April at ICMAT

One of the most famous quantum algorithms is the HHL algorithm. Specifically designed to solve systems of equations, it has shown promising results. One of its three creators, Aram Harrow, professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), taught a course for PhD students at the Institute of Mathematical Sciences (ICMAT) in April. “He is one of the leading international researchers in quantum computing and quantum algorithms,” said David Pérez García (ICMAT-UCM), who organised the activity within the ICMAT ‘Ignacio Cirac’ Laboratory, which he coordinates. Harrow, who is spending a year at ICMAT, will also be one of the lecturers at the ICMAT JAE School of Mathematics 2026. 

30 secondary school students visited the Instituto de Ciencias Matemáticas (ICMAT) from 13 to 15 April to gain first-hand insight into the work carried out at a mathematics research institute, as part of the 4ºESO+Empresa programme run by the Community of Madrid. The students had the opportunity to visit the facilities and take part in workshops on a range of topics: from electronic music and mathematics to fluid experiments, including the geometry of soap bubbles. 

• ICMAT welcomed a visit from José Manuel Fernández de Labastida, Director of the Agencia Estatal de Investigación (AEI), who had the opportunity to learn about the work carried out at the Institute, as well as to share the Agency’s vision and lines of action. 

• Javier Aramayona, Director of ICMAT, has been elected as one of the four institutional representatives serving on the Council of the European Mathematical Society (#EMS), the governing body of this prestigious European society.