Fifteen mathematicians will share funding worth SEK 27 million from Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation’s program for mathematics. Their contributions include knowledge about social networks such as Facebook, more effective algorithms, and methods for calculating ice melt due to climate change.
The program for mathematics started in 2014 and is of great significance for mathematics in Sweden. It has given the best young Swedish mathematicians international experience by providing them with opportunities to take up postdoctoral positions abroad, while both young and more experienced mathematicians are recruited to Sweden from abroad, which contributes to creating strong research environments at Swedish universities.
“When we started, the aim of the program for mathematics was that Sweden would regain an internationally leading position in the field. I think we have progressed well. Swedish mathematics has had a very positive development, with several world-leading research environments, and it has become attractive for leading international researchers to come here,” says Peter Wallenberg Jr, chair of Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation.
He also highlights the funding for Institut Mittag-Leffler and the investment in mathematics and artificial intelligence within the Wallenberg AI, Autonomous Systems and Software Program (WASP) as success factors.
The program for mathematics is a cooperation between Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation and the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, which evaluates all the nominees.
“We think it is incredibly rewarding to be able to contribute our members’ expertise to this program. Being the Academy of Sciences, we are well aware of the vital role mathematics plays for many other disciplines, and see the increasing demand for mathematical knowledge in our contemporary, high-tech society,” says Hans Ellegren, Secretary General of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences.
Including this year’s grants, 117 researchers have received funding since 2014.
Six researchers receive international postdoctoral positions and funding for two years after they return to Sweden:
Doctoral student Eric Ahlqvist, KTH Royal Institute of Technology (University of Edinburgh, UK)
Doctoral student Isabel Haasler, KTH Royal Institute of Technology (École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Switzerland)
Doctoral student Adem Limani, Lund University (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Spain)
Doctoral student Jeroen Hekking, KTH Royal Institute of Technology (University of Regensburg, Germany)
Dr. Johan Wärnegård, KTH Royal Institute of Technology (Columbia University, New York, USA)
Doctoral student Mingchen Xia, Chalmers University of Technology (École Polytechnique, Palaiseau, France)
Six researchers receive funding for recruiting an international researcher to a postdoctoral position in Sweden:
Professor Michael Björklund, Chalmers University of Technology and the University of Gothenburg
Dr. Josefin Ahlkrona, Stockholm University
Professor Sandra Di Rocco, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm
Associate professor Lilian Matthiesen, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm
Associate professor Jian Qiu, Uppsala University
Professor David Rydh, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm
Three established international researchers recruited as visiting professors at Swedish universities (in brackets):
Associate professor Matthew Kennedy, University of Waterloo, Canada (Stockholm University)
Associate professor Antonio Lerario, International School for Advanced Studies, Trieste, Italy (KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm)
Professor Ayman Kachmar, Lebanese University, Beirut, Lebanon (Lund University)
FACTS About the program
Over the years 2014–2029, the program will provide SEK 650 million to allow Swedish researchers to receive international postdoctoral positions, as well as the international recruitment of visiting professors and of foreign researchers to postdoctoral positions at Swedish universities. The program also includes funding worth SEK 73 million for the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences’ Institut Mittag-Leffler, one of the world’s ten leading mathematics institutions.
Contacts:
Peter Wallenberg Jr, Chair, Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation
+46 (0)8 545 017 80
kaw@kaw.se
Hans Ellegren, Secretary General, Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences
+46-8-673 95 02
hans.ellegren@kva.se
Göran Sandberg, Executive Director, Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation
+46 (0)8 545 017 80
kaw@kaw.se
Press contact:
Eva Nevelius, Press Secretary, Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences
+46 (0)8 878 67 63