Inside ICMAT

Javier Parcet (ICMAT-CSIC) has received an ERC Advanced Grant from the European Research Council, one of the most competitive and prestigious awards in European research. The project addresses the elusive Connes rigidity conjecture, which involves classifying complex mathematical structures arising from quantum mechanics that make it possible to model systems with numerous variables and symmetries. 

A new social robot developed by researchers from CSIC assists a team of therapists in the treatment of children with autism. The device has been elaborated within the Emorobcare project, lead by David Ríos Insua, Research Professor at CSIC at ICMAT, and Juan Antonio Rodríguez Aguilar, Research Professor at CSIC at the Artificial Intelligence Research Institute (IIIA). The robot uses mathematical models and artificial intelligence to make autonomous decisions and express its own emotions based on its interaction with the children. 

The Spanish Society for Applied Mathematics decided to award Antonio J. Fernández, a Ramón y Cajal researcher at the Autonomous University of Madrid and a member of ICMAT, the 29th SeMA “Antonio Valle” Young Researcher Prize (2026).

One of the four María Moliner Awards of the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC), which recognise the best early-career supervision of doctoral theses within the organisation, went this year to Mario García Fernández, a CSIC scientist at ICMAT.

The Real Sociedad Matemática Española (RSME) and the BBVA Foundation have announced the six winners of the 2026 Vicent Caselles Mathematics Research Awards, which recognise the careers of young mathematics researchers. Among them are two researchers trained at ICMAT: Ismael Morales López and Rodrigo Alonso de Pool Alcántara.

Once again, the JAE School of Mathematics, organised by the Institute of Mathematical Sciences, has served as a meeting point between final-year Mathematics undergraduate and master’s students and cutting-edge mathematical research. From 22 June to 3 July, 85 participants were introduced to the most current research topics by leading researchers.

ICMAT has brought the Mathematics Intensive Programme (MIP) to a close. Over the course of this inaugural year, the four founding students combined regular meetings with their tutors and advanced courses with encounters with visiting researchers at the centre. Recently, the students had the opportunity to talk with Hannah Cairo, one of the speakers at the ICMAT’s JAE Mathematics School 2026.

The Mathematical Culture Unit (UCMAT) of  ICMAT has been recognised by the European Mathematical Society (EMS) with an Honourable Mention in the 2026 Simon Norton Prize. This award recognises outreach and communication initiatives and projects that stand out for bringing mathematics closer to society in a creative, engaging and accessible way.

From 25 to 29 May, ICMAT hosted the fifth edition of the International Conference on Dynamics of Differential Equations, one of the leading international events in this field. The conference brought together specialists from different generations and mathematical backgrounds.

The thirteenth edition of the Conference on the Research and Innovation Framework Programme in Spain took place on 6 June in Barcelona, tunder the theme “Between Two Programmes: Horizon Europe”. Javier Aramayona, Director of ICMAT, took part in the round table discussion on Excellent Science, chaired by José Manuel Fernández de Labastida, Director of the Spanish State Research Agency.

From 15 to 19 June 2026, specialists from around the world in the mathematical understanding of fluid behaviour gathered at ICMAT and CUNEF University, as part of the international conference Modern Perspectives on the Mathematics of Fluids. 

From 22 to 26 June, ICMAT hosted the advanced school Aspherical 2-complexes and their fundamental groups: past, present, and future, an event bringing together some of the most prominent researchers in geometric group theory to address one of the most widely studied objects in the field: aspherical 2-dimensional complexes. 

From 22 to 26 June, more than 35 researchers interested in differential geometry and its applications to fields such as physics, engineering and the development of numerical methods gathered at La Cristalera Residence Hall (Miraflores de la Sierra), for the 18th edition of the International Summer School on Geometry, Dinamics and Field Theory.

The second part of the project SIRENA officially got under way and will run between 2026 and 2027. It develops an early-warning system that is becoming increasingly automated in order to anticipate oil spills, red tides and other environmental risks before they reach aquaculture facilities in the Canary Islands.