Hong LIU, Chief Investigator (CI) of the Extremal Combinatorics and Probability Group at the Pioneer Research Center for Mathematical and Computational Sciences within the Institute for Basic Science (IBS), has been selected as a recipient of the Frontiers of Science Award in the field of mathematics at the 2025 International Congress of Basic Science (ICBS).

The ICBS is a prestigious global conference dedicated to fundamental research in mathematics, theoretical physics, and theoretical computer and information sciences. The Frontiers of Science Awards recognize research papers from the past decade that have made outstanding contributions to their respective fields.

CI Hong LIU and his coauthor Richard MONTGOMERY from Warwick University are honored for their groundbreaking work in resolving a 60-year-old conjecture posed by Erdős and Hajnal concerning the harmonic sum of odd cycle lengths, during which they developed the theory of sublinear expanders.

The work has been widely recognized in the mathematical community, leading to multiple follow-up studies. Sublinear expanders are now expected to become a standard tool in Extremal Combinatorics.

The award ceremony will be held this July in Beijing, where the 2025 ICBS is set to take plac