Sydney Mathematical Research Institute
2024 end-of-year message
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Message from the Executive Director
Dear friend of SMRI,
It is hard to believe that SMRI has only just turned six this year! In the past few years, we have developed a stimulating program of special semesters, academic events and outreach activities around our visitor program. Here is a small snapshot of the activities past and future:
The year that was:
Visitor program
The core mission of SMRI is the visitor program, which enables researchers to collaborate with academics at Australian institutions. Last year, we hosted 57 visitors from 17 countries visiting 16 institutions across Australia. They spent a combined total of 319 weeks on collaborative research with their hosts. Our spotlight articles on SMRI visitors showcase research outputs achieved through our programs and interviews with some visitors on their experience and process are published on the SMRI YouTube channel.
First-of-its-kind eventsA special semester “ Perspectives on Mathematics, its Humanity, Culture, and Communication” in 2024 focused on exploring and improving the culture in mathematics. Regular attendees included colleagues from local universities, scientists in industry, and teachers. Contributors included Amie Albrecht, Eddie Woo and Jared Field. The semester included a SMRI-sponsored Australian tour by Po-Shen Loh which included workshops for high school students and in-depth examinations of teaching and communication practice.
SMRI hosted the executive committee of the International Mathematical Union for their annual meeting, followed by a two-day colloquia and panel event.The creative format provided an opportunity for Australian researchers to engage with some of the world's best mathematicians.
Engagement SMRI hosted four public lectures on diverse topics from geometry, to surviving AI, to exploring computer-generated graphs that could pass as art. Our public lectures have become a focal point for the mathematics community in Sydney and the inclusive environment attracts primary and secondary school students, teachers, academics and industry affiliates. Some of our lectures are followed by hands-on workshops for high school students — read on to find out how we are taking this to the next level in 2025!
Looking ahead to 2025:
I am fortunate to work with a wonderful team that is dedicated, creative and effective under the guidance of the director, Geordie Williamson, and with the trust of our generous donors. Our executive officer Kate Doyle, our administration officer Hannah Bryant, and our communications coordinator Catherine Meister ensure that we turn opportunities into reality and that we are a dependable, flexible and adaptable partner. I’m truly looking forward to the next year, and part with a glimpse of what is to come:
Visitors
In 2025, we expect about 70 visitors to the institute. Our current International Visitor Program round, for visits in 2026, has just opened and closes on 18 February 2025. Our domestic visitor program and Ukrainian visitor program also remain open, with applications evaluated on a rolling basis.
Postdocs We are growing a cohort of postdoctoral associates and fellows, funded by generous donor support. Our latest position, generously funded by the Anthony and Sharon Lee Foundation, includes 2 x 6 month periods at Princeton University and has a closing date today, 20 December 2024.
Themed semester Building on the momentum created in the past three years, we plan a focused semester on "Modern Perspectives in Representation Theory" in the first half of 2025. This will be structured around a visit by Charlotte Chan and Thomas Lam from the University of Michigan— navigate to the website for more information!
International Day of Mathematics The official theme of International Day of Mathematics (Pi Day) 2025 is “Mathematics, Art, and Creativity”. We are collaborating with the Chau Chak Wing Museum to explore creativity in mathematics and connections with art, music and architecture through talks, panels, children's activities and performances across the weekend from Friday 14 March to Sunday 16 March in the Chau Chak Wing Museum. The full program will be unveiled in 2025!
Please read on to find interesting reading, highlights, and announcements.
With best wishes for the holiday season,
Stephan Tillmann
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Interesting reading and viewing from SMRI for the summer break
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Oxford University Mathematicians Xenia de la Ossa and Philip Candelas in conversation with Geordie Williamson on their careers and the discovery of mirror symmetry
This interview explores general characteristics of research in mathematics and physics, however some comments describe more technical aspects of these fields. We have left these in, in the hope that our lay audience will forgive these inclusions as these details may delight and interest researchers in mathematics and physics. Watch the video or read the summary here.
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Reflections on the Inaugural Australian AI Safety ForumThis October, SMRI's communications coordinator attended the Inaugural Australian AI Safety Forum at the Sydney Knowledge Hub. The forum was a two-day interdisciplinary event building on momentum around recent discussion of AI safety and focused on the subset of AI developments and AI policy that are addressed by the AI Safety Institutes and Report. SMRI was proud to support the forum, the first event of its kind in Australia, aiming to catalyse conversations on technical AI safety and governance while exploring Australia’s unique role in the global AI safety landscape.
This reflection covers the risks, opportunities and challenges with AI, as well as the increasingly important role mathematics in today's society . Read more 
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PatternBoost: Constructions in Mathematics with a Little Help from AI
Alongside François Charton, Jordan S. Ellenberg, and Adam Zsolt Wagner, SMRI Director Geordie Williamson has published an article about a versatile machine learning algorithm used to discover interesting mathematical constructions.
