Chairs of Excellence

Claude R. LeBrun, professor at Stony Brook and specialist in Riemannian geometry, will be hosted for 6 months at the IMJ-PRG. This chair is co-funded by the IMJ-PRG.

Maurice Duits, professor at the Royal Institute of Technology (Sweden) and specialist in analysis, probability and mathematical physics, will be hosted at LPSM for 12 months

As part of his chair obtained in 2024, Rupert Frank, professor at Ludwig Maximilians Universität München and specialist in analysis, mathematical physics and spectral theory, will give a course entitled Lieb–Thirring inequalities, which will be held on Wednesdays in March-April 2025 from 9:30 a.m. to 12:45 p.m. at the Institut Henri Poincaré (11 rue Pierre et Marie Curie, Paris 5th).

Eitan Tadmor, a professor at the University of Maryland specializing in numerical analysis and partial differential equations, was the recipient of the 2023 Chair of Excellence. He was welcomed to the Jacques Louis Lions Laboratory.

Sylvia Serfaty (Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences), a specialist in Partial Differential Equations, will benefit from twelve months at the DMA co-financed by PSL.

Martin J. Gander (University of Geneva), mathematician and computer scientist, specializing in applied mathematics and computational mathematics, will be hosted for eight months at LAGA.

Philippe Rigollet, Joint Chair FSMP-Inria. Hosted for 6 months at DI-ENS. Currently a Professor in the Department of Mathematics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, his work lies at the intersection of statistics, machine learning, and optimization, focusing primarily on the design and analysis of statistical methods for high-dimensional problems. His recent research concerns optimal transport and its applications to the analysis and sampling of geometric data.

Roman Bezrukavnikov, hosted for 4 months at IMJ-PRG (3 months FSMP + 1 month lab). Currently a Professor in the mathematics department of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, his research focuses on representation theory and algebraic geometry.

Thomas Vidick, hosted for 6 months, will collaborate with teams from IRIF, Inria, and DI-ENS. A professor of computer science and mathematics at the California Institute of Technology, his field of application focuses on quantum computing.

Adrian Raftery, hosted for 4 months at Map 5 (3 months FSMP + 1 month lab). Professor of Statistics and Sociology at the University of Washington, he works on the development of new statistical methods in the fields of health, the environment and social sciences.

David Peleg, hosted for 4 months at IRIF (3 months FSMP + 1 month lab). Currently Professor and holder of the Norman D. Cohen Professorial Chair of Computer Sciences at the Weitzmann Institute of Science, his research areas focus on algorithms, communication networks and the computing of complex and distributed systems.

Clément Mouhot, hosted for 4 months at CEREMADE and DMA (3 months FSMP + 1 month lab). Professor at the University of Cambridge, his research focuses on partial differential equations and mathematical physics.

Leonid Libkin, who will be visiting for six months, will collaborate with teams from IRIF, DI ENS, and Inria. A professor at the University of Edinburgh, his research interests include databases, computer logic, functional programming, lattice theory, ordered sets, and universal algebra.

Hoai-Minh Nguyen has been accepted for six months as part of a joint FSMP/PSL chair. He will work in collaboration with the LJLL, CAS, CEREMADE, and LAGA. Currently an Assistant Professor and Chair of Analysis and Applied Mathematics at the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), his research focuses on analysis, PDEs, and their control.

Bao Viet Le Hung, hosted for 6 months at LAGA. Lecturer at Northwestern University, his research themes focus on Galois representations, automorphic forms, arithmetic geometry and their interactions.

Uri Zwick, hosted for 4 months at IRIF and DI-ENS. Professor at the Blavatnik School of Computer Science (Tel Aviv University), he is particularly recognized for his work on graph algorithms, especially on distances between graphs and on color coding techniques for subgraph isomorphism.

Christian Schmeiser will be hosted for four months as part of a joint FSMP/PSL chair (two months by FSMP and two months by PSL). He will work in collaboration with LJLL, CEREMADE, DMA, IMJ, and Inria. A professor at the Faculty of Mathematics of the University of Vienna, his specialty is nonlinear partial differential equations.

