At the start of his HLF lecture on Asymptotic Group Theory on Thursday morning, Fields medalist Efim Zelmanov described the ‘group’ as: “the great unifying concept in mathematics,” remarking “if you go for a trip, … Read more

One of the really precious aspects of the HLF is the conference organizers’ abilities to cultivate an ecosystem that encourages networking, especially between the Laureates and the young researchers. It is such a delight to … Read more

The Heidelberg Laureate Forum is about a lot of things. Tackling big problems in computer science. Celebrating mathematical inquiry and exploration. Consuming cubic meters’ worth of pastries and spätzle. But, perhaps above all else, the … Read more

The Hot Topic can be streamed on the HLF video archive.

A wonderful potted history of the theory of communication was capably presented by 2002 Nevanlinna Prize winner Madhu Sudan, who talked us through from the earliest mathematical thinking on the subject through to the present … Read more

Vor zwei Jahren hatte ich Gelegenheit, ausführlich mit Lenore Blum zu sprechen. Blum ist Informatik-Professorin und hatte beim 3. HLF einen Vortrag über Alan Turing gehalten – und außerdem war sie dafür mitverantwortlich gewesen, den … Read more

Two years ago, I had the opportunity to talk to Lenore Blum, one of the invited speakers at the 3rd HLF in 2015 and a professor of computer science at Carnegie-Mellon university, who had been … Read more

Here I post a translation of what I wrote about the HLF in my weekly column ‘Professor Pi’, in the largest newspaper in Belgium, ‘Het Laatste Nieuws’. My short column addresses a broad audience but … Read more

The participation of the young researchers is central in the Forum’s activities. They are invited to organize workshops on topics of their choice, and often Laureates attend these sessions to interact closely with the young … Read more

Having extensively covered the talks and press conferences of the Laureates so far, we thought it was time to talk to some of the Young Researchers at this year’s HLF about the work they’re doing. … Read more

This year marks the fifth Heidelberg Laureate Forum. It’s an early but meaningful milestone; five is a special number. Just look at all these five-fold things: Platonic solids Twilight movies Exceptional Lie Groups Pillars of … Read more

I noticed the blog about the lack of a Noble Prize in mathematics, and so I here post a translation of what I wrote about this question in my weekly column “Professor Pi’, in the … Read more

In this second part of our scintillating conversation, Dr. Vint Cerf, Father of the Internet, discusses how to plan to not to plan a career, and how to identify opportunity. Q: When you got started, … Read more

The HLF, like all good conference events, has involved a large number of extravagant dinners, serving a variety of delicious food and drink to sustain the high levels of serious mathematical and research conversation. At … Read more

I was first introduced to John Hopcroft at the opening dinner of HLF by Jennifer Chayes from Microsoft, who is an ardent supporter of young researchers and eager to help them make useful contacts. John … Read more

Today, Martin Hellman stands before a crowd of hundreds, narrating the history of his research in public key encryption. It’s foundational: internet security is built on mathematics, and Hellman (along with collaborator Whitfield Diffie) helped … Read more

As part of the HLF, the Laureates are participating in press conferences throughout the week, and being bombarded with questions by well-meaning journalists and bloggers. Unlike most press conferences, where participants often have a specific … Read more

Bad news: The Turing award winner and father of LaTeX thinks the proofs you (and everyone else) are writing are sloppy, non-rigorous and quite likely flat-out wrong. But there’s good news too: Sir Michael Atiyah … Read more

The scene: 200 bright young researchers in mathematics and computer science have gathered in Heidelberg, Germany. They are here to share ideas, to discuss problems, to learn from honored laureates of their fields. A bumbling … Read more