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What is an "International Congress of Mathematicians" anyway?



This week was the end of the ICM 2018 held in Rio de Janeiro, hosting around 3,500 mathematicians from all over the world. This gathering happens every four years, and one of the most famous activity is the awarding of four Fields Medals to distinguished mathematicians under 40 years old, together with other prizes, such as the Gauss Prize, the Nevanlinna Prize, the Chern Medal Award, the Emmy Noether Lecture Prize, and the Leelavati Prize.



But what exactly happens in a Congress of Mathematicians? This was a very intense program, consisting of 9 days of activities ranging from talks, exhibits, social events, poster presentations, and panels. The prime objective is to bring mathematicians together and learn from one another of new theories, trends, subjects, and to discuss challenges in the field, as well as in the community. 




There were Plenary talks and Prize talks were leaders on their field would communicate their work and revolutionary ideas. Like in many other disciplines, mathematics has many diverse areas -hence the plural mathematics- and the ICM is the perfect place to learn firsthand from the very best. We learned a huge variety of topics, going from Game Theory and Complexity with applications in understanding markets and other economic structures, to advances in Number Theory and the Langlands Program, passing through the mathematics of Optimal Transport, Conformal Theory, and classification problems in Algebraic Geometry


There was also opportunity to share, discuss, and promote collaboration among the participants. Poster sessions, short communications, discussion panels, and more enabled great spaces for the participants to know each other and promote collaboration. Whether it was research, education, or social justice, the goal of these activities is to get together, identify problems, and walk towards a solution. The ICM is a place where the course of mathematics is set for years to come at so many different levels, a place to share experiences, to pose questions, and to promote solutions.


Part of the ICM was also the World Meeting for Women in Mathematics (WM)², where discussion about gender issues in mathematics, important lectures, and a memorial for the 2014 Fields medallist Maryam Mirzakhani, took place. 


Social activities where also very important at the ICM 2018. Both official social events, as well as private gatherings and parties took place throughout the 9 days of conference. After all, mathematicians are people too! We had a day off where we explored Rio and its beaches. We were very lucky to have a sunny day too, after a long week of rainy days.


In the end, many talks remarked the importance of mathematics in our society. Mathematics is a human activity, and because of this, it should get reflected in improving human lives. Many of the different Price awardees underlined importance of mathematics in the improvement of people's lives. From the applied mathematics of Image Processing improving MRI scans and early detection of Cancer, to the better understanding of efficient markets and their complexity, from the popularization of mathematics through the impressive efforts of Ali Nesin and his Math Village bringing mathematics to the people in most need in Turkey, to the awareness of the gender gap in mathematics and all the inequality in mathematics education, I would say that the highlight of the Congress is Math for the People. I hope this efforts will continue and that in four years we have made more progress in research, education, and equity/equality in mathematics so we can share it at the ICM 2022 in St. Petersburg.





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