Stony Brook University Wins Bid to Host the Eighth World Congress of the Game Theory Society

STONY BROOK, NY - January 30, 2026 - The State University of New York at Stony Brook (Stony Brook University) was announced as host to the Eighth World Congress of the Game Theory Society. The Congress will take place from July 17 - 21, 2028, following a five-day conference format.

Game theory is a branch of mathematics and economics that studies strategic decision-making between rational actors (players) whose outcomes depend on each other's choices. It analyzes situations where the best course of action for one participant depends on what others decide to do - whether in competition, cooperation, or conflict.

The proposal was submitted by the world-renowned Stony Brook Center for Game Theory. The Center (formerly The Institute for Decision Sciences (IDS)) was established 37 years ago and, since then, has organized over 110 scientific activities: 36 annual international conferences and over 75 workshops on the applications of game theory to computer science, business management, evolutionary biology, psychology, and political science and - above all - economics (including environmental economics, mechanism design, macroeconomics, industrial organization, R&D competition, licensing of innovations, among other topics). The Center has been supported by the National Science Foundation (USA) for 36 consecutive years and has hosted over 2700 scientists from all over the world including twelve Nobel laureates (five of whom are current/posthumous affiliated members of the Center): Kenneth Arrow (1972), Robert Aumann (2005), Gérard Debreu (1983), Eric Maskin (2007), Roger Myerson (2007), John Nash (1994) (who also won the Abel Prize for partial differential equations in 2015), Alvin Roth (2012), Paul Milgrom (2020), Reinhard Selten (1994), Lloyd Shapley (2012), Thomas Schelling (2005), and Vernon Smith (2002).

The Center, in partnership with Stony Brook University, will serve as the primary host institution and assume financial and administrative responsibility for the congress. The Game Theory Society, in collaboration with the Center, is in charge of the scientific program.

The Center will coordinate all the logistics, with support from the Stony Brook University Department of Economics, Office of Conferences and Special Events, and the Division of Information Technology.

The 2028 World Congress is expected to host approximately 600-700 participants. Approximately 660 contributed talks will be accommodated over the five-day schedule. The scientific program will include plenary, semi-plenary, contributed, and special sessions. The Congress will include a special commemorative session to mark the 30th anniversary of the Game Theory Society.