Initiated by Presidents Jiang Ze Min and Jacques Chirac, the Sino-French Institute of Applied Mathematics (ISFMA) was inaugurated on February 1998, the 5th, in Shanghai. The Institute is eager to lead joint researches in the field of applied mathematics, and encourage formation and students exchanges between the two countries.

France is nowadays word well-known as one of the most advanced scientific countries, in the field of pure and applied mathematics. More specifically, one can boast French Numerical Analysis, Differential Equations and Control Theory stand for international leading disciplines. Over the past few years, applied mathematics have also known great expansion in China. Numerical Analysis, Financial Mathematics, Differential Equations, Control Theory : in all of those disciplines, China might claim in future for leading position.

The creation of the Sino-French Institute of Applied Mathematics aims at developing the Sino-French cooperation in that field. This new cooperation will strengthen relations between the scientifical and industrial communities of the two countries, and will tend to enforce the economical and technical exchanges. Basically, the Institute devotes itself to ensure the formation of French and Chinese students and Ph-D students, with close collaboration of the firms of its partners ; also to lead academic and industrial joint researches in the field of sciences and technics.

At present, the Institute is jointly managed by professors 李大潜 (Li Da Qian), Fudan University of Shanghai, and Alain Damlamian, Universite Paris XII. It is financially supported by French Ministry of Foreign Affairs and by several industrial. Besides, the ISFMA has at its disposal offices in Fudan University.

Since the date of its birth, the Institute has held six symposia in China (signal theory, finance, insurance, aerodynamics, environment and plates), during which more than fifty French scientists sized the opportunity to come and expound their works. Meanwhile, the ISFMA enabled four eminent Chinese scientists to come to France. That way, the Institute's current policy is aimed at giving strong and reliable foundations to the Sino-French cooperation, and building academical as well as industrial bases for the development of applied mathematics.

Next symposium : April 2004 in Nanjing (Nankin) Thema : Environment