Deadline for nominations: 30 November, 2022 (closed)

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 honour 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 honours 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 programmes, 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 Emerita Helen Forgasz (chair@castelnuovo24.mathunion.org), no later than 30 November, 2022.

Announcement of the Awardee of the 2024 Emma Castelnuovo Award

The recipient of the award will be announced and presented at ICME-15 in July 2024 in Sydney, Australia. The awardee (or representative) will be invited to present a special lecture at ICME-15.

The 2024 Emma Castelnuovo Award Committee

Professor Emerita Helen Forgasz was nominated by the President of ICMI as Chair of the 2024 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. Helen Forgasz
Chair of the 2024 Emma Castelnuovo Award Committee