Inauguration Ceremony of Institute for Advanced Study in Mathematics (Preparatory) of Zhejiang University

 

On December 17, 2017, mathematicians at home and abroad gathered in Zhejiang University to witness the establishment of Institute for Advanced Study in Mathematics (Preparatory), a defining moment that marks the milestone of the University’s efforts in discipline development and innovative research in mathematics.

 

Zou Xiaodong, Secretary of the Communist Party Committee of Zhejiang University, Wu Zhaohui, President of the University, Zhang Hongjian, Vice President, and Li Jianshu, Founding Director of IASM, attended the inauguration.

 

IASM aims to build itself into a vibrant academic body that facilitates the integrated development of discipline, talents and research in mathematics. The Institute will focus on the top-notch discoveries in the globe with the needs of national and regional strategies taken into consideration. It also helps to strengthen basic research, explore important mathematical ideas, solve key problems, and achieve breakthroughs in forward-looking and leading theoretical research. On top of that, by coordinating with School of Mathematical Sciences, IASM would build a high-level research team, enhance interdisciplinary study, and jointly explore the mechanism for talent training.

 

Wu Zhaohui said that he believed mathematics would be an important impetus for the new round of scientific and technological innovation, industrial reform, and education revolution. The basic disciplines such as mathematics are critical to the University’s “Double-First Class” initiative. Wu highly regarded IASM and expected it to become a cradle for original achievements, an engine leading the discipline development, and a platform for training talents, making contributions to mathematics theories and application across the globe.

 

Zhejiang University began to build the discipline of mathematics in 1928. At that time, famous mathematicians Chen Jiangong and Su Buqing founded the “Chen-Su School”. In 1998, four universities, including the former Zhejiang University and Hangzhou University merged into the current university, and the Department of Mathematics came into being. In 2015, it was renamed School of Mathematical Sciences.

 

“Revitalizing the discipline of mathematics at Zhejiang University is the aspiration of my generation, of my teachers, and of their teachers.” said Li Jianshu who did his undergraduate study in Zhejiang University. The inauguration of IASM is like sowing the seed that has been taken care of by the school faculty for years. We would make every effort to make it sprout and grow.

 

IASM will be underpinned by a small group of distinguished professors, as well as post-doctoral fellows and visiting scholars. Academic activities will be held to exchange insights and explore new discoveries.

 

“Although mathematics is a quantitative subject, one’s achievements in this field are difficult to quantify.” Jianshu said. “IASM will learn from Institute of Advanced Studies in Princeton. Our vision is to pool first-class scholars, reflect on important mathematical problems and generate ground-breaking ideas and achievements in this regard.”

 

Li Jianshu, the founding director of IASM, was born in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province in November 1959. He graduated from the Department of Mathematics, Zhejiang University in 1981, received the master’s degree from Cornell University in 1983, and the Ph.D. degree from Yale University in 1987. He became a member of the Chinese Academy of Sciences in 2013. He is the chair professor in the Department of Mathematics, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology and the former chairman of the Hong Kong Mathematical Society. His research interests include representations of Lie groups and p-adic groups, and topics pertaining to automorphic forms.