Hyderabad to host mega Maths event

World's super brains to come together - 'Maths Nobel' to be conferred - UoH is the exclusive academic host

By Ardra Balachandran

The brightest minds from all branches of Mathematics will descend upon Hyderabad come August. The International Congress of Mathematicians (ICM), the melting pot of ideas and the prestigious platform where the cream de la cream of global mathematics come together once in four years, will happen from August 19-27, 2010, at the Hyderabad International Convention Centre (HICC). What’s more, University of Hyderabad is the exclusive academic host for the event!

In recognition of the increasing contributions of Indian Mathematicians in research, our country gets to host the ICM for the first time in history. In fact, this is only the third time that the ICM is coming to Asia (Kyoto 1990, Beijing 2002). The bid made by India had the full backing of Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh and also the State Government of Andhra Pradesh. The local hosts are the National Board for Higher Mathematics (NBHM), a board constituted by the Department of Atomic Energy, Government of India, and UoH.

“We competed with several other institutions which wanted to bring the ICM to their place. The International Mathematical Union (IMU) team came to inspect us and I gave them a blank cheque; also showed them the HICC. Our university’s phenomenal work in the field of Mathematics and the world class facilities available in HICC made the case for India,” Vice Chancellor Prof. Seyed. E Hasnain elaborated.

Although the history of the event can be traced back to August 1897, its execution in an organised fashion started in 1924, when IMU, a body of mathematicians formed in 1920-21, took over the reigns.

The ICM is also important because of the prestigious awards that are given away at the event, especially the Fields Medal. Known as the Nobel for Mathematics globally, it is awarded to a young mathematician (under the age of forty) who has done a substantial piece of research in the preceding four years. Besides this biggie, the Nevanlinna Prize (for theoretical computer science) and the Gauss Prize (for mathematics leading to applications) too will be awarded. Also, for the first time ever, the Chern Prize for outstanding lifelong achievement in mathematics will be awarded in Hyderabad.

With 20 plenary talks and more than 170 invited talks (the highest till date) lined up, ICM 2010 is sure to incite a whirlwind of new ideas. Most of all, the event gives what the Indian talent pool across disciplines often misses out on international exposure. And for mathematicians, it does not get bigger than this!