Optimization (mathematical programming) is a well established discipline of mathematics which has been remarkably capable of finding new applications to science, engineering, and economics.

Two areas where optimization is playing an increasingly important role are finance and medicine. The 2005 CIM Thematic Term includes a workshop and a short-course on Optimization in Finance and a workshop on Optimization in Medicine.

One of the main events of this Thematic Term is the Workshop on PDE Constrained Optimization, where a short course is also planned.
Optimization problems governed by PDEs is at the core of simulation-based optimization, an area of high demand and pivotal importance in multi-disciplinary engineering.

A Summer School on Integer Programming is also scheduled, focused on the newest recent developments obtained by geometric and algebraic approaches to combinatorial optimization problems.