A short film dedicated to the International Center for Mathematical Sciences (ICMS–Sofia) at the Institute of Mathematics and Informatics of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences (IMI-BAS) was presented during the International Congress of Mathematicians (ICM) in Philadelphia.
As part of the forum’s program, short video presentations selected and produced by the official television channel of the International Congress are continuously broadcast. ICM TV chose only 27 leading mathematical centers from around the world to be presented during the congress and commissioned special videos showcasing their activities. The fact that the International Center for Mathematical Sciences is a part of this elite selection – and the only one featured from Eastern Europe – is an exceptionally high recognition and testament to its work and rapid establishment on the global scientific stage.
The International Congress of Mathematicians is a forum with over a century of history and global reach and the most significant and prestigious event in the world of mathematics. Its history dates back to 1897 in Zurich, and it takes place every four years. It is during this congress that the highest honours in mathematics, including the Fields Medal, are awarded. One of this year’s awardees – John Pardon – is well known to the mathematical community in Bulgaria; he participated in the Inaugural conference of the International Center for Mathematical Sciences in Sofia in 2022.
This year’s edition of the International Congress of Mathematicians in Philadelphia brought together over 3,000 in-person participants, while the online audience following the event far exceeded that number. Screening the ICMS film in front of such an impressive audience offers an outstanding opportunity for the center’s activities and achievements to reach a remarkably wide circle of scientists, researchers, and specialists from all parts of the globe.
One of the main messages conveyed to this audience is that despite its young age, ICMS–Sofia has turned Bulgaria into an attractive hub for the development of world-class mathematical research. The center has already established a firm standing on the scientific stage, not only regionally and within Europe, but also across the ocean. To date, it has attracted dozens of prominent world-known scientists to its activities, with 20 mathematicians from all over the world at various stages of their careers working permanently in Sofia.
This marks a significant positive shift in the development of Bulgarian science: while in the past Bulgarian mathematicians and young scientists overwhelmingly sought career opportunities at prestigious scientific centers abroad, today we are witnessing the reverse process – established and promising young researchers from all over the world come to Sofia, attracted by the opportunity to collaborate with world-renowned experts and by the excellent conditions for developing their scientific potential.
The ICMS film presented in Philadelphia offers an inside look into both the vision of its leadership and the actual research atmosphere at the center. The video features distinguished scientists such as Prof. Julian Revalski, Director of ICMS and one of the visionaries who spearheaded the idea of its creation and navigated the challenging path toward its realization, Prof. Ludmil Katzarkov, Prof. Maxim Kontsevich, a Fields medalist and a member of the Advisory Board of ICMS, and Prof. Milen Yakimov.
The new generation of researchers at ICMS is represented by Leonardo Cavenaghi, Higinio Serrano, and Emine Yıldırım – members of the center’s three research groups, who share their personal experiences and the career growth opportunities that Bulgaria offers them.
The broadcast of the film will continue over the next year on the official YouTube channel of the congress.
