A Look Back at the First IHES Summer School of 2025

From June 23 to July 4, the first IHES summer school of 2025, Statistical Aspects of Nonlinear Physics, was organized by Julien Barré (Institut Denis Poisson, Orléans), Thierry Bodineau (CNRS & IHES), Isabelle Gallagher (DMA, ENS Paris), François Pétrélis (LPENS, ENS Paris), Alberto Rosso (LPTMS, Université Paris-Saclay), Laure Saint-Raymond (IHES) and Grégory Schehr (LPTHE, Sorbonne Université). 

This summer school was a satellite event of the 29th International Conference on Statistical Physics, which will be held from July 13 to 18, 2025, in Florence, Italy. It focused on the interplay between statistical mechanics, nonlinear physics, and mathematics. These research fields have often advanced hand in hand, mutually enriching one another through the exchange of fundamental questions and methodologies.

Each topic covered during the summer school was jointly presented by a physicist and a mathematician, encouraging an interdisciplinary approach. This original format not only allowed for the crossing of perspectives from both disciplines, but also highlighted the deep connections between mathematical concepts and physical questions. Participants had the opportunity to appreciate the richness of these scientific dialogues, which opened up new avenues for reflection and emphasized the complementarity of methods and languages between mathematics and physics.

Thierry Bodineau, CNRS research director at IHES, reflected on the organization of the event:
“I was very happy to organize this summer school. It gave young researchers in statistical physics the opportunity to compare their approaches and build a shared foundation ahead of the upcoming conference StatPhys29 in Florence. IHES, with its tradition of fostering dialogue between mathematics and physics, provided an ideal setting for such exchanges to emerge.”

The topics of the courses delivered were as follows:

• Collective behavior: from crowd dynamics to active matter: Bertrand Maury (LMO) & Julien Tailleur (MIT)

• Disordered landscapes, out-of-equilibrium dynamics and artificial intelligence: Gérard Ben Arous  (New York University) & Giulio Biroli (LPENS)

• Long-range interactions: Satya N. Majumdar (LPTMS) & Sylvia Serfaty (Sorbonne Université and Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences)

• Random interfaces: Ivan Corwin (Columbia University) & Kazumasa Takeuchi (University of Tokyo)

Recordings of these lectures are available on our YouTube Channel.

Since 2006, IHES has held annual summer schools that bring together around one hundred PhD students, postdocs, and early-career researchers. These events are designed to offer participants a deep dive into the latest developments in mathematics and physics, through high-level lectures on emerging or rapidly evolving topics. Over the years, IHES summer schools have become a must-attend event for young scientists eager to explore cutting-edge research areas.

As Elisabeth Jasserand, Head of the Scientific Secretariat, puts it:
“I’m really proud of these summer schools. Each edition is unique—with a new team and a new theme—but every time, I find the same spirit that defines IHES: this strong drive to share knowledge, even without traditional classroom teaching. That’s something truly special here.”

IHES warmly thanks Engie, the FMJH Fondation, Qube Research & Technologies and Société Générale for their generous support of this summer school.