2026 Abel Prize Awarded to Past Member Gerd Faltings
Gerd Faltings, Member (1988, 1992–93) in the School of Mathematics, has been awarded the 2026 Abel Prize "for introducing powerful tools in arithmetic geometry and resolving long-standing diophantine conjectures of Mordell and Lang."
Described as "a towering figure in arithmetic geometry," Faltings, now based at the Max Planck Institute for Mathematics in Bonn, Germany, has produced "ideas and results [that] have reshaped the field." The Abel citation continues: "Not only did he settle major long-standing conjectures, but he also established new frameworks that have guided decades of subsequent work. His exceptional achievements unite geometric and arithmetic perspectives and exemplify the power of deep structural insight."
Most notably, Faltings proved that for certain types of complex mathematical equations, there is always a strictly limited, finite number of solutions that can be written as simple fractions. Proving this required him to forge revolutionary new connections between the study of shapes (algebraic geometry) and the study of numbers (number theory). His groundbreaking techniques not only answered long-standing questions but also provided an essential mathematical toolkit that another Abel Prize winner Andrew Wiles, frequent Member in the School of Mathematics, would later use to conquer one of history's most famous math problems: Fermat's Last Theorem.
The Abel Prize, named for Norwegian mathematician Niels Henrik Abel, recognizes lifetime achievement in mathematics. It is often described as the mathematics equivalent of the Nobel Prize.
Since its inception in 2001, IAS affiliated scholars have made up 25 of the 29 Abel laureates. This includes Masaki Kashiwara, Member (1977–78) in the School of Mathematics, who was the 2025 winner, and Luis Caffarelli, Professor (1986–96) and Member (2009) in the School, who was awarded the Abel Prize in 2023. Other notable IAS recipients include Avi Wigderson, Herbert H. Maass Professor in the School, and László Lovász, Visiting Professor (2011–12), who jointly received the award in 2021. Professors Emeriti Robert Langlands and Pierre Deligne also received the Prize in 2018 and 2013, respectively.
Read more about the 2026 award on the Abel Prize website.
