Deadline for nominations: November 30, 2026

The Emma Castelnuovo Award recognizes outstanding achievements in the practice of mathematics education consistent with ICMI’s principles:

• the development of mathematical education at all levels and;
• the promotion of reflection, collaboration, exchange, and dissemination of ideas on the teaching and learning of mathematics from the primary to the university level.

The award was named after Emma Castelnuovo (1913-2014), an Italian mathematics educator, in celebration of her 100th birthday and to honor her pioneering work.

The first Emma Castelnuovo medal was awarded to Hugh Burkhardt and Malcolm Swan in 2016 at the 13th International Congress on Mathematical Education (ICME-13) in Hamburg, Germany.

Eligibility for the Emma Castelnuovo Award
The award is open to nominees from all in the mathematics education community, with the exception of:

• current ICMI Executive Committee members
• current members of the Emma Castelnuovo Award Committee
• previous winners of the award.

The Emma Castelnuovo Award honors an individual, or a small team of individuals, for work in the development and implementation of exceptionally excellent and influential work in the practice of mathematics education related to one or more of the following:

• classroom teaching
• curriculum development
• instructional design (of materials or pedagogical models)
• teacher education programs, and/or
• field projects with a demonstrated influence on schools, districts, regions, or countries.

The Emma Castelnuovo Award seeks to recognize and encourage efforts, ideas and their successful implementation of mathematics teaching and learning, as well as to showcase models and exemplars of inspirational practices.

Criteria for Evaluating Nominees
Nominees for the Emma Castelnuovo Award will be evaluated in light of the following criteria:

• the educational rationale for the nominee’s work, and what served as a catalyst for that work
• the mathematics teaching/learning problem/s addressed by the nominee
• the nominee’s role in addressing the problem/s and opportunities, whether they involve curriculum development, pre-service teacher education, in-service professional development/learning, instructional design, field projects, or other areas of mathematics education practice
• the conditions under which the work has taken place, that is, the cultural and political context, infrastructure, funding support, and people involved
• the originality and creativity of the work, the approaches taken to address the identified mathematics teaching/learning problem/s, the design and development process, and the products/outcomes of the work
• the extent and quality of networking with key stakeholders (e.g., in bridging theory and practice)
• evaluations of the work
• the extent of the influence/impact of the work on educational practice in the teaching/learning of mathematics, including quantitative or qualitative evidence of that influence
• the potential of the work to serve as a model, either for inspiring others addressing similar problems, or because an approach was taken that could be applied elsewhere with appropriate modifications.

Nomination Process and supporting Documentation required

Nominations for the Emma Castelnuovo Award should be made by the nominator on the Nomination Form
and must include the following attachments:
1. A one-page summary statement outlining the reasons for the nomination.
2. A document (max. 5 pages) describing the nominee’s work in relation to the above criteria.
3. An account (max. 10 pages) including the genesis of the nominee’s work and the roles played by the nominee as well as other significant people (if any). This account should also contain a description of the impact (locally, nationally, internationally) of the work on the practice of mathematics teaching and learning, where and by what means the work has been disseminated, the extent of the adoption/implementation of the work, and/or further developments arising from the work.
4. Brief curricula vitae (max. 2 pages per person) of the nominee(s).
5. Electronic copies of three publications that reflect the nominee’s work related to the practice of mathematics education (e.g., journal articles, textbooks, instructional materials, CD-ROMs, etc.). N.B. If a publication is not in English, include an extended abstract (max. 2 pages) in English.
6. Three to five letters of support from different stakeholders/scholars, preferably from different countries.
7. The names and e-mail addresses of the nominator/s who can provide further information, if needed.

All nominations MUST be sent by e-mail to the Chair of the Emma Castelnuovo Award Committee, Professor Kaye Stacey (chair@castelnuovo28.mathunion.org), no later than November 30, 2026. The chair will typically confirm receipt within a week of receiving the nomination. If more time than that elapses, please write the Chair directly, to make sure the nomination was not misdirected to a spam folder.

Announcement of the Awardee of the 2028 Emma Castelnuovo Award
The recipient of the award will remain secret until the Awards Ceremony at the opening of ICME-16 in July 2028 in Prague, Czech Republic. The awardee (or representative) will be invited to present a special lecture at ICME-16.

The 2028 Emma Castelnuovo Award Committee
Professor Emerita Kaye Stacey was nominated by the President of ICMI as Chair of the 2028 Emma Castelnuovo Award Committee. There are five other members of the Committee. They remain anonymous until their time on the Committee comes to an end. The six Committee members come from six different countries and represent different world regions. The work of the Emma Castelnuovo Award Committee is confidential.

The Committee now welcomes nominations for the award.

Information about all ICMI awards can be found here.

For the names of previous award recipients see here.

Prof. Em. Kaye Stacey Chair of the 2028 Emma Castelnuovo Award Committee

Dear Members of the International Mathematics Education Community,

Starting in 2003, the International Commission on Mathematical Instruction (ICMI) has given two awards to recognize outstanding accomplishments in mathematics education research:

• the Felix Klein Award, for lifelong achievement in mathematics education research,
• the Hans Freudenthal Award, for a major program of research on mathematics education.

