The Weierstrass Institute at Berlin has been selected to host the permanent office of the International Mathematical Union (IMU) by a decision taken at the 16th General Assembly meeting held in Bangalore during 16-17 August 2010.
The idea of a stable office was proposed during the 15th General Assembly of the IMU held in Santiago de Compostela in 2006. Until now, the IMU office has been moving and has been at the country of its Secretary.
A number of institutions/countries offered to create the permanent office and a Committee was formed to review their proposals and make recommendations. The Committee short- listed three candidates, namely the Fields Institute (Canada), IMPA (Brazil) and the Weierstrass Institute (Berlin). Representatives from these three institutions made short presentations to the delegates of the General Assembly on 16th August.
The delegates voted in favour of the Weierstrass Institute (Berlin) to house the stable office of the IMU. This result was also announced by László Lovász (President of the IMU) on 19th August, at the opening ceremony of the International Congress of Mathematicians being held at Hyderabad during 19‒27 of this month.