IMO Lecture and Celebration

Each year (generally in September) the achievements of that year’s IMO team are celebrated with a lecture and reception. The team are re-presented with their medals, together they give a short account of the IMO and the training programme, and there is a mathematical lecture (for a fairly general audience) by an invited lecturer. Sometimes team members in other international competitions may also be re-presented with medals and talk about those events, the IMO programme prizes are presented, and there may be special one-off awards such as the medal given to David Monk in 2008 for forty years’ service.

Invitations to the lecture and celebration are sent to people typically including team members and their families and volunteers who have been involved in training and selection during the year. A number of schools will be invited, based on participation in senior competitions.

Some past and planned lectures are listed below, and the missing details are welcome. The 1978–1981 lectures were held at the Royal Institution under the aegis of the Schools Mathematics Project. The 1982–2015 lectures were held at the Royal Society, except for the 1994 lecture which was held at the University of Birmingham. From 2016 to 2018 the lecture was held at the Science Museum. From 2019 to 2023 the lecture was held at Central Hall Westminster. In 2024 the lecture was held at Pembroke College, Cambridge.