On the initiative of the French Government and a group of founding members (J.P. Aubin, J. Céa, P. Deheuvels, F. Dress, C. Godbillon, H. Hogbe Nlend, J.L.
Picard, A. Revuz, P. Sabourin), the International Center for Pure and Applied Mathematics was formally created as an association of the law of 1901, on 30 October 1978.
This is supplemented by other kinds of actions such as CIMPA courses at Master or PhD levels in institutes located in developing countries.
The principal financial support of CIMPA comes from the French Ministry of Higher Education, Research and Innovation (MESR), the University Côte d'Azur, the laboratory of excellence CARMIN (Centre for international mathematical encounters), and the National Institute of Mathematical Sciences and their interactions (INSMI) of the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS).
Since 2011, CIMPA has additionally been supported by the Ministry of Education and Research (Norway), and by a grant from Switzerland via the University of Neuchâtel.