The call for the 2028 awards is given below. Please consider nominating a worthy candidate. This is our mechanism for highlighting the contributions of major scholars who have moved the field forward through focused research programs and lifetime contributions. We recognize that it’s a lot of work to put together a compelling nomination, but please do! ICMI Awards Committees can only choose recipients from officially submitted nominations for the current round, accompanied by full documentation, as specified in the call.

Thank you for considering this call seriously. We look forward to receiving your nominations.
Alan Schoenfeld on behalf of the ICMI Klein and Freudenthal Awards Committee.

Felix Klein Award

The Felix Klein medal is awarded for life-time achievement in mathematics education research. This award acknowledges senior scholars who have made field-defining contributions over their professional careers. Awardees will have had an impact both at the national level, within their own countries, and at the international level. We have valued in the past those candidates who not only have made substantial research contributions, but also have introduced new issues, ideas, perspectives, and critical reflections. Additional considerations have included leadership roles, mentoring, and peer recognition, as well as the actual or potential relationship between the research done and improvement of mathematics education at large, through connections between research and practice.

Nominations for the Felix Klein Award should include the following:
1. a document (max. 8 pages) describing the achievements of the nominee (e.g., their theoretical contribution and/or empirical research, leadership roles, graduate supervision and mentoring, and peer recognition) and reasons for the nomination (including a description of the nominee’s impact on the field);
2. a one-page summarizing statement;
3. a curriculum vitae of the nominee (max. 20 pages);
4. electronic copies of three of the nominee’s key publications;
5. three letters of support (preferably from different countries); and
6. the names and e-mail addresses of two persons other than the nominee herself or himself who could provide further information, if needed.

All nominations for the Felix Klein Award 2028 must be sent by e-mail to the Chair of the Committee, Alan Schoenfeld using the  email address: chair@klein28.mathunion.org no later than November 30, 2026. Please also use the Felix Klein Award Nomination Form.

The chair will typically confirm receipt within a week of receiving the nomination. If more time than that elapses, please write the Chair directly, to make sure the nomination was not misdirected to a spam folder.

Hans Freudenthal Award

The Hans Freudenthal medal acknowledges the outstanding contributions of an individual’s theoretically robust and coherent research program, which has had a clear impact on our research community. It honors a scholar who has initiated a new research program and has brought it to maturation over the past 10 years. Freudenthal awardees should also be researchers whose work is ongoing and who can be expected to continue contributing to the field. In brief, the criteria for this award are depth, novelty, sustainability, and impact of the research program.
See here for further information about the awards and for the names of past awardees.

The ICMI Klein and Freudenthal Awards Committee consists of a chair (Professor Alan Schoenfeld) and five other members who remain anonymous until their terms have come to an end. The Committee is entering the cycle of selecting awardees for the 2028 awards. It welcomes nominations for the two awards from individuals or groups of individuals in the mathematics education community. The awards committee is committed to the equitable consideration of all researchers in mathematics education, including candidates of diverse national origin, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, and members of marginalized or under-represented communities. We encourage the nomination of a broad range of highly qualified candidates and will give all applications received full and careful consideration.

Nominations for the Hans Freudenthal Award should include the following:
1. a document (max. 5 pages) describing the nominee’s research program and reasons for the nomination (including a description of the nominee’s impact on the field);
2. a one-page summarizing statement;
3. a curriculum vitae of the nominee (max. 10 pages);
4. electronic copies of three of the nominee’s key publications;
5. three letters of support (from different countries, if possible); and
6. the names and e-mail addresses of two persons other than the nominee herself or himself who could provide further information, if needed.

All nominations for the Hans Freudenthal Award 2028 must be sent by e-mail to the Chair of the Committee, Alan Schoenfeld using the  email address: chair@freudenthal28.mathunion.org no later than November 30, 2026. Please also use the Hans Freudenthal Nomination Form

The chair will typically confirm receipt within a week of receiving the nomination. If more time than that elapses, please write the Chair directly, to make sure the nomination was not misdirected to a spam folder.

Announcement of the Awardees of the 2028 Klein and Freudenthal Awards
The recipients of the awards will remain secret until the Awards Ceremony at the opening of ICME-16 in July 2028 in Prague, Czech Republic. The awardees (or representatives) will be invited to present a special lecture at ICME-16.

The 2028 Kein and Freudenthal Award Committee
Professor Alan Schoenfeld was nominated by the President of ICMI as Chair of the 2028 Felix Klein and Hans Freudenthal Award Committee. There are five other members of the Committee. They remain anonymous until their time on the Committee comes to an end. The six Committee members come from six different countries and represent different world regions. The work of the Klein and Freudenthal Award Committee is confidential.

The Committee now welcomes nominations for the awards.

Information about all ICMI awards can be found here.

For the names of previous award recipients see here.

Prof. Alan Schoenfeld University of California, Berkeley Berkeley, CA 94707-1670 USA