The EMS Simon Norton Prize 2026 for Mathematics Outreach
2026 Simon Norton Prize winners and honourable mentions
The European Mathematical Society is pleased to announce the winner and honourable mentions of the 2026 Simon Norton Prize.
The prize recognises outstanding initiatives that communicate mathematics in creative, engaging, and accessible ways, and celebrates projects that have made a meaningful contribution to mathematical outreach and public engagement. You can find the Simon Norton Prize main page here.
Winner
Museum of Mathematics “CUBOID”
Project lead: Vasyl Dunets
Institution: National Center “Junior Academy of Sciences of Ukraine”
Project website: mathmuseum.com.ua
The 2026 Simon Norton Prize is awarded to the Museum of Mathematics “CUBOID”, an interactive mathematics museum and outreach platform in Ukraine. The project brings mathematics to diverse audiences through hands-on museum experiences, teacher professional development, publications, exhibitions, travelling activities, and open digital learning resources. It presents mathematics through puzzles, symmetry, modelling, geometry, perspective, and direct exploration, showing students, teachers, families, and the wider public that mathematics can be creative, meaningful, and connected to everyday life.
Selection panel comments
From a very strong field of high calibre entries, the panel selected the Museum of Mathematics “CUBOID”. Their outreach activities take multiple formats: hands-on experiences, teacher professional development, publications, exhibitions, and digital learning resources.
All this was achieved under wartime conditions when learners and educators needed it most. Strategies had to be adapted to the wartime conditions.
In its first year “CUBOID” reached more than 43,000 visitors, including approximately 550 organised school groups from across Ukraine. Over 4,000 educators participated in professional development activities connected to the project, which is focused on inquiry-based learning, puzzles, modelling, and classroom adaptation of museum exhibits.
Read the full project description of the winner
Honourable mentions
The panel also awarded five honourable mentions.
| Project (link to full description) | Project lead(s) | Institution / organisation | Short description | Project website |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| MaddMaths! | Roberto Natalini | Associazione MaddMaths! ETS | A large multi-platform mathematics outreach community combining articles, interviews, podcasts, comics, newsletters, e-books, social media, and live events to present mathematics as a living cultural practice. | maddmaths.simai.eu |
| Mathematics without Words | Hugo Parlier and Bruno Teheux | Fribourg University and University of Luxembourg | An interactive outreach project using original puzzle games, topology-inspired exhibits, and collaborative art activities to bring contemporary mathematical ideas to audiences in unexpected public settings. | mathword.lunot.eu |
| MoMath outreach programmes | Cindy Lawrence | National Museum of Mathematics (MoMath) | A coordinated suite of programmes including Family Fridays, MOST, Unlimited, and MoMathlon, designed to make mathematics interactive, social, creative, and accessible for young people, families, and emerging communicators. | momath.org |
| ICMAT Mathematical Culture Unit | Ágata Timón García-Longoria | Instituto de Ciencias Matemáticas (CSIC-UAM-UC3M-UCM) | A professional mathematics communication unit embedded in a research institute, with activities ranging from theatre, school workshops, and ethnomathematics to the widely read newspaper column Café y Teoremas. | icmat.es/mathematical-culture |
| LUMS Math Circles | Imran Anwar | Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS), Pakistan | A sustained Math Circles ecosystem combining student activities, teacher training, and inquiry-driven resources to support a shift from procedural learning toward curiosity, reasoning, and mathematical exploration. | LUMS Math Circles |
Panel comments on the honourable mentions
MaddMaths!
The panel were impressed by the size of the outreach community that has been built and by the way mathematics engagement has become part of the culture. The hybrid approach and the quality of the content were also highly praised.
MoMath outreach programmes
This project was praised for targeting strategically selected audiences with strands tackling well-known problems. For example, the strand MOST trains early-career female mathematicians to communicate their work clearly and compellingly, addressing the lack of visible role models.
Mathematics without Words
The project distinguished itself through original content close to its leaders’ research, while remaining quickly accessible to the public and playful. Using beautifully designed puzzle games and art-based activities, the project has reached wide audiences in unusual places, including world exhibitions and television.
LUMS Math Circles
This project was praised for its ambitious goal, strategy, and impact on changing the national mathematics education paradigm in Pakistan from a procedural perspective to an inquiry-based model. It has reached many students through Math Circles and has also provided professional development training to approximately 1,500 teachers across a large region.
ICMAT Mathematical Culture Unit
The ICMAT Mathematical Culture Unit stands out for its unique model of embedding professional science communication within a leading research institute — a pioneering approach that remains unmatched among mathematics centres in Spain. Through a rich and diverse programme, including theatre, school workshops, ethnomathematics, and its flagship column Café y Teoremas, the Unit brings rigorous mathematical ideas to wide audiences while fostering inclusion among groups traditionally underrepresented in mathematics.
Selection panel
The 2026 Simon Norton Prize selection panel was composed of current and former members of the EMS Mathematics Outreach and Engagement Committee:
| Panel member | Affiliation |
|---|---|
| Katie Chicot | Senior Lecturer and Staff Tutor in Mathematics and Statistics, The Open University; CEO, MathsWorldUK. |
| Elise Raphael | Co-Director of Genève Évasions Mathématiques (G·EM); Science Officer, The SwissMAP Research Station (SRS). |
| Can Ozan Oğuz | Assistant Professor of Mathematics, Galatasaray University. |
| Fernando Blasco | Associate Professor, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid. |