Investing millions in mathematics

The Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation is continuing its investments in Swedish mathematics research. This year’s grants will make it possible for 13 mathematicians to develop their research, search for the solutions to unsolved problems and to boost Sweden as a research nation. 

Since 2014, the Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation and the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences have supported mathematical research in Sweden through an extensive mathematics program. Its aim is that Sweden will regain an internationally leading position in the area.

This year’s funding allows Swedish universities to invite three visiting professors. Among them is Professor Frank Ball, world-leading expert on statistical models for the spread of infectious disease, who will deepen his cooperation with researchers at Stockholm University.

Other mathematicians on the program are tackling the most famous mathematical problems, working with algebraic geometry, symplectic geometry, proof complexity, and much more.

Thanks to this funding, Swedish mathematicians will have postdoctoral positions in Finland, Canada, Great Britain, Hungary, and Denmark.

“It is important that the very best researchers meet, regardless of national boundaries, to develop of all areas of science. Current mathematics is not adequate for us to be able to use the enormous amounts of data being produced today, and new mathematics is necessary for increasing areas of use in both research and industry,” says Peter Wallenberg Jr, Chairman, Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation.

The funding does not target a particular area of mathematics, but will support basic research.

“The Wallenberg Foundation’s investment in mathematics is of enormous importance to Swedish mathematics and, in turn, this is a requirement for success in important fields of physics, technology and other key areas,” says Göran K. Hansson, Secretary General of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences.

Grants 2017:

Three established researchers from outside Sweden will be visiting professors at Swedish universities (in parentheses):

Professor Frank Ball, University of Nottingham (Stockholm University)

Professor Bassam Fayad, Université Paris Diderot (KTH Royal Institute of Technology)

Professor Jonathan Partington, University of Leeds (Lund University)

Four researchers receive grants for recruiting a researcher from outside Sweden to a postdoctoral position in Sweden:

David Witt Nyström, PhD, Chalmers University of Technology and the University of Gothenburg                       

Thomas Kragh, PhD, Uppsala University

David Rydh, Associate Professor, KTH Royal Institute of Technology

Jakob Nordström, Associate Professor, KTH Royal Institute of Technology

Six researchers receive postdoctoral positions at foreign universities and funding for two years after they return to Sweden:

Dmitrii Zhelezov, PhD, Chalmers University of Technology, (Alfréd Rényi Institute of Mathematics in Budapest, Hungary)

Erik Duse, PhD, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, (University of Helsinki, Finland)

Ludvig af Klinteberg, PhD, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, (Simon Fraser University in British Columbia, Canada)

Doctoral student Eskil Rydhe, Lund University, (University of Leeds, Great Britain)

Isac Hedén, PhD, Uppsala University, (University of Warwick, Great Britain)

Doctoral student Kaj Börjeson, Stockholm University, (University of Copenhagen, Denmark)

About the program:

For the period 2014–2022, the program provides SEK 160 million for 24 outgoing Swedish postdocs and the international recruitment of 35 foreign postdocs, as well as 25 visiting professors, to Swedish institutions. There is also an additional SEK 40 million for the Academy’s Institut Mittag-Leffler, one of the world’s top ten mathematics institutions. The program is run in cooperation with the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, which evaluates all the nominated candidates.

Read more about the researchers and projects at:

http://kva.se/en/GrantsFunding/Wallenberg-program-in-mathematics

http://kaw.wallenberg.org/en/program-mathematics-2017

Contacts:

Peter Wallenberg Jr, Chairman, Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation,
+46 (0)8 545 017 80, kaw@kaw.se

Göran K. Hansson, Secretary General, Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences,
+46 (0)8 545 95 00, goran.hansson@kva.se

Göran Sandberg, Executive Director, Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation,
+46 (0)8 545 017 80, kaw@kaw.se

Jessica Balksjö Nannini, Press Officer, Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences,
+46 (0)8 545 96 50, jessica.balksjo@kva.se