IHES in Singapore

IHES started 2024 with a trip to Singapore on the occasion of the participation of Hugo Duminil-Copin, permanent professor at IHES and 2022 laureate of the Fields Medal, in the Global Young Scientists Summit 2024.

The Institute received a warm welcome from its Singaporean community! It was thrilled to meet its partner companies, such as Qube Research & Technologies, BNP Paribas, Société Générale or Huawei, represented in Singapore, and science lovers, including the community of Ecole Polytechnique alumni or start-ups, such as Horizon Quantum Computing.

On January 9th, the Institute gathered its friends, in collaboration with the French Embassy in Singapore, at the Residence of France, where Hugo Duminil-Copin, one of the twelve members of the Presidential Council for Science set up by Emmanuel Macron in December 2023, gave a talk intitled «Why Math?»

From left to right: Emmanuel Ullmo, Director of IHES, Alice Hung, Founder of Paeonia Group, Minh-Di Tang, Ambassador of France to Singapore and Hugo Duminil-Copin, permanent professor at IHES

On January 10, IHES, together with Qube Research & Technologies, hosted a private dinner at the iconic Fullerton hotel with Ariel Neufeld, Nanyang Assistant Professor in Mathematics at NTU, as keynote speaker. Ariel Neufeld gave a talk on «Deep Learning algorithm for solving high-dimensional nonlinear PDEs in finance», that generated an active discussion among the public.

Ariel Neufeld, Nanyang Assistant Professor in Mathematics at NTU

The dinner took place at the Fullerton Lighthouse room, the first lighthouse of Singapore, that provided the guests with an amazing view of the illuminated city. Pierre-Yves Morlat, CEO of QRT, took part in this event and opened the dinner with his welcome speech, inviting the guests to follow QRT’s example and support the development of the Institute.

QRT became a major donor to IHES in 2022, through an initial donation of €100k that contributed to the Institute’s endowment fund, to support the IHES Summer Schools. It renewed and strengthened its support to IHES in 2023, and more particularly to its summer schools, with a second donation of €150k to the Institute. QRT announced the renewal of its support in 2024 to IHES’ summer schools with a donation of €200k.

Pierre-Yves Morlat, CEO of QRT

The Institute’s stay in Singapore was concluded with Lee Kong Chian Distinguished Professor Public Lecture given by Hugo Duminil-Copin at NTU Institute for Advanced Studies on January 12. The lecture, supported by Paeonia Foundation and Lee Foundation, and organized in partnership with the Singapore National Research Foundation’s Global Young Scientists Summit 2024 and the Embassy of France in Singapore, gathered more than 300 participants, highly interested in Hugo Duminil-Copin’s scientific achievements.

Lee Kong Chian Distinguished Professor Public Lecture given by Hugo Duminil-Copin. © IAS, Nanyang Technological University Singapore

On this occasion, Hugo Duminil-Copin was appointed as the IAS Lee Kong Chian Distinguished Professor. Lee Kong Chian, founder of the Lee Foundation, was a prominent Chinese businessman and philanthropist known for his significant contributions to education and society.

From left to right: Juan-Pablo Ortega, Head, Division of Mathematical Sciences at NTU, Julie Blazy, Attachée for Science and Higher Education, French Embassy in Singapore, Hugo Duminil-Copin, permanent professor at IHES, Ling San, Deputy President and Provost, NTU Singapore, Andy Chua, Managing Director, Paeonia Group and Sum Tze-Chien, Director, Institute of Advanced Studies, NTU. © IAS, Nanyang Technological University Singapore