Giovanni Forni, hosted for 6 months at IMJ-PRG and LAGA. Professor at the University of Maryland, his research focuses on dynamical systems.

Timothy Gowers (Fields Medalist in 1998, Royal Society 2010 Anniversary Research Professor at the University of Cambridge) will be hosted for one year as part of a FSMP/PSL initiative. He collaborates with teams at IMJ-PRG, DMA, and IRIF. His research interests include combinatorics and number theory, and the geometry of Banach spaces.

Eva Miranda, hosted for 6 months at CEREMADE and IMCCE in collaboration with LAGA and IMJ. Associate Professor at the Universitat de Barcelona Politècnica de Catalunya. Her research focuses on Symplectic and Poisson Geometry.

Radu Laza, 6 months at the DMA and the Collège de France. Associate Professor at Stony Brook University, his research themes are: algebraic geometry, moduli space problems, singularities, degeneracy, special classes of varieties (K3s, Calabi-Yau, hyperkähler surfaces).

As part of a joint initiative between the FSMP and the FMJH, the jury for the Chair of Excellence, meeting in January 2016, selected Sorin Popa, Professor at the University of California. A specialist in Algebra, his research focuses particularly on Functional Analysis and Operator Algebras, Subfactor Theory, Ergodic Theory, and Group Theory. Sorin Popa will undertake a six-month research stay at the IMJ-PRG and the various laboratories on the Saclay plateau.

Zvi Lotker, hosted for 6 months at LIAFA. Professor at Ben Gurion University of the Negev, specialist in fundamental computer science, he is interested among other things in algorithms related to social networks.

Nader Masmoudi, hosted for 6 months at LAGA. He is expected, within the framework of his chair, to also work with researchers from DMA, Paris 6 and Paris 7. Permanent professor at the Courant Institute in New York, specialist in partial differential equations.

Ehud Hrushovski, hosted for 9 months at IMJ-PRG. Professor at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, specialist in model theory and its applications.

Lauren Williams, hosted for 6 months at LIAFA. She is a specialist in discrete mathematics and combinatorics at the University of California, Berkeley.

Antoine Mellet, hosted for 6 months at LJLL. He is an EDP specialist at the University of Maryland.

Kevin Zumbrun, who spent six months at the IMJ-PRG, also collaborated with researchers from the DMA and LJLL within the framework of his research chair. He is a professor at Indiana University, specializing in partial differential equations.

Herbert Spohn, who spent six months at CEREMADE, also collaborated with researchers from LPMA, MAP5, and DMA. Professor Emeritus at the Technical University of Munich, his work lies at the interface of probability and mathematical physics.

Benjamin Webster spent 6 months at the IMJ. He works at Northeastern University.

Yves Capdeboscq spent 6 months at LJLL. He works at the University of Oxford.

Anthony Patera spent six months at LJLL. He works at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Grigory Mikhalkin, hosted for 6 months at the IMJ. He works at the University of Geneva. As part of his chair, Grigory Mikhalkin gave a lecture and organized a seminar. Find out more about his activities: Activities

Bo’az Klartag of Tel Aviv University is interested in analysis, convex geometry, and high-dimensional effects. Junior Chair held at the IMJ.

Scott Armstrong of the University of Wisconsin. Specialist in nonlinear PDEs and stochastic homogenization. Junior Chair held at CEREMADE. His personal page: Profile. Scott Armstrong's course entitled Stochastic homogenization of Hamilton Jacobi equations: Course

Gunther Uhlmann, from the University of Washington, whose work focuses primarily on inverse problems in imaging, PDEs, microlocal analysis, and diffusion theory. Gunther Uhlmann's research program: Course by Gunther Uhlmann entitled "Inverse Problems: Progress and Challenges": Course

Michael I. Jordan, from the University of Berkeley, a specialist in fundamental computer science (his work focuses particularly on machine learning and artificial intelligence)

Ivan Nourdin, a young lecturer at the University of Nancy, is the winner of the Foundation's 2011 Prize. Ivan Nourdin, a graduate of the University of Nancy, specializes in probability. As the prize winner, he is undertaking a research stay at the LPMA. He also teaches a course on Gaussian Approximation Using Malliavin Calculus: From Stein's Method to Universality. The sessions are held at the annex of the Collège de France, 3 rue d'Ulm, 75005 Paris. Dates and times of the sessions: Monday, January 23rd, from 2pm to 4pm. This session was followed by the award ceremony for Ivan Nourdin. Click here to see the video and photos of the ceremony. On Mondays January 30, February 6, February 13, March 5, March 12 and March 19 from 1:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. Click here to see the videos of the sessions. Click here to download the course poster. You can find the lecture notes here.

Peter Markowich, specialist in applied analysis and professor at the University of Cambridge and the University of Vienna.

The Paris Mathematical Sciences Foundation Prize was awarded in 2010 to Caucher Birkar, from the University of Cambridge. The Foundation Prize jury awarded the prize in 2010 to Caucher Birkar, currently a university lecturer at the University of Cambridge. His research areas are algebraic geometry and mathematical logic. The course by Caucher Birkar, winner of the 2010 Foundation Prize, was entitled Lectures on birational geometry, this course is held on Mondays and Wednesdays.

This year, the Foundation is pleased to award this Chair to Sergiu Klainerman, a professor at Princeton and a specialist in Einstein’s equations of General Relativity. A member of the National Academy of Sciences in the United States, a foreign member of the Institut de France (French Academy of Sciences), and former holder of the Blaise Pascal Chair at Paris VI University, Sergiu Klainerman is an internationally renowned mathematician, a visiting professor at the world's leading universities. His career has been crowned by numerous distinctions, including the prestigious Bocher Prize in 1999. Einstein's equations, a challenge for mathematicians. Sergiu Klainerman's research field, the analysis of Einstein's equations, is one of the great mathematical challenges of our time. Its extraordinary complexity has fascinated renowned mathematicians and theoretical physicists such as Roger Penrose and Stephen Hawking. Sergiu Klainerman plays a significant role in the research program implemented over the past 25 years to answer the numerous and difficult questions raised by these equations, which continue to constitute a rich and dynamic problem, one that has recently seen remarkable progress. While traditionally the holder of the Foundation's Chair of Excellence joins a Parisian laboratory, Sergiu Klainerman's work, due to its timeliness, variety, and interdisciplinary nature, has attracted the interest of no fewer than three different laboratories. Thus, during his stay in Paris, the American mathematician will collaborate with researchers from the Jussieu Institute of Mathematics, the Jacques-Louis Lions Laboratory, and finally, the Department of Mathematics and Applications at the École Normale Supérieure. Video of Sergiu Klainerman's presentation entitled Mathematics and General Relativity (in English): Video The sessions of Sergiu Klainerman's course, entitled Mathematical Challenges of General Relativity, are available online on the Foundation's Dailymotion page: Courses

Ronald A. DeVore, Professor Emeritus at the University of South Carolina at Columbia, is a leading expert in information theory and approximation. He has produced remarkable work in this field. Described by his peers as a mathematician of uncommon openness and curiosity, Ron DeVore has explored a broad mathematical spectrum. He has also tackled partial differential equations (PDEs) and modern statistics, achieving impressive results. During his time in Paris, Ron DeVore will develop a research project focused on crucial questions in the field of signal processing. True to its commitment to excellence, the Paris Mathematical Sciences Foundation welcomes to its laboratories a mathematician of this stature, whose charisma and exceptional teaching qualities will leave a lasting impression on both students and young researchers at the beginning of their careers who will thus have the chance to meet him. Ron DeVore and Albert Cohen (Professor at UPMC) organized two thematic days around High-Dimensional Problems. Approach for the reduced basis method - Convergence rates (Wolfgang Dahmen, RWTH Aachen) Reduced basis and magic point for high dimensional approximation problems (Yvon Maday, UPMC) Approximation of functions of few variables in high dimension (Przemek Wojtaszczyk, Université de Varsovie) LOL : thresholdings and high dimensions (Dominique Picard, Université Paris‑Diderot Paris 7) Sparse Occupancy Trees (Peter Binev, University of South Carolina) Adaptive and Nonlinear Designs for Large‑Scale Multiple Hypothesis (Rob Nowak, Université du Wisconsin) Recovery problems in high dimensions (Martin Wainwright, Université de Berkeley) High dimensional classification by recursive interferometry (Stéphane Mallat, Polytechnique)

