CIRM, Centre international de rencontres mathématiques
Situated right at the heart of the parc des Calanques, a famous nature reserve in the south of France, CIRM is a center dedicated to international seminars and research in mathematics. It is a residential center where researchers live in total immersion.
CIRM’s local, national and international missions are:
- to share the latest discoveries in mathematical sciences
- to make advances in fundamental mathematical questions
- to develop ambitious projects in collaboration with other sciences
- to ensure transfer of knowledge to young researchers and doctoral students.
That’s CIRM:
- an all-inclusive centre created in 1981 where organizers and participants can focus entirely on research
- administered by 3 trustees: Aix Marseille Université, CNRS, Société mathématique de France
- a wonderful environment at the heart of the Calanques national park in the South of France
- 5156 participants in 2025
- 13 scientific programs covering all aspects of mathematical sciences
- 120 annual events hosted in 2025
- 80 rooms and studios – 127 beds
- a restaurant that can cater for up to 130 people
- a large mathematics library
- an auditorium with 95 seats
- a conference room with 100 seats
- two audiovisual control rooms
- 10 seminar rooms and offices
- a film producer: more than 3000 videos (conferences and interviews) online on youtube, 30 000 subscribers, 35 000 views per month
- videos catalogued and enhanced in the audiovisual mathematics library and on carmin.tv
- a complete professional audiovisual environment for on-site, virtual and hybrid events
- an international chair led each semester by a foreign professor and a local project leader: the Jean-Morlet chair
- a chair ‘pays du sud’: hosting a researcher affiliated with a university or a research institute of a southern country and a researcher from a french institution. the chairholder and his/her partner will organize research activities around a theme and a project.
CIRM programs
- CONFERENCES & RESEARCH SCHOOLS last 5 days with an average of 60 to 90 participants. the calendar is planned two years in advance.
- MULTIYEAR PROGRAMS guarantee one week at CIRM for several years in a row to develop a scientific project in mathematics & mathematics in interaction with other disciplines.
- WORKSHOPS are more specialized than larger events and are attended by 20 to 40 participants on average. they last 2 to 5 days.
- RESEARCH IN RESIDENCE: 2 to 4 people meet for a week or two in order to finish a paper or a book chapter or to start a new collaboration.
- JEAN-MORLET CHAIR: a foreign researcher in residence works for a whole semester in collaboration with a project leader in a local mathematics department and organizes 5 or 6 events of various types and duration.
- GLOBAL SOUTH CHAIR: The Chair, which lasts for a minimum of one month and a maximum of two months, is held by a researcher affiliated with a university in the Global South, accompanied by a local partner from a French research institution (CNRS, university). The chairholder must be a leading mathematician capable of developing and fostering high-quality scientific activity around them. The presence of the pair immersed at CIRM is conducive to scientific creativity.
- CIRM IN SOCIETY CONFERENCE: a conference which, in addition to mathematics, has a societal component. this can be, but is not limited to, links to other sciences/areas of research, links to social sciences, links to societal challenges, facing challenges within the mathematical community, and mathematical outreach.
- THEMATIC MONTH: a winter session on mathematics, computer sciences or theoretical physics with the mathematics departments of Aix Marseille University
- FRENCH INSTITUTIONNAL WEEK: these weeks are primarily intended for groups of professionals working with mathematicians on a daily basis.
- MULTI-YEAR PROGRAM, “time for research”: these programs are intended for researchers whose scientific project requires more time and more visibility in the long term to succeed and become a reality.
- MIRROR CONFERENCES: Organization of events would take place simultaneously at CIRM and in a partner center. The participants from each continent would be grouped together in one center, with the objective of having common presentations but also moments of exchange between colleagues in the same place.
- FORTNIGHT EVENTS: CIRM strongly encourages organizers to consider turning their event into a two-week event. These “Fortnight events” are composed as follows: a one-week research school followed or preceded by a workshop. Financial support from CIRM covering accommodation and meals is allocated up to a maximum of 30 participants. The total support of “30” is committed on the condition that at least 60 participants are included in the event and accomodated at CIRM.
With CIRM’s administrative and residential teams taking care of their needs, researchers can focus exclusively on their own scientific projects.
