The EMS Simon Norton Prize for Mathematics Outreach

The 2026 nomination form is now open!

The next deadline for nominations is 30th April 2026.

The prize is to be awarded to individuals, teams or partnerships whose work in any area of mathematics engagement has had an outstanding and demonstrable impact or influence on its audience. Nominations can be from anywhere in the world.

You can check eligibility in the prize rules.

History of the EMS Simon Norton Prize

The EMS Outreach and Public Engagement Committee collaborated with the family of mathematician Simon Norton to establish an international prize, the EMS Simon Norton prize for Mathematics Outreach, in order to:

Build a community of those who are involved in maths engagement
Raise the profile and status of maths engagement work
Share good practice in outreach, evaluation and fundraising.

The prize is a legacy for the work of Simon Norton and will be presented in years 2024, 2026 and 2028 by a representative of the EMS Executive Committee or the EMS Mathematics Outreach and Engagement Committee, usually at the MATRIX x IMAGINARY conference.

In 2024 Nina Gasking from Maison des Mathématiques et de l'Informatique (MMI) in Lyon was awarded first place for the exhibition “Dans ma cuisine”. The panel were impressed with the originality, reach, and mathematical depth of this project. ‘Dans ma cuisine’ starts with the most familiar of environments, the home kitchen. With engaging hands-on activities, deep and fun mathematics is explored from Topology to Harmonic functions. ‘Dans ma cuisine’ finds the maths around us. The exhibition has already had huge visitor numbers and is set for a long tour .

Further details of Nina and her team’s exhibition are here.

There were so many excellent mathematics outreach projects submitted 2024, and the panel wanted to congratulate every applicant for their important work. You can find a selection of examples of best practice identified by the prize panel on the 2024 page .