French mathematician Hugo Duminil-Copin wins the Fields medal

Congratulations to Hugo Duminil-Copin, who received the most prestigious prize in mathematics: the Fields medal! This prize pays tribute to his work on probability and statistical physics and is a testament to the dynamism and excellence of our French School of mathematics.

These were the words used by French president Macron to congratulate the French researcher who had just been awarded the Fields medal by the 29th International Congress of Mathematicians on Tuesday 5 July.

The Fields medal is indeed the most prestigious prize in mathematics. For experts of the field, it’s an equivalent to the Nobel Prize, which does not exist in mathematics. The Fields medal is awarded every four years since 1936 to four mathematicians under 40 years old.

An exceptional contribution to mathematical science

Aged 36, Hugo Duminil-Copin is, according the bio published by the ministry in charge of research, an alumnus of the École Normale Supérieure and of the university of Paris-Saclay. A mathematician specialised in probabilities, as the CNRS details, Hugo Duminil-Copin is since 2016 a permanent teacher at the Institut des Hautes Études Scientifiques (IHES) after having been a teacher at the university of Geneva. According to the ministry, this Fields medal “acknowledges to the global scale the exemplary nature of his history, but also the exceptional contribution of his work in the progress of mathematical sciences”.

For Sylvie Retailleau, new minister of higher education and research, this prize “also reminds the critical role of fundamental research for our society, because it is this science that helps feed the disruptive technologies of tomorrow and change in a very concrete way the everyday life of French women and men”. The minister sent Hugo Duminil-Copin, as well as “all the people who contributed to his work, her most sincere and warmest congratulations”.

13 Fields medals awarded to French mathematicians

The prize awarded today to Hugo Duminil-Copin brings to 13 the number of French scientists who have won the Fields medal since its creation. France is thus, after the United States, the country with the most medals awarded worldwide by the International Congress of Mathematicians. The Top 5 of most awarded countries includes the United States, France, Russia, the United Kingdom and Japan.

As usual, four mathematicians received the Fields Medal this year, including Frenchman Hugo Duminil-Copin, but also Ukrainian woman Maryna Viazovska, second woman to receive this prestigious distinction since its creation in 1936, as well as an American-South Korean researcher, June Huh, and the British scientist James Maynard.