Sydney Mathematical Research Institute
2025 End-of-year message
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Message from the Executive Director
Dear friend of SMRI,
We have been deeply shocked and saddened by the violent attack in Bondi on Sunday, which reverberated around the world. We send our deepest condolences to the Jewish community and to others impacted, and hope that you are safe and manage to take care of yourself and those around you.
As we approach the end of the year, reflections on past events and those we are planning for the future remind us of the strength of our community. They reaffirm our commitment to creating a safe, inclusive and supportive environment that is built on respect, care and inclusivity. Coming together and staying connected matters, now more than ever.
With best wishes,
Stephan Tillmann
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International Day of Mathematics Public Lecture by
Tadashi Tokieda
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Tadashi Tokieda is a professor of mathematics at Stanford. He grew up in Japan as a painter, became a classical philologist (not to be confused with philosopher) in France, and has been an applied mathematician in England and America. He is active in outreach, especially via the African Institute for Mathematical Sciences and the YouTube channel Numberphile.
Friday 13 March, 2026
Lecture at 5:30 pm, followed by drinks and canapés from 6:30 pm
University of Sydney
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The official theme of the 2026 International Day of Mathematics is “Mathematics and Hope”. Join us for another special family weekend as Sydney Mathematical Research Institute teams up with the Chau Chak Wing Museum.
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Saturday 14 March & Sunday 15 March, 2026
12 pm – 4 pm
Chau Chak Wing Museum, University of Sydney
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SMRI Activities: Interesting reading and viewing for the end of year break
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Robert Tarjan: Is Dijkstra’s Algorithm Optimal?
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In December 2025, Robert Tarjan (Princeton) gave the first Basser-SMRI Joint Seminar hosted by SMRI in conjunction with the School of Computer Science. Dijkstra’s algorithm is a classic algorithm for doing route planning, finding the shortest paths using the greedy method. Not only does it find shortest paths, it finds these in increasing order by length. A natural question is whether this algorithm is best possible. The answer depends on exactly how one poses the question. This talk covered recent work by the speaker and his colleagues that gives the answer “yes” and briefly examine work by others that gives the answer “no.” Watch on YouTube
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| SMRI AI Safety Focus Period: Daniel Murfet chats to Marcus Hutter and Cole Wyeth
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From November to December 2025, a special focus period ran at SMRI, organised by Daniel Murfet (Timaeus), Susan Wei (Monash University) and Geordie Williamson (University of Sydney). This interview features organiser Daniel Murfet, and participants Marcus Hutter (ANU/Google DeepMind) and Cole Wyeth (University of Waterloo). A primary aim of the focus period was to articulate guiding questions for mathematicians to come to grips with the rapid adoption of AI, and its application to pure mathematics. This interview provides some excellent starting points for how those interested can get involved. Watch on YouTube
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| Fakhteh Ghanbarnejad: Using complex systems to understand epidemics, climate change and social media
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In October 2025, Fakhteh Ghanbarnejad (SRH University of Applied Sciences in Leipzig) collaborated with Eduardo Altmann at SMRI as part of the International Visitor Program. In this interview, she talks to us about her work in complex systems and networks, at the interface of physics, applied mathematics and computer science. Watch on YouTube
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| Geordie Williamson: Simons Foundation Presidential Lecture
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SMRI Director Geordie Williamson was invited to give a 2025 Presidential Lecture at the Simons Foundation. These lectures are part of a series of public colloquia, with Geordie's lecture, "Neural Networks for Mathematical Discovery", part of the mathematics and computer science theme. In this lecture, he surveyed recent work using neural networks to aid the search for interesting mathematical examples and counterexamples. This work is just the tip of the iceberg, with Geordie predicting that the coming years will see a flourishing of AI-assisted experimental mathematics. Watch on YouTube
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| Knots, graphs, and algebra: a story of surprises – National Science Week Public Lecture by Zsuzsanna Dancso
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What’s so special about knots? The twists and tangles of knots are behind some of the world’s strongest materials, hide within our DNA, and early scientists such as Lord Kelvin believed that knots were so fundamental to the universe that the different chemical elements were caused by knot configurations! But how can we tell if a knot really is a knot…and if it differs from other knots? View the gallery and watch the recording
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Here at SMRI, we were very sorry to hear of the sudden death of Jérémie Guilhot in July 2025. Jérémie was a valued member of the mathematical community here in Sydney. Jérémie worked at the University of Tours, France, and visited the University of Sydney on many occasions to work with his friend and collaborator, James Parkinson. Read more about Jérémie and his work here
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| Catch up on SMRI Seminars on YouTube
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This semester, we have started recording some of the many seminars running at the SMRI each week. Speakers include: Marcus Hutter (ANU/Google DeepMind), Tamás Hausel (Institute of Science and Technology Austria), Lynn Heller (BIMSA) and many more.
YouTube Playlist: SMRI Seminars
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| Apply for the International Visitor Program: February 2026
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Applications for the IVP (Feb 2026 round) are now open for researchers in the mathematical sciences, for visits taking place between January – December 2027.
Apply now for a minimum 4 week research visit with an Australian collaborator.
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Follow SMRI on our social platforms
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