Alessio Figalli, Italian alumni laureate of the Fields Medal 2018

02 août 2018 Carrières

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Alessio Figalli, one of the four Fields Medal winners who received his award on August 1st in Rio de Janeiro during the International Congress of Mathematicians, is an alumni who partly studied in France. In an interview for French magazine Le Point, the Italian mathematician talks about his career and discipline.

It was under the joint supervision of Cédric Villani and Luigi Ambrosio (ENS of Pisa) that the young Italian mathematician passed his PhD in the Ecole normale supérieure of Lyon. In 2007, he was appointed head of research at the CNRS institute and became a teacher at the Centre for Mathematics Laurent-Schwartz of the Ecole polytechnique of Palaiseau.

In an interview for French magazine Le Point, Figalli talks about his passion for mathematics and the new challenges of his discipline. But he also talks about his experience in France, his vision of research in France and the true interest of France for mathematics (and mathematicians).

"The culture of mathematics is much more supported France, and I suppose this is because the tradition of mathematics is much older there", Figalli says. "In France, mathematicians are highly looked by society (…). French policies take care of mathematicians, and listen to their needs. ". And the mathematician concludes: "You can't move research forward without taking care of your researchers. This open-mindedness is highly positive".

Photo © Tatjana Ruf

Read the full article (in French)