Using these methods, several interesting structures were identified, including one constuction of a counterexample to a conjecture that had remained open for 30 years. View research feature
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On the evening of 13 August, SMRI hosted a public lecture for National Science Week, presented by Andrej Bauer, of the University of Ljubljana. Andrej illustrated how beautiful visuals can be the spectacular result of solving polynomial equations using computation. In addition to the public lecture, SMRI also hosted a schools workshop, given by University of Sydney mathematician Milena Radnovic, about infinity mathematics.
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Interview with Jessica FintzenPure mathematician Jessica Fintzen‘s research interests include representation theory and number theory: two areas of mathematics with a mysterious relationship. In this video profile, Jessica gives us a rundown of p-adic groups and their representations, and how they are connected to the Langlands Program. She also shares her mathematical motivations and even demonstrates a handstand or two... Read more
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Geordie Williamson awarded
Max Planck Humboldt Award
Geordie Williamson was recognised for his exceptional work using artificial intelligence to solve complex problems in mathematics, receiving the 2024 Max Planck Humboldt Award in a ceremony in Berlin. The award is endowed with 1.5 million euros, and will allow Geordie to work closely with Researchers at the University of Bonn and Max Planck Institute for Mathematics.
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Sydney Mathematical Research Institute was proud and delighted to host the third Women in Mathematics Special Interest Group (WIMSIG) Conference, which took place at the University of Sydney from September 30 to October 2, 2024. More than 150 registrants came together to hear talks on a range of topics, from applied and pure mathematics, to statistics, industry, and
mathematical education.
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Perspectives on Mathematics: Its Humanity, Culture, and Communication - 2024 Special Semester
The special seminar series, Perspectives on Mathematics: Its Humanity, Culture and Communication explored and illuminated the human side of mathematics- the culture(s) of mathematics, how we interact and do research in it, who we include, and how we communicate maths to students and the broader public.
Organised by SMRI Visitor Francis Su and Stephan Tillmann, the semester ran from 1 March until June 2024. The semester culminated in the visit of mathematical educator Po-Shen Loh, who ran a schools workshop and gave a public lecture at SMRI.
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The theory of numbers: From Ancient Greece to the 21st Century
Esteemed number theorist Professor Matthew Emerton joined SMRI for a public lecture, as part of the Mahler Lecture Tour 2024. He sketched in broad outlines how these ideas evolved, through the theory of equations and their symmetries as developed by Galois, culminating in a description of some of the contemporary aspects of the theory. The lecture emphasized how symmetries of mathematical problems, some obvious but some not-so-obvious, play a hidden role in the nature of their solutions.
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Successful applicants: International Visitor Program 2024 Round 2
Congratulations to the 23 successful applicants in the IVP Round 2, which closed in August. As always, SMRI is grateful for the valuable contributions made by the hosts, both inside and outside the School of Mathematics.
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Applications for the IVP (Feb 2025 round) are now open for researchers in the mathematical sciences, for visits taking place between January – December 2026 for general applicants, and September 2025 – December 2026 for Australian citizens/permanent residents and New Zealand citizens.
Apply now to spend 2–18 weeks at our mathematical research hub. Visit the IVP webpage to access the T&Cs and application form by the closing deadline: Tuesday 18 February 2025.
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Public lecture: My Mathematical Journey: From Play to Sea!
by Jordan Pitt
Every time Jordan mentions that he's a mathematician to someone new, the most popular response is ‘Oh I was TERRIBLE at maths!’ and a general vibe that he is an extreme weirdo for not sharing in this feeling. Honestly, as mathematicians we are a bit different. Jordan will explain why mathematicians are not that weird in this talk. To do this he will provide some stories of his own mathematical journey and why he ended up loving it.
Wednesday 29 January, 2025
Lecture: 5:30 pm AEST, followed by canapé reception: 6:30
SWHB Lecture Theatre 321, Susan Wakil Health Building (D18)
University of Sydney, Camperdown Campus
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International Day of Mathematics Events: Public Lecture and SMRI x Chau Chak Wing Museum
The official theme of the International Day of Mathematics in 2025 is “Mathematics, Art, and Creativity”. In this special family weekend join us as the Sydney Mathematical Research Institute and the Chau Chak Wing Museum combine to explore creativity in mathematics and connections with art, music and architecture through talks, panels, children's activities and performances across the weekend in the Chau Chak Wing Museum.
Save the dates: Friday 14 March to Sunday 16 March, 2025
Chau Chak Wing Museum, University of Sydney
More details to follow
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