April 15, 2024, is open to mathematicians holding a doctoral degree (PhD) in mathematics and occupying a permanent position as a mathematician in a university faculty or equivalent institution in a developing country. Visits can range from one to three months, with funding provided for the duration of the visit.

Visit the grant page for full details!

CDC Webinar 2023

In an informative webinar held on November 30 and December 7, the CDC provided a comprehensive overview of its current grant programs and introduced the audience to its latest grant application platform. The virtual event drew a global participation with over 120 colleagues joining from diverse corners of the world.

For those who missed the live sessions, we're excited to share that the recorded video is now available! Gain access to the valuable content and stay informed about the CDC's initiatives shaping the landscape of grants opportunities for mathematicians from developing countries.

Volunteer Lecturer Program (Update)

The Commission for Developing Countries (CDC) is actively working to improve its funding opportunities. We especially wish to draw the attention of our colleagues to the new format of the Volunteer Lecturer Program which allows now shorter courses devoted to Master students, PhD students and researchers.

For more information about the program, please visit the VLP Page.

Graduate Research Assistantships in Developing Countries (GRAID) Program.

06-01-2017.pngOn June 2017 another CDC graduate scholarship program was launched, aimed at students listed as Priority 1 and 2 countries among the developing countries listed on the CDC website. For descriptions of the program and the application procedure, please refer to MathPrograms.Org  and this CDC website under the header Scholarships and Capacity Building. 

The GRAID program will be funded entirely by voluntary donations from individual mathematicians; those interested in donating should check the website of Friends of the IMU. Generous donations from several individual mathematicians, the DonAuction fundraising efforts at the 2014 ICM in Seoul, combined with a joint donation from the organizers of ICWM 2014 , provide the seed fund that are making possible the launch of GRAID, the Graduate Assistantships In Developing countries.

The stipends provided by GRAID will be modest, not to exceed USD 3,500/year, and it is expected that priority will be given to those regions where this modest amount would suffice to support a graduate student and free him/her from the obligation to seek an additional job to support themselves.

Please check out the websites of CDC and Friends of the IMU to learn more about the CDC GRAID Program!

CDC Special Panel at the ICM 2022

Online International Cooperation in Mathematics: Challenges and Opportunities for Developing Countries is a panel hosted by the IMU Commissions for Developing Countries (CDC) at this year’s virtual International Congress for Mathematicians.

Date: Tuesday, July 12, 2022
Time: 2.15PM – 4.15PM (CEST)

The topic of the virtual panel session is Online International Cooperation in Mathematics: Challenges and Opportunities for Developing Countries. The panel session will host 8 speakers from organizations and institutions across the continents, such as those that work on increasing capacities within developing countries, those focusing on education and gender within mathematics, as well as institutions from the developing regions themselves.

Panelists and the represented organizations:

  • Olga Gil Medrano, IMU Commission for Developing Countries (IMU-CDC)
  • Anjum Halai, International Commission on Mathematical Instruction (ICMI)
  • Marie Françoise Roy, IMU Committee for Women in Mathematics (IMU-CWM)
  • Christophe Ritzenhaler, Centre International de Mathématiques Pures et Appliquées (CIMPA) 
  • Claudio Arezzo, International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP)
  • Mama Foupouagnigni, African Institute for Mathematical Sciences Global Network (AIMS)
  • Guillermo Cortiñas, University of Buenos Aires, Argentina
  • Edy Tri Baskoro, Institut Teknologi Bandung (ITB), Indonesia

Join us at the CDC Panel to learn about the challenges of mathematicians and institutions in developing countries, and the initiatives and programs of various organizations to promote international cooperation despite challenges in global mobility, in particular how communication technology can be harnessed to reach mathematicians all over the world.

To participate in the panel, registration for the ICM2022 is mandatory. Information on how to sign up for the ICM will be put up soon on the ICM website. Stay tuned!

News from ICM 2022: Chebyshev grant winners have been selected

The Organizing Committee of the International Congress of Mathematicians 2022 have selected the recipients of the Chebyshev grants for attending ICM 2022. All applicants should have received a notification at the email address provided during registration on the ICM website with information about the status of their application.

Applicants that have not received any notification are encouraged to check their spam folder and to contact chebyshev@icm2022.org if they indeed have no news on their application.

Postgraduate Diploma Programme in Mathematics of the ICTP

Supporting its mission to promote advanced scientific research in developing countries, ICTP offers a Postgraduate Diploma Programme in Mathematics since 1991 that prepares talented students for PhD studies. This is a one-year pre-PhD programme consisting of basic and advanced courses.

Every year 10 scholarships are awarded to successful candidates from developing countries (with particular emphasis on students from the least developed regions of the world) to cover travel and living expenses during their stay at ICTP. The selection committee aims to select the best academically qualified candidates while striving for gender balance and geographical distribution. The application deadline for the 2022/23 programme has been extended until February 28, 2022.

For more information, please visit the website of ICTP.

New call of the IMU-Breakout Graduate Fellowship Program

Thanks to a generous donation by the winners of the Breakthrough Prizes in Mathematics – Ian Agol, Jean Bourgain, Simon Donaldson, Alex Eskin, Christopher Hacon, Martin Hairer, Maxim Kontsevich, Vincent Lafforgue, Jacob Lurie, James McKernan, Takuro Mochizuki, Terence Tao and Richard Taylor – IMU with the assistance of FIMU is opening a new call of the IMU Breakout Graduate Fellowship program to support postgraduate studies, in a developing country, leading to a PhD degree in the mathematical sciences. The IMU Breakout Graduate Fellowships offers a limited number of complete grants, with duration of up to four years, for excellent students from developing countries.

Professional mathematicians are invited to nominate highly motivated and mathematically talented students from developing countries who plan to complete a doctoral degree in a developing country, including their own home country. Nominees must have a consistently good academic record and must be seriously interested in pursuing a career of research and teaching in mathematics.

For a nomination to be eligible, the country of citizenship of the student, the country of residency and the country where the study will take place must be contained in the list of Developing Countries as defined by IMU for the period 2019-2022. ;

The 2022 call will be open from February 1 to May 30, 2022. More information can be found on the IMU Breakout Graduate Fellowship Program page.