Officially launched this week at the Institut des Hautes Etudes Scientifiques, the Huawei Young Talents programme aims to support the work in mathematics and theoretical physics of talented researchers at the beginning of their careers. An average of 7 postdoctoral fellowships will be funded by this programme each year and awarded by the Institute’s Scientific Council, solely on the basis of scientific excellence. Recipients will collaborate with the Institute’s tenured faculty and work on their topics of interest.

Five brilliant young researchers have already joined the Huawei Young Talents programme. Three of them presented their work during this week’s virtual ceremony. Yue WANG gave a presentation on “Inference on Tissue Transplantation Experiments”; Zhe SUN’s presentation was on “Tropical Surface Networks and Coordinates” and Vasilisa NIKIFOROVA’s presentation on “Einstein-Cartan Generalized Theory of Gravity” concluded the ceremony.

The laureates of the IHES “Huawei Young Talents” programme will develop their research on subjects of their choice in mathematics and theoretical physics, and will be able to collaborate with the Institute’s permanent professors. Topics may include, but are not limited to :

– Algebraic geometry, automorphic forms, diophantine geometry and topo theory;
– probability theory, statistical physics, mathematical physics;
– Partial differential equations, numerical analysis and modeling;
– Geometry, dynamics, subgroups of lie groups;
– Quantum Field Theory, String Theory, General Relativity;
– Artificial Intelligence, Tensor Neuron Networks, Machine Learning
– Quantum computing and quantum mechanics.
– Information theory
– Number Theory
– Game Theory
– Random Matrix Theory
– Linear and non-linear programming
– Compression detection and optimization methods

The Huawei Young Talents programme also gives the IHES the opportunity to create a prestigious 5-year position reserved for a particularly gifted young researcher.

“Through this competitive position, which would be the first of its kind at the IHES, the Institute would reward exceptional talent and attract to France outstanding young researchers who might otherwise prefer to start their careers in another country,” comments Emmanuel ULLMO, Director of the IHES.

The creation of the Huawei Young Talents programme at the IHES is made possible by financial support from Huawei Technologies France. The company is thus renewing its confidence in the institute through a donation of 6 million euros over a period of ten years. Most of this sum (5 million euros) will finance the new Huawei Young Talents programme. The remainder of the grant (€1 million) will extend the Huawei Chair in Algebraic Geometry. This chair was created in 2019 in recognition of a donation of 1 million euros from Huawei and whose first holder is Professor Laurent LAFFORGUE, Fields Medalist in 2002 and permanent professor at the IHES since 2000. Laurent LAFFORGUE has been working closely with Huawei for several years and gave a presentation during the ceremony on “The creative power of categories: a history and new perspectives”.

During the ceremony, Marwan LAHOUD, President of the IHES Board of Directors, expressed his gratitude to Huawei :

“At a time when the health crisis is causing uncertainty and making planning more difficult, the generous donation from Huawei Technologies France to the IHES is all the more precious. It enables the Institute to project itself over the long term by supporting its flourishing scientific activity. »

Zishang XIANG, Vice President of the European Research Centre in Huawei, has started :

“Because research is at the heart of our DNA, we believe that there can be no great breakthrough innovations without basic research. This is a strong conviction that we share with the Institut des Hautes Études Scientifiques, and that is why we are delighted to sign with them the opening of the Huawei Young Talents programme. The IHES has been able to create a fertile scientific environment. We are proud that Huawei is part of it. »

Finally, Weiliang SHI concluded:

“Since our installation 17 years ago, Huawei has chosen France as a land of excellence in research and development. In fact, we support the French scientific community and have built a relationship of trust with them based on a continuous exchange of knowledge,” said Weiliang SHI, President of Huawei France. “This was the meaning of our approach when we inaugurated the Lagrange Research Center on October 9 in Paris. Today, it is the raison d’être of the Huawei Young Talents programme, which we are fortunate enough to set up with our long-standing partner, the IHES”.

Translated from Le programme Huawei Young Talents a été officiellement lancé à l’Institut des Hautes Etudes Scientifiques