The IMM curriculum is greatly inspired by the well-established ICTP Diploma program in Mathematics, and is fully focused on consolidating the fundamental mathematics which students need in order to embark on a high-level research PhD program. It consists of 8 courses over 2 years in order to allow students to fully master the fundamental, albeit advanced, topics which constitute the core knowledge necessary before the specialization required in a PhD course of studies. The courses are offered on a two-year cycle. First- and second-year students take the same set of courses in any given year.

While this is essentially a standard curriculum for Master’s programs, it is not the case in most developing countries where Master’s programs are often based on a philosophy of premature specialization, leaving students with an unsatisfactory foundation on which to base their research, and the students who continue on to PhDs often end up working in narrow and abstract topics which do not have international interest or relevance. Within this landscape, the IMM is meant to become the elite program for students who are highly motivated to develop a research-based academic career in mathematics.

The purpose of the thesis is to foster the ability to investigate independently a non-trivial mathematical topic or result, to find relevant books and papers, to organize the relevant material, and to present clearly the results of the investigation in both oral and written forms. The thesis is written under regular supervision of an international or local supervisor (or both), during the third and fourth semesters. Students writing theses with local faculty have the option of taking one relevant course given by local faculty in place of a course given by international faculty.