Viana takes part in technical visits to choose ICM 2030 headquarters

IMPA’s director-general, Marcelo Viana, is a member of the Site Visiting Committee (SVC), a group set up by the International Mathematical Union (IMU) to evaluate bids to host the 2030 International Congress of Mathematicians (ICM).

The SVC is made up of members of the international mathematical community and includes IMU secretary-general Christoph Sorger, vice-president Tatiana Toro, executive committee member JongHae Keum, as well as Viana, who was coordinator of the organizing committee for ICM 2018, held in Rio de Janeiro. The group also has the support of IMU administrator Scott Jung.

In this selection round, three cities have applied to host the congress: Tokyo (Japan), Hong Kong (China) and Glasgow (United Kingdom). As part of the evaluation process, the committee carried out technical visits to the three destinations, analyzing the conditions for organizing the event and meeting with local academic, scientific and political authorities.

The delegation was welcomed by high-level representatives, including Japan’s Deputy Minister for Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, Masato Shimizu; the President of Waseda University, Aiji Tanaka; the President of Hong Kong’s Legislative Council, Starry Lee Wai-king; the President of the Chinese University of Hong Kong, Dennis Lo Yuk-ming; the Lord Provost of Glasgow, Jacqueline McLaren; and the President of the London Mathematical Society, Iain Gordon.

Based on the impressions gathered in each location, the SVC will give feedback to the candidate cities and draw up a report to be submitted to the IMU’s executive committee and general assembly. The final decision on where to host ICM 2030 will be made at the general assembly meeting on July 20 and 21, 2026, in New York (USA).