The Mathematical Council of the Americas (MCA) has awarded two of its five MCA 2025 Prizes to researchers who completed their PhDs at ICMAT: Javier Gómez Serrano, a researcher at Brown University (USA), an expert in partial differential equations; and Roger Casals, a researcher at the University of California, Davis (USA), a specialist in symplectic and contact topology. This is the first time a Spaniard has received this award, which recognises, every four years, the work of researchers at the mid-career stage who were trained in or are currently working in an American country.
Roger Casals (left) and Javier Gómez-Serrano (right) are the first Spaniards to be recognised with the MCA Prize. Images: UC Davis and ICREA
From 21 to 25 July, the Mathematical Congress of the Americas 2025 was held in Miami (USA), a meeting that brings together students, institutions and mathematical societies from across the Americas, organised every four years by the Mathematical Council of the Americas (MCA). During the congress, the five recipients of the MCA 2025 Prizes were announced. These prizes are awarded to mathematicians who, at the date of the congress, obtained their PhD no more than 12 years earlier and who either completed their doctorate or currently hold a position in a country of the Americas. For the first time, Spanish researchers have been recognised – two of them, both trained at the ICMAT: Javier Gómez Serrano, professor at Brown University (USA), who carried out his PhD at ICMAT under the supervision of Diego Córdoba (ICMAT-CSIC); and Roger Casals, researcher at the University of California, Davis (USA), who completed his doctorate under the supervision of Francisco Presas Mata (ICMAT-CSIC).
Gómez Serrano’s research focuses on the analysis of partial differential equations arising from fluid mechanics: the Navier–Stokes and Euler equations, which model the motion of incompressible fluids, with and without viscosity, respectively, as well as the surface quasi-geostrophic equation. In particular, Gómez Serrano studies, by combining classical techniques with artificial intelligence tools, the existence of points at which the equation exhibits abrupt changes – so-called singularities. Determining whether such points occur in the Navier–Stokes equations is one of the Clay Millennium Problems.
Casals, for his part, conducts research in the field of symplectic and contact topology, branches of mathematics that study the shapes arising from the precise formulation of classical mechanics – that is, the description of the motion of physical systems. Casals explores how certain geometric objects (such as knots or braids) can be understood through topological invariants and algebraic structures. He uses microlocal tools and the so-called h-principle to explore the existence, classification and deformation of these structures in high dimensions.
About the awardees
Javier Gómez Serrano holds degrees in Mathematics and Telecommunications Engineering from the Polytechnic University of Catalonia. In his PhD, developed at ICMAT under the supervision of Diego Córdoba (ICMAT-CSIC), he conducted a rigorous study of the formation of finite-time singularities in the free boundary Euler equations, as well as the effect of surface tension. His work was awarded the best thesis of the year. After completing his PhD in 2013, he held various positions at Princeton University (USA), the University of Barcelona, and Brown University (USA), where he is currently a full professor.
Roger Casals holds a degree in Mathematics from the Polytechnic University of Catalonia and a Master’s in Mathematical Research from the Complutense University of Madrid. After taking part as a student in two editions of the ICMAT JAE School in Mathematics (in 2009 and 2010), he joined the Institute in 2011 to carry out his PhD under the supervision of Francisco Presas Mata (ICMAT-CSIC). This work was recognised in 2015 with the José Luis Rubio de Francia Prize of the Royal Spanish Mathematical Society (RSME) and the 2016 Vicent Caselles Prize awarded by the RSME and the BBVA Foundation. He has conducted research at institutions such as the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Cambridge, USA) and University College London (UK). He is currently a professor in the Department of Mathematics at the University of California, Davis (USA).
Five MCA Prizes
The MCA Prizes are awarded every four years to five mathematicians who, at the date of the congress, earned their PhD no more than 12 years earlier. Candidates must have completed doctoral studies or be currently employed in a country of the Americas. Awardees are invited to deliver a lecture on their work at the Congress.
In addition to Gómez Serrano and Casals, Yu Deng (University of Chicago, USA), Carlo Pagano (Concordia University, Canada), and Julian Sahasrabudhe (University of Cambridge, UK) were also honoured.
These prizes are awarded by the Mathematical Council of the Americas, a network of mathematical societies and research institutes based in the Americas, dedicated to promoting the development of mathematics in all its aspects across the continent. They are supported by the Institute of the Mathematical Sciences of the Americas at the University of Miami (USA).