Institute to tackle scientific questions

An ambitious mathematics and interdisciplinary science center opened in Shanghai on Tuesday, with the goal of producing original achievements and groundbreaking technologies.

The Shanghai Institute for Mathematics and Interdisciplinary Science also has the goal of overcoming major scientific problems and practical challenges, and cultivating first-class talent.

The institute is being supported by the Shanghai and Yangpu district governments, and Fudan University.

Mathematician Shing-Tung Yau, who opened the facility, said the institute will focus on pure and applied mathematics, as well as combining mathematics with fields such as physics, biomedicine and economics.

"Interdisciplinary research is important as it allows scholars to broaden their horizons and keep moving forward. The institute will carry out interdisciplinary collaboration with domestic research institutions, such as the Shanghai Institute of Organic Chemistry of the Chinese Academy of Sciences," said Yau.

He said the SIMIS will collaborate closely with Fudan, which has veteran professors who will become jointly appointed professors at the institute for joint student training.

Wu Rongling, one of the founding professors of the institute and a researcher specializing in statistics, said that in the era of big data, many traditional statistical models struggle in producing highly analytical results.

"Statistics today must intersect with other disciplines and open up new research theories and methods. For example, by intersecting with topology, statistics can better analyze the causal relationship of variables in big data and the path diagram of information dissemination, diffusion and reproduction between variables to reveal the occurrence and development dynamics of natural or social laws in a more accurate manner," he said.

The establishment of the institute will attract more heavyweight scholars from overseas to Shanghai. Meanwhile, some outstanding Chinese students will stay and join the institute, said Yau.

More than 10 scholars, including local, foreign and Chinese scholars returning from abroad, have already joined the institute, and a number of PhD students jointly trained with Fudan will be recruited.

"The overall operation of the institute will serve the needs of the country and Shanghai for continuous development," he said.

Yau launched the Beijing Institute of Mathematical Sciences and Applications three years ago and now has a team of about 150 full-time researchers.

"More than 10 research teams for applied and basic mathematics have been established to carry out interdisciplinary research and organize academic exchanges, which are achieving ideal results," said Yau.

The inauguration ceremony for the SIMIS was held during the 2023 International Congress of Chinese Mathematicians, which opened at Fudan on Tuesday and will run through Friday. It is the first time the annual congress has been held in Shanghai.

More than 500 of the world's top mathematicians, scholars and representatives of teachers and students from universities are attending.

Several awards, including the ICCM Best Paper Award, Graduate Thesis Award and Undergraduate Paper Award, were presented to commend young scientific workers dedicated to frontier math studies.

Eighteen students majoring in mathematics at prestigious universities in the United States were invited to join the meeting.

"I can feel that the Chinese government and universities attach importance to scientific research. There is a good research environment here, and some long-term scientific research projects are receiving strong support," said Alan Goldfarb, a PhD student at the University of California, Berkeley, who is visiting China for the first time.

Samuel DeHority, a PhD student at Columbia University, said that he was delighted to experience the development of scientific research in China for himself. "I look forward to participating in scientific research cooperation between Chinese and US universities in the future," he said.