ETH mathematician Joaquim Serra receives prestigious EMS Prize
The European Mathematical Society has awarded one of its prestigious EMS Prizes to Joaquim Serra, currently SNF Ambizione Fellow at the Department of Mathematics (D-MATH) of ETH Zurich. EMS Prizes recognise young researchers not older than 35 years for their excellent contributions in mathematics.
Every four years, during the European Congress of Mathematics, the European Mathematical Society awards 10 EMS Prizes, the Felix Klein Prize and the Otto Neugebauer Prize. external page This year, a mathematician from ETH Zurich is among the EMS laureates: Joaquim Serra is an SNF Ambizione Fellow at ETH Zurich. His research is on elliptic and parabolic partial differential equations: reaction-diffusion equations, free boundary problems and integro-differential equations. In recent years, he has published various scientific papers with Alessio Figalli, the 2018 Fields medalist.
Serra counts several working experiences from his post-docs in Zurich (in the group of Alessio Figalli from February 2017 to August 2018) and Berlin, as well as private sector experience working with big data. He was awarded 2016 Josep Teixidó Prize from the Catalan Mathematical Society, the 2018 Jose Luis Rubio de Francia Prize from the Royal Spanish Mathematical Society, and the 2019 Antonio Valle Prize from the Spanish Society of Applied Mathematics.
Prior to Serra, five current or former mathematicians from ETH Zurich have already won an EMS Prize: Thomas Willwacher (2016), Alessio Figalli (2012), Paul Biran (2004), Wendelin Werner (2000) and Stefan Müller (1992). Furthermore, this year's laureates include Maryna Viazovska from EPFL: she will be the second speaker of ETH's new Alice Roth Lectures in 2022.
Award for researchers under 36
external page The 10 EMS Prizes are awarded “to young researchers not older than 35 years, of European nationality or working in Europe, in recognition of excellent contributions in mathematics”. Up to now, eleven of the EMS prize laureates until 2016 have received the Fields Medal, which is considered the "Nobel Prize of mathematics".
The EMS Prizes were established at the first European Congress of Mathematics in 1989. All prize winners are usually announced at the Opening Ceremony at the beginning of the congress. Unfortunately, in 2020 the tradition calls for an alternative as 8th European Congress of Mathematics – 2020 has been rescheduled to June 2021 due to the coronavirus pandemic (COVID - 19). For this reason, all prize lectures will take place at the 8ECM in 2021, from 20 – 26 June in Portoro?, Slovenia.
The European Mathematical Society (external page EMS) is a European organization dedicated to the development of mathematics in Europe.
external page Ambizione grants are aimed at young researchers who wish to conduct, manage and lead an independent project at a Swiss higher education institution.