Hello from Helsinki! We are very pleased to be bringing you coverage direct from the 2022 International Congress of Mathematicians (ICM) – one of the highlights of the mathematical calendar. The ICM takes place every four years and it's usually the biggest maths conference of them all, attracting thousands of participants, and also sees the awards of some very prestigious prizes, including the famous Fields Medal.
This year's Congress is a little different – it is being held as a fully virtual event with only the prize ceremonies and lectures taking place in-person in Helsinki, Finland on 5 and 6 July. The rest of the schedule fascinating talks from across the spectrum of maths will take place online over the coming week.
We are fortunate to have been able to interview most of the prize winners in advance of the conference. It's been great fun meeting them online and learning about their work. You can find out all about them in the content below – come and join us in the celebrations!
The Fields Medals 2022: Hugo Duminil-Copin — Hugo Duminil-Copin has been awarded a Fields Medal for solving longstanding problems in statistical physics. He told us about how his work brings together his two loves – maths and physics.
Read a short introduction or an in-depth article, or listen to our podcast featuring Hugo Duminil-Copin.
The Fields Medals 2022: June Huh — June Huh has won a Fields Medal for his work on combinatorics and algebraic geometry. He told us about his relatively late start in mathematics, and why he enjoys working with maths you can feel and touch.
Read a short introduction, an in-depth article, or listen to our podcast featuring Huh.
The Fields Medals 2022: James Maynard — James Maynard has won a Fields Medal for his work in number theory. He told us how he went from a fascination with numbers as a young child to making spectacular contributions to number theory.
Read a short introduction or an in-depth article, or listen to our podcast featuring James Maynard.
The Fields Medals 2022: Maryna Viazovska — Maryna Viazovska has won one of this year's Fields Medals for a ground-breaking result in the theory of sphere packings. Viazovska is only the second woman to receive a Fields Medal, following on from Maryam Mirzakhani who won it in 2014.
Read a short introduction or an in-depth article, or listen to our podcast featuring Maryna Viazovska.
The Abacus Medal 2022: Mark Braverman — Mark Braverman has won the Abacus Medal for developing the theory of information complexity. He told us about the role of communication in computation, and why a mathematical view can help you understand how to solve problems while sharing as little information as possible.
Read a short introduction or an in-depth article.
The Chern Medal 2022: Barry Mazur — Barry Mazur has received the 2022 Chern Medal for profound discoveries in topology, arithmetic geometry and number theory. He told us an astonishing story of changing perspectives, new directions, and a very personal view of mathematics.
The Gauss Prize 2022: Elliott Lieb — Elliott Lieb has been awarded the 2022 Gauss Prize for outstanding contributions to physics, chemistry, and pure mathematics, shining a light on the physics of the very small.
Maths on the red carpet: The podcast — Here's our podcast from Helsiniki where all the prizes were announced on July 4, 2022, featuring an interview with Maryna Viazovska.
Helsinki 2022: an ICM like no other — Despite all the challenges it faced, the international mathematics community came together to create an ICM in 2022 like no other.
This content was produced as part of our collaborations with the London Mathematical Society and the the Isaac Newton Institute for Mathematical Sciences.
