Thematic and Focus Programs are the Fields Institute's principal vehicle for sustained mathematical research. Rather than convening researchers for a single conference or lecture, these programs bring a research community into residence at the Institute for an extended period, built around a specific area of the mathematical sciences chosen well in advance by the Institute's Scientific Advisory Panel.

Thematic Programs run between one and 12 months and represent the Institute's most substantial commitment of time and resources within a given year. A Thematic Program typically incorporates a sequence of workshops, a seminar series, graduate courses, and a rotating group of long- and short-term visitors working alongside postdoctoral fellows. Two major Thematic Programs run in a typical year. Their scale allows a research area to be examined from multiple directions over months rather than days, producing more sustained and fulsome collaboration.

Focus Programs address a similar range of subject matter over a shorter period. Because they require less lead time to organize, Focus Programs allow the Institute to respond more quickly to emerging areas of mathematical research, including areas that have not yet developed the track record a full Thematic Program requires.

Mathematical research often depends on extended, unstructured time together. A hard problem is rarely solved in the span of a single afternoon talk, and the connections between separate areas of mathematics are more often found in a hallway conversation in month three of a program than in a scheduled talk in week one. Thematic and Focus Programs are built around that reality: by bringing participants together for weeks or months at a stretch, the Institute creates conditions in which a collaboration can develop past a first conversation and into a body of published work.

Proposing a Program

Every Thematic and Focus Program begins as a proposal from the mathematical community. Researchers interested in organizing a program can find current guidelines and submission details on the Propose a Program or Event page, or direct questions to

.