The International Mathematical Union grants four prizes for mathematical achievement which are awarded every four years at the Opening Ceremony of the International Congress of Mathematicians (ICM):
In addition, the IMU awards the following prize for mathematical outreach:
Finally, the IMU also coordinates the following special lecture:
The IMU Executive Committee appoints - for each of its prizes and awards - a selection committee in accordance with the individual prize or award statutes, and the IMU By-Laws. The names of the selection committee members remain confidential until the ICM at which the awards are made, only the names of the chairs are made public. An overview of previous selection committees can be found on the individual prize or award webpage.
The IMU has now issued a call for nominations to its members for all prizes and awards to be bestowed at ICM 2026. The deadline for nominations to be received is 31 December 2024.
Because the ICM Emmy Noether Lecture is a special lecture at an ICM, the deadline for nominations for the ICM Emmy Noether Lecture was earlier and closed on 1 October 2024.
Below you will find an overview of the 2026 prize committee chairs and their contact emails.
Fields Medal
IMU Abacus Medal
Carl Friedrich Gauss Prize
Carl Friedrich Gauss Prize Details
Chern Medal Award
Leelavati Prize, sponsored by Infosys
ICM Emmy Noether Lecture
Because the activities of the International Mathematical Union (IMU) are many and complex, involving large numbers of individuals, potential conflicts of interest inevitably arise in innocent and unexpected ways. The IMU must be vigilant, and be seen to be vigilant, by having in place effective and transparent measures to ensure fairness of its processes and minimize the risk of harm to its reputation. In particular, this applies to prize selection committees, the activities of which must always be beyond reproach. The IMU is aware that conflicts of interest may result from one’s life’s path, and they may or may not influence one’s ability to make impartial assessment. However, it is essential that the IMU processes would be deemed fair by any reasonable third person who is aware of the circumstances.
The potential impact of unconscious bias on the selection process is a concern for the International Mathematical Union. As humans, many of the decisions that we make are subject to unconscious bias. Unconscious biases are simply our unintentional preferences that come from our gender, education, culture, etc. Psychologists and neuroscientists tell us that our unconscious mind automatically, rapidly, intuitively and effortlessly categorizes people. This ability enables us to make rapid decisions about people. We do this without having to engage the limited resources of the conscious mind, which are required for most cognitive tasks, such as problem solving and planning. These cognitive shortcuts that reduce the load created by complex information lead to intuitive, but error-prone, decisions.
The IMU is a member of the International Science Council (ISC), see Article 2(a) in the IMU Statutes. As such, we subscribe to Article 7 of the ISC Statutes, namely The Principle of Freedom and Responsibility in Science.