Housed in a building specially designed for mathematical communication, the Fields Institute offers a unique atmosphere for learning, discussing and creating mathematics and its numerous applications. The Institute promotes research activity and collaboration by hosting a wide range of workshops, conferences, symposia, and congresses covering a large spectrum of areas in the mathematical sciences each year. In addition, the Fields Institute offers faculty from its many partner universities the opportunity to hold Fields supported scientific events at their institutions, stimulating an impressive level of scientific activity across Ontario, Canada, and internationally.

Workshops and conferences that are not part of thematic and focus programs are supported through the General Scientific Activities program, both onsite at the Fields Institute and distributed among partner institutions in Ontario, Canada, and occasionally internationally. While some events are initiated and managed by the Fields directorate, the majority are community-initiated activities. General scientific activity generally consists of a period of one day to one month of concentrated activity in topics of current research interest in the mathematical sciences. These activities can be in the form of workshops, seminars, conferences and/or summer schools. General scientific activity should include opportunities for the involvement of graduate students.

A large number of general scientific activities are scheduled for each academic year. Topics supported through general scientific activity are often newly emerging areas in the mathematical sciences in Canada and add breadth to the range of research supported by the Fields Institute.