News

Building on decades of effort, Lizhong Zhang, Member (2023–24) in the School of Natural Sciences; James Stone, Professor in the School; and a team of astrophysicists have achieved a major milestone: developing the most comprehensive model to date of luminous black hole accretion. Their breakthrough allows scholars to "observe" such black hole systems not through a telescope, but through a computer.

Cathy N. Davidson, Visitor in the School of Social Science, has been named a recipient of the 2025 Harold W. McGraw, Jr. Prize in Education, for her work as a "leading voice in digital literacy, learning science, and interdisciplinary innovation."

Ten out of the 40 mathematicians named to the American Mathematical Society’s class of 2026 Fellows are current or former Members in the Institute for Advanced Study’s School of Mathematics.

Sushant Sachdeva, Visitor (2019) in the School of Mathematics, has been announced as the winner of the 2025 Infosys Prize in Engineering and Computer Science for making "fundamental contributions [that] have profoundly impacted many algorithmic challenges underlying modern society."

Marco Fantuzzi, Member (2012) and Visitor (2013) in the School of Historical Studies, has been named a winner of a Carl Friedrich von Siemens Research Award by the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation. Fantuzzi is a renowned classicist whose research interests span Greek literature and drama, philology, and literary criticism, among other fields.

Chen Ning Yang (杨振宁), Faculty (1955–66) and Member (1949–54) in the Institute for Advanced Study’s School of Mathematics/Natural Sciences, passed away on October 18, 2025 at the age of 103. At the Institute, he produced a body of work which redefined how scientists conceptualize the fundamental symmetries of the universe. 

Lauren K. Williams, von Neumann Fellow (2017) in the Schools of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, has been named a 2025 MacArthur Fellow. The award recognizes Williams’s influential and wide-ranging research that bridges algebraic combinatorics, geometry, and physics. 

On September 22, the Institute officially began its 2025–26 academic year, bringing together scholars from around the globe to pursue a range of individual and collaborative projects. The 259 visiting scholars, representing 39 nations and more than 108 institutions, will work alongside the 26 permanent Faculty and 22 Emeriti, all of whom are leaders in their respective fields.

Camillo De Lellis, IBM von Neumann Professor in the School of Mathematics, has been elected as a fellow of Italy’s most historic scientific academy: the Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei. He is one of only 46 scholars to be honored with this distinction in 2025.

In a recent article for Science, Alondra Nelson, Harold F. Linder Professor in the School of Social Science, proposes an approach to artificial intelligence’s unchecked proliferation and escalating harms: a reapplication of the Ethical, Legal, and Social Implications (ELSI) program developed for the Human Genome Project.

This summer, Park City, Utah once again became a vibrant hub for mathematical exploration as 198 participants from 21 countries gathered for the 2025 iteration of the Park City Mathematics Institute (PCMI), an annual IAS outreach initiative. The program focused on the intersection of discrete mathematics and probability theory.

Victoria B. Bjorklund, IAS Trustee since 2006, will be presented with the insignia of Knight of the Légion d’Honneur, France’s most prestigious decoration, on September 10, 2025. The honor recognizes Bjorklund’s extraordinary commitment to building French-American ties through philanthropy and her remarkable service to French nonprofit initiatives.

Join the Institute for Advanced Study, one of the world’s leading centers for foundational research, for the 2026–27 academic year. Accepted scholars, drawn from around the world, will be able to pursue their own research within one of the four IAS Schools: Historical Studies, Mathematics, Natural Sciences, and Social Science. Funding is available.

When massive objects like black holes move through the universe, they create gravitational waves—ripples in the very fabric of spacetime. This summer, IAS became a hub for exploring this rapidly evolving field as the 2025 Prospects in Theoretical Physics (PiTP) program welcomed 85 attendees for an intensive workshop focused on gravitational wave physics and astrophysics.

In an article for Nature, Ananyo Bhattacharya, science writer at the London Institute for Mathematical Sciences and biographer of John von Neumann, founding Professor (1933–55) in the School of Mathematics, lays out the significance of a "major advance" in research into the Langlands program—the "grand unified theory of mathematics" first laid out by Robert Langlands, Professor Emeritus in the School.

Mario Draghi, Trustee of the Institute for Advanced Study since 1998, has been announced as the recipient of the 2025 Princess of Asturias Award for International Cooperation, "for his role as a key figure in the defence of European integration and international cooperation, being widely recognized for his leadership and firm commitment to the fundamental values and advancement of the European Union."

