ICMS Funding Opportunities

ICMS is funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) to support research in all areas of the mathematical sciences and its connections to other disciplines and industry. In 2021, we were awarded significant additional funding that enabled us to expand our existing activities and to provide new opportunities to enhance the UK mathematical landscape.

ICMS invites proposals for a range of activities including research workshops, research-in-groups, knowledge exchange activities, public engagement initiatives, and events that fall under our new project ‘Mathematics for Humanity’. All proposals are refereed and organisers are encouraged to discuss their proposal with ICMS before submission. The details on the scheme’s objectives, what funding is available, who to contact, and an indicative realistic planning timescale can be found within each call.

You can find some useful information about budgets and finance for ICMS events here.

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Any of our funding opportunities can go with a ‘satellite event’ request to use a venue that is not ICMS, even while our staff will continue to provide support to the workshop preparation and logistics. These can be academic venues, with particular emphasis on regions that have historically had less access to national or international academic activities, but also locations that the organisers feel will help generate focus and a collaborative atmosphere. For example, we have had successful events at Sabhal Mòr Ostaig on the Isle of Skye.

Sustainability at ICMS

ICMS is considering ways in which it can improve the sustainability of our activities. As part of this drive, we strongly encourage all our visitors to consider train travel whenever possible, including sleeper trains. We also stipulate that any flights longer than four hours will only be reimbursed for visits of at least three days.

In addition, we have in recent years invested in hardware, software and personnel to facilitate seamless twinning of mathematical conferences. Here, "twinning" means holding a conference in-person simultaneously in two locations, and using audio and video relay to transmit talks (blackboard or slides) between locations. Typically, timezone considerations allow for three one-hour talks in common each day, with the remaining time available for free discussion/collaboration, or for single-site talks to supplement the shared agenda.

Twinning workshops significantly reduces the carbon footprint by reducing inter-continental flights, while still affording participants the many benefits of in-person workshops. The practice can also increase inclusivity by affording a more local experience to those with caring responsibilities, visa restrictions, or other complications to international travel.

ICMS is committed to supporting interested organisers to run twinned events, and will work proactively to ensure smooth running of the event at both locations, so that scientific organisers and their participants can focus on the mathematics and not the logistics. We will also facilitate post-event collaborations, for example by giving priority to Research in Groups applications resulting from a twinned event.

We invite organisers to consider running twinned events, and to express an interest in this at the time of application.

Please contact Centre Manager Jane Walker in the first instance to discuss your proposal for any of the research schemes.

Please contact Knowledge Exchange Manager Lauren Hyndman to discuss your proposal for any Knowledge Exchange activities.

If you have your own funding in place, ICMS will be very happy to host a workshop for you and provide administrative support.  Please contact Centre Manager Jane Walker to discuss your requirements.

ICMS is now accepting proposals for the following: