Mathematics research to be given a boost
Fifteen prominent mathematicians will receive funding to bring Swedish mathematics research back to the international top. Four of them are based at Uppsala University.
Since 2014, the Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation and the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences have supported mathematics research in Sweden through the Wallenberg Academy Program for Mathematics.
‘This is a long-term investment to strengthen mathematics research in Sweden. The field is of great importance for the development of both research and of industry, because advanced mathematics is often the basis of new breakthroughs and product development,’ says Peter Wallenberg Jr, chairman of the Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation.
Sweden has a long tradition of internationally renowned mathematicians and many students want to study doctorates in the field. The aim of the Wallenberg Academy Program for Mathematics is for Sweden to once again assume a top international position in the field.
‘The importance of mathematics cannot be overstated, both as a science of its own and as a foundation for the development of physics, chemistry, social science and other subjects,’ says Göran K Hansson, Secretary General of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences.
The 15 grants for 2016 will entail the following:
- Five established researchers from outside Sweden will become visiting professors at Swedish universities.
- Five established researchers will receive funding for a postdoctoral position in Sweden for foreign researchers.
- Five researchers will receive postdoctoral positions at foreign universities and funding for two years after they return to Sweden.
Four of the 15 grants are tied to Uppsala University.
Funding for visiting professorships in Sweden for international researchers:
- Denis Gaidashev, Uppsala University, whose research team will attempt to solve ‘one of the Millennium Prize Problems’.
- Cecilia Holmgren, Uppsala University, whose research team primarily will study ‘random graphs and trees’ in probability theory.
Funding for postdoctoral positions at foreign universities and continued support for two years after returning to Sweden:
- Seidon Alsaody, Uppsala University (Institut Camille Jordan, Lyon, France) will develop new methods of study to ‘further the understanding of symmetries’.
- Cecilia Karlsson, Uppsala University (Stanford University, USA) will study ‘abstract knots’.
Read more on the Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation website
About the Wallenberg Academy Program for Mathematics
For the period 2014–2022, the programs cover SEK 160 million for 24 outgoing Swedish postdocs and the international recruitment of 35 foreign postdocs, as well as 25 visiting professors at Swedish institutions. There is also an additional SEK 40 million for the Academy’s Institut Mittag-Leffler, one of the world’s top ten mathematics institutions. The programme is run in cooperation with the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, which evaluates all the nominated candidates.
Anna Malmberg