Preparing a Bid to Host an ICME
The main aspect to keep in mind when preparing a bid proposing to host the International Congress on Mathematical Education is to provide conviction for the ICMI Executive Committee that the candidate country is in a favorable position of accomplishing this non-trivial task.
The document submitted should thus address aspects such as the following:
The bid should define the set of inviting bodies, that is, those who submit the bid. In most cases this set consists of a coalition of bodies (such as learned societies, associations, academies, universities, official national or provincial authorities). This aspect is to ensure that the invitation has sufficiently broad support in the proposed host country and that all major parties concerned with mathematics education stand behind the bid. Also of importance is the actual involvement of the local mathematics education community so as to create a pleasant ambiance around and during the meeting.
The bid should nominate the chair of the conference (Congress Convenor) and the chair of the local organizing committee (LOC) and provide a brief CV for each of these persons.
Any bid for an ICME should be presented by Mathematics Educators in agreement with the Mathematics Education Associations of the hosting country and endorsed by both the Mathematical Association/ Organizations and the country representative to ICMI.
To see the local organisers (and bidders) from the ICME-15 (2024) please go here.
To see the local organizers from ICME-14 (2021) please go here.
For a list of the ICMI representative and ICMI member countries please go here.
The document should present the scientific infrastructure in the bidding country that will be supporting the congress. This is to demonstrate the presence of a sufficiently large group of mathematics educators in the country to provide national backup of the scientific program. In particular, the document should clarify whether there is a substantial core of educators in the country with experience in international meetings (e.g. ICME).
The bid should indicate possible venues within the country (city and institutions in which the congress would take place), describing their advantages and disadvantages in relative terms. This includes a presentation of the technical congress facilities (in particular the availability of rooms of various types and sizes, among others for the plenary sessions, or usual standards such as air conditioning or presentation equipment), transportation to the site as well as on-site, and the variety of local accommodation facilities, ranging from inexpensive student residence type accommodation to high-class international hotels. Eventually, the bid should address other local concerns, such as the security of participants.
The document submitted should outline the logistic infrastructure of the congress in order to demonstrate that a sufficiently advanced, varied and capable organization system is — or can be put — in place to deal with all matters pertinent to the local organization of a multi-faceted and complex congress of about 3500 participants.
The bid should describe the financial infrastructure of the congress, indicating the size of the funds that are expected to be available to the congress, and listing the organizations, institutions, and bodies in the bidding country that are ready — or may be expected — to support the congress financially in terms of money, services, equipment or manpower. The bid should also address the the expected level of registration fees for congress participants.
Since one of the aims of the ICME congresses is to have a balanced representation from all over the world among the presenters as well as among the general participants 10% of the total amount collected through the ICME registration fees are distributed as grants for delegates from non-affluent countries to attend the ICMEs.
An autonomous and anonymous Grant Committee, appointed by the IPC of each ICME distributes the funds amongst the successful applicants. Priority is given to applicants from less-affluent countries who contribute to the scientific programme with a paper or a poster. The criteria are: the quality of the submitted paper or poster, the role at the congress, the scientific potential of the proposal, the geographic representation and the special mathematics educational situation in the applicant’s country. Those grants called "ICME Solidarity Fund Grants" are given mainly as partial support to registration fee, accommodation and travel costs.
It is also welcomed if the bid outlines further possible support for participants from non-affluent countries and also young researchers.
The above is not meant to be an exhaustive check-list of matters to be considered one after the other in preparing a bid, but it gives the flavor of the natural questions the decision makers, namely the Executive Committee of ICMI, will be considering, in addition to other issues such as the broad geographical distribution of the ICME congresses.
The best general guidance in preparing a bid may be found in the following summary: the document has to have two properties, namely,
(a) an existence proof (or at least a good sketch of one) that the inviting consortium can actually manage all aspects of the Congress;
(b) features that make the Executive Committee of ICMI think that the present bid is not only feasible, but also better than other potential bids.
Of course, as the quality of a bid is a multi-faceted concept, there is freedom to balance weaker points in a potential bid with stronger ones.
Here you can find the
Guidelines for preparation for the first IPC meeting for an ICME congress (version September 2020) (pdf-file).
ICME-17, 2032
Countries considering submitting a bid to host ICME-17 in 2032 should be aware of the following timetable:
It is possible that a firm (final bid) is presented to ICMI by November 1, 2026 without having presented a preliminary intention by December 2025.
Any bid for an ICME should be presented BY MATHEMATICS EDUCATORS/ MATHEMATICIANS in agreement with the Mathematics Education Associations of the hosting country and endorsed by both the Mathematical Association/ Organizations and the country representative to ICMI.