The Paris Mathematical Sciences Foundation Prize was awarded in 2008 to Sergey Neshveyev, now a Professor at the University of Oslo. The laureate delivered a course from February 6 to April 10, 2009 entitled Compact quantum groups and their representation categories, where he dealt with the approach to quantum groups by operator algebras, emphasizing in particular the role of categories in the study of group actions, potential theory and differential geometry. Sergey Neshveyev's course is divided into ten two-hour sessions, which will be held on Fridays from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Henri Poincaré Institute. A summary of the course can be downloaded here. For an overview of the first session of the course, click here. New: Videos of Sergey Neshveyev's course Videos of Sergey Neshveyev's lecture are finally available on the Foundation's Dailymotion page. Click here to watch them. To consult the book entitled: "Compact Quantum Groups and Their Representation Categories" (by Sergey Neshveyev and Lars Tuset), click here For interested readers, the hardcover edition of this book, co-published by the French Mathematical Society and the Paris Mathematical Sciences Foundation, is available for purchase on the SMF website: Paperback

Edward Frenkel, professor at the University of Berkeley. An internationally renowned specialist in Mathematical Physics, his work focuses in particular on the geometric Langlands program, vertex algebras, gauge theories and sigma-models in quantum field theory. Edward Frenkel was notably invited as a speaker at the International Congress of Mathematicians in 1994. He has received numerous awards, including the Hermann Weyl Prize in 2002. Edward Frenkel concluded his Chair with a day of lectures on the theme Symmetry, Duality and Cinema. Edward Frenkel's presentation entitled "Symmetry and Duality in Mathematics and Physics": Video Articles by Edward Frenkel written within the framework of the Chair: 1. Langlands duality for representations of quantum groups (with D. Hernandez), Preprint arXiv:0809.4453, to appear in Math. Annalen. 2. Gerbal Representations of Double Loop Groups (with Xinwen Zhu), Preprint arXiv:0810.1487. 3. Any flat bundle on a punctured disc has an oper structure (with Xinwen Zhu), Math. Res. Lett. 17 (2010) 27–37 (arXiv:0811.3186). 4. A rigid irregular connection on the projective line (with B. Gross), Annals of Math. 170 (2009) 1469–1512 (arXiv:0901.2163). 5. Langlands duality for finite‑dimensional representations of quantum affine algebras (with D. Hernandez), Preprint arXiv:0902.0447, to appear in Lett. Math. Phys. 6. Gromov‑Witten Gauge Theory I (with C. Teleman and A.J. Tolland), Preprint arXiv:0904.4834. 7. Gauge theory and Langlands duality, Bourbaki seminar talk, arXiv:0906.2747, to appear in Astérisque. 8. Soliton equations, vertex operators, and simple singularities (with A. Givental and T. Milanov), Preprint arXiv:0909.4032, to appear in Funct. Anal. and Other Math. 9. Trace Formula and Functoriality: The Beginning of a Program (with R. Langlands and B.C. Ngo), Preprint arXiv:1003.4578, to appear in Annales des Sciences Mathématiques du Québec 10. Geometrization of trace formulas (with B.C. Ngo), Preprint arXiv:1004.5323.