Mathematics

The BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Award in Basic Sciences has gone to Claire Voisin (National Centre for Scientific Research, CNRS, France) and Yakov Eliashberg (Stanford University, United States) for driving forward mathematical thought by bridging the space between two key areas of geometry with special relevance to quantum physics.

The fourteenth BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Award in Basic Sciences recognized the contributions of Charles Fefferman and Jean-François Le Gall to mathematical analysis and probability theory, two domains that have applications in multiple fields, from the behavior of fluids to quantum mechanics and the properties of graphene.

The mathematical community has committed all its resources to support the fight against COVID-19. Specifically, the Spanish Mathematics Committee (CEMat) has launched Mathematical Action against Coronavirus, an initiative geared towards putting the Committee’s analysis and modeling capabilities at the service of authorities to help them better understand the problem and design possible solutions. David Gómez-Ullate and Justo Puerto, both recipients of several BBVA Foundation grants and scholarships, are two of the mathematicians who are contributing to the project.

For the first time — after a decision made by UNESCO in November 2019 — the International Day of Mathematics will be celebrated on March 14, 2020. Surprisingly, until now the ‘science of the sciences’ has not had its own day of formal commemoration; and the date selected is no coincidence.

Albert Einstein’s Theory of Relativity forever changed the way we understand space and time. But the German genius who was the centerpiece of a conference organized by the BBVA Foundation, “Explore Einstein's universe,” also left his mark on hundreds of technologies that we use daily: from Google Maps to solar panels, from self-lighting street lamps to laser beams. Our lives would be very different if Einstein hadn't been born.

The Frontiers of Knowledge Awards presented by the BBVA Foundation every year to recognize scientists and creators, who with their work, contribute to push the limits of human knowledge, and improve the lives of millions of people.

BBVA’s Group Executive Chairman stressed the importance of mathematics as “the backbone of well-being in a global, technological society” at the BBVA Foundation and Royal Spanish Mathematical Society (RSME in Spanish) awards ceremony for the best young researchers.

The Financial Times’ The Banker magazine has awarded BBVA Data & Analytics with their Technology Project of the Year award in the category of Risk Management.

“You can’t choose something if you are not aware that it exists.” With this simple and resounding phrase, Angela Paloma Martín, a political advisor and expert on women's leadership and gender communication, referred to the lack of women in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) jobs during the presentation of the study Wanted: Female engineers, physicists and technologists. Why are not there more STEM women?

A math test recently went viral and is all over the social networks. Its creators say that only one out of every 1,000 people is able to solve it. It seems simple, but the test has an added difficulty: the problem has two possible answers.

“Be less curious about people and more curious about ideas”. This is one of the most famous quotes from renowned scientist Marie Curie. IT was, precisely, her interest in the world that led her to become the first woman to ever win a Nobel prize, at a time when women were rarely allowed to pursue University studies, at least in Poland.

Respected Spanish scientist Juan Ignacio Cirac believes that quantum computing could be a reality in 10 year's time. A super machine capable of performing calculations at breakneck speeds that will open uncharted territories in matters such as encryption.

The UN has declared February 11th the International Day of Women and Girls in Science to promote female scientists and engage women in engineering, research, mathematics and technology. In celebration of this day, BBVA explains its passion for numbers in hopes of inspiring new generations.

David Cox and Bradley Efron’s work has proven indispensable for medicine, astrophysics, genomics or any field of knowledge that depends on data analysis. The discovery of the Higgs boson or cancer and AIDS research efforts owe a lot to the two mathematicians honored by the BBVA Foundation.

The BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Award in the Climate Change category goes, in this ninth edition, to climatologists Syukuro Manabe and James Hansen, separately responsible for constructing the first computational models with the power to simulate climate behavior. Decades ago, both men correctly predicted how much Earth’s temperature would rise due to increasing atmospheric CO2. The scores of models currently in use to chart climate evolution are “heirs” to those first developed by Manabe and Hansen.

The most celebrated problem in computer science, with a price on its head of one million dollars, was originally just another mathematical puzzle. Attractive and intriguing without doubt, but at bottom unpretentious. Not even its discoverer, U.S. mathematician Stephen Cook, was aware at the start of its full ramifications.

Marvin Minksy, regarded as the father of Artificial Intelligence (AI), has died at the age of 88 as a result of a brain hemorrhage. In 2014, Minsky was awarded the BBVA Foundation 'Frontiers of Knowledge' prize in Information and Communication Technologies. He was a professor emeritus at the prestigious Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Boston and made significant contributions in the areas of mathematics, cognitive science, robotics and philosophy.

Real Madrid and Microsoft sign an agreement to use Big Data.