The ninth European Congress of Mathematics (ECM) has kicked off in Seville! Over 1300 participants have gathered in this beautiful Spanish city to learn about the latest exciting advances of maths — and we're there here too!
The Royal Alcázars palace of Seville, Spain. Photo Ajay Suresh, CC BY 2.0.
The ECM is organised by the European Mathematical Society (EMS) and takes place every four years at different locations in Europe. Topics to be discussed by world-leading mathematicians include artificial intelligence, education, big data and open science. The variety of topics that will be presented show, in the words of the chair of the Organizing Committee Juan González-Meneses , "that the mathematics being developed today will change the life of tomorrow".
Apart from hundreds of academic talks there will also be public lectures and four exhibitions, including one exploring the geometry of the beautiful Alhambra palace in nearby Granada.
One hundred mathematics students from several Spanish universities will collaborate as volunteers in the event, and a total of 120 scholarships have been awarded as part of the international cooperation programme for young mathematicians and participants from developing countries
A highlight of the conference is the award of ten prestigious Prizes from the European Mathematical Society (the EMS Prizes). These are bestowed on mathematicians under the age of 35 in "recognition of exceptional contributions to mathematics". The winners must be of European nationality or have carried out their work in Europe.
The EMS Prizes, as well as other awards that are given out here have just been announced, you can see all the winners here. We're hoping to report on as many of these as possible, but to start off we'll look at the work of three EMS Prize winners that have connections to the UK: Richard Montgomery, an Associate Professor at the University of Warwick, and Tom Hutchcroft, a British citizen and professor at the California Institute of Technology. In the articles below we have a quick look at some of the work of these budding mathematical superstars, of whom the world of maths is bound to hear much more in years to come.
The EMS Prizes 2024: Tom Hutchcroft — Hutchcroft won an EMS prize for work on mathematical models that describe intriguing phenomena called phase transitions.
The EMS Prizes 2024: Frederick Manners — Manners won an EMS prize for, among other things, a problem involving pyjamas.
The EMS Prizes 2024: Richard Montgomery — Montgomery won an EMS prize for work on objects so ubiquitous in everyday life it's easy to forget they're mathematical: networks.
Other than that, stay tuned for more content from the ninth ECM!
This content was produced in a collaboration with the London Mathematical Society.
