Director HWANG Ju-Muk Receives Science Frontiers Award at the International Congress of Basic Science (ICBS)

- Contribution to Advancing Understanding of Complex Geometry by Solving a Problem Unsolved for 40 Years -

Director HWANG Jun-Muk (photo above) of the Center for Complex Geometry within the Institute for Basic Science (IBS), received the Frontiers of Science Award in the field of mathematics at the '2024 International Congress of Basic Science (ICBS)', which was held in Beijing, China from July 14 to 26.

Established for the first time last year, the Frontiers of Science Award is given to scientists who have achieved outstanding results in 42 fields including mathematics, theoretical physics, theoretical computer science, and information science over the past decade. The award is determined among the papers published within the past decade based on the uniqueness of the research, its academic value, and its impact on the academic community.

Director Hwang was recognized for his achievement in proving the 'Hirschowitz conjecture'. This is an old problem in the field of complex analysis proposed by French mathematician André HIRSCHOWITZ in 1981, dealing with the question of when the power series solution of an equation converges. Although there had been no progress for about 40 years since Hirschowitz's proposition, Director Hwang found a breakthrough while studying seemingly unrelated geometric problems. This research was published in 2019 in the top mathematics journal, the 'Annals of Mathematics'.

In announcing the award, ICBS stated, "Director Hwang's research, which proved the Hirschowitz conjecture, has advanced our understanding of complex geometry."

Director Hwang expressed his gratitude in his acceptance speech, saying, "I would like to thank ICBS for the honorable award and the judges for recognizing my research."

IBS Public Relations Team
William I. Suh