This Thematic Program gathered leading experts in the calculus of variations and areas of its applications -- especially geometry, physics and economics -- to disseminate recent progress and results, and invigorate ongoing exploration. The purpose of this Thematic Program was twofold. On the one hand, the emergence of the theory of optimal transportation as a fertile field of inquiry, has led to the unexpected resolution of long-standing issues in physics, partial differential equations, nonlinear dynamics, natural sciences, design problems and economics. The goal was to bring together experts from these various domains, to catalyze further progress, new investigations and collaborations. 

The second goal of this Program was to bring together an emerging generation of young researchers and expose them to state of the art techniques in some of the most vibrant areas of analysis, economics, geometry, and physics. As full semester participants, the program hosted nine graduate students, seven postdoctoral fellows and two other affiliated postdoctoral fellows, one of them being being joint with McMaster University and another with the Perimeter Institute in Waterloo. There was a weekly coupling of a postdoctoral seminar with a members seminar which started in July, although most of its activities concentrated between September and December. Each week one of the two speakers would be a short or long term postdoc while the other speaker was a senior mathematician.