Marina von Neumann Whitman, Trustee Emerita of the Institute for Advanced Study and pioneering economist who broke barriers in academia, government, and corporate leadership, died on May 20, 2025. As the daughter of John von Neumann, one of the Institute's founding Faculty members (1933–55) in the School of Mathematics, Whitman had a lifelong connection to IAS.

Renowned papyrologist Sofía Torallas Tovar from the School of Historical Studies has opened a new exhibition exploring the history and influence of Ezekiel’s Papyrus at the National Library of Spain. The exhibition invites visitors to view both original pages of the papyrus and digital recreations of the text in a journey that traverses both centuries and civilizations.

Does artificial intelligence have a role to play in pure mathematics—the kind of math still worked out on blackboards over decades? To interrogate this question, The New York Times spoke to IAS scholars from diverse disciplinary perspectives: Members Patrick Shafto (2021–23) and Andrew Granville (1989–91, 2007, 2009–10) in the School of Mathematics, and Alondra Nelson, Harold F. Linder Professor in the School of Social Science.

The Max Planck-IAS-NTU Center (MPC) for Particle Physics, Cosmology, and Geometry is a new global research center established to better understand the universe at all scales. The collaborative initiative will be led by Co-Directors Nima Arkani-Hamed, Gopal Prasad Professor in the School of Natural Sciences, Johannes Henn (MPP), and Daniel Baumann (NTU), both past Members in the School.

This May, the Institute for Advanced Study hosted its annual WAM program, a weeklong mathematical symposium for educators, students, and researchers that explored the theme of "Convexity and Combinatorics in Algebraic Geometry."

The Institute for Advanced Study is creating a new professorship in the theory of computing, supported by a gift from John Overdeck, the chair of the Institute’s Board of Trustees. The Betsey Lombard Overdeck Theory of Computing Professorship, in the Institute’s School of Mathematics, will be held by Irit Dveer Dinur, a preeminent theorist in computational complexity.

Alondra Nelson, Harold F. Linder Professor in the School of Social Science, was presented with an honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from Amherst College for "redefining how science serves our shared human dignity" and "illuminating the way toward a more humane technological age."

John Richard Bond, Member (2018) and Visitor (2012) in the School of Natural Sciences, received the Shaw Prize in Astronomy alongside George Efstathiou, Visitor (1986) in the School, for their pioneering research in cosmology, while Kenji Fukaya, Member (2002) in the School of Mathematics, was awarded the Shaw Prize in Mathematical Sciences for his field-shaping work on symplectic geometry.

A small team led by Sihao Cheng, Martin A. and Helen Chooljian Member in the School of Natural Sciences, has discovered an extraordinary trans-Neptunian object (TNO) at the edge of our solar system. The TNO is potentially large enough to qualify as a dwarf planet, the same category as the much more well-known Pluto. The discovery has significant implications for our understanding of the Kuiper Belt and hypotheses that surround the existence of Planet Nine.

Theoretical computer scientist Ryan Williams returns to the Institute this fall as the architect of a proof described as “stunning” and “massive.” Ben Brudaker of Quanta Magazine interviewed him about the revolutionary result.

Michael Harris, AMIAS Member (1983–84, 2011) in the School of Mathematics; Brigitte Bedos-Rezak, Member (1996–97) in the School of Historical Studies; and Valerie Ann Smith, Visitor (2005–06) in the School, have been honored with election to the American Philosophical Society this year.

Robbert Dijkgraaf, who served as IAS Director and Leon Levy Professor from 2012–22, has been elected as a fellow of the Royal Society, alongside Shivaji Sondhi, Member (1998) in the School of Natural Sciences, and Jacob Tsimerman, incoming Distinguished Visiting Professor (2025–26) in the School of Mathematics. 

In an article for TIME Magazine, Alondra Nelson, Harold F. Linder Professor in the School of Social Science, has announced her resignation from the National Science Board and the Library of Congress Scholars Council. Nelson, who was appointed to the National Science Board in 2024 and the Scholars Council in 2023, outlined the factors behind her decision.

Samson Shatashvili, Member (1992–94) in the School of Natural Sciences, has been awarded the 2025 Dannie Heineman Prize for Mathematical Physics by the American Institute of Physics (AIP) and American Physical Society (APS) for his “clever use of various techniques in studying symmetry in quantum field theory.”