Visit of High school students

Every year, four regional educational inspectors from the Académie de Versailles organize a visit to the IHES for high school students. The Institute is delighted to introduce these young students to the world of research.

On Saturday April 15, IHES welcomed 101 students, including over 60 girls, from high schools throughout the Académie de Versailles. Six regional educational inspectors were also on hand to supervise the event.

In small groups, the students were given a guided tour of the Institute by members of staff, including a presentation of the facilities and the mathematical sculpture, Skolem, Lump Bumps and Windy Figures. Participants then gathered in the amphitheatre of the Marilyn and James Simons Conference Centre, where they were welcomed by Jean-Pierre Bourguignon, former Director of IHES and currently Honorary Professor and holder of the Nicolaas Kuiper Chair.

Following this introduction, Benoit Sirois, physicist and doctoral student at IHES, presented his research on “Phase transitions and conformal bootsrap”, while Veronica Fantini, mathematician and post-doctoral student at IHES, answered the question “Why are there hurricanes on Earth?”. Following these presentations, there were many questions about the points presented, the speakers’ backgrounds, and the profession of researcher.