Author: nilsolav

Japanese mathematician Masaki Kashiwara awarded the Abel Prize 2025

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The Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters has decided to award the Abel Prize 2025 to Professor Masaki Kashiwara at Research Institute for Mathematical Sciences (RIMS), Kyoto University, Japan, and Kyoto University Institute for Advanced Study (KUIAS), Kyoto University, Japan.

Masaki Kashiwara has during more than half a century in mathematics opened the door to a new mathematical field. He has built bridges and created tools. He has proven astonishing theorems with methods no one had imagined. He has been a true mathematical visionary.

Like Niels Henrik Abel (1802-1829) himself, Masaki Kashiwara (b.1947) showed excellence already when very young. He remembers his love of algebra being kindled at school by a problem called Tsurukamezan, about calculating the numbers of cranes and turtles, respectively, from knowing the total numbers of heads and legs. He loved being able to generalise a method to solve any problem. From there on he has continued to find new approaches and create new methods to solve mathematical problems throughout his astonishing mathematical life.

At the University of Tokyo, he first encountered his mentor Mikio Sato (1928–2023), by enrolling for his senior year seminar. Sato had founded a new field – algebraic analysis – and in 1970 Kashiwara completed his Master’s thesis under his supervision. This thesis established the foundations of D-Module Theory, a new basis for studying systems of linear differential equations with algebraic analysis, when Kashiwara was just 23. For the next 25 years this thesis remained only available in Japanese, but it continued to have such great impact and influence, that it was eventually translated to English.

Broad spectrum of mathematics

With his Master’s thesis as a starting point, Kashiwara continued his remarkable mathematical career with new and groundbreaking discoveries and solutions. His numerous achievements have exerted great influence on various fields of mathematics and contributed strongly to their development. Over the years many mathematicians have been inspired through Kashiwara’s ideas.

While still a graduate student, Kashiwara travelled to France with Sato and fellow mathematician Takahiro Kawai, where he met his lifelong collaborator, Pierre Schapira. After completing his Ph.D. at Kyoto University in 1974, Kashiwara was appointed Associate Professor at Nagoya University. In 1977 he went as a researcher to MIT, before returning to Japan in 1978, where he has remained ever since at the Research Institute for Mathematical Sciences (RIMS), Kyoto University. He became Professor Emeritus following his retirement in 2010 and has continued his research as Project Professor at RIMS. He has also served as Program-Specific Professor since 2019 at the Kyoto University Institute for Advanced Study (KUIAS), specially established as a hub for the world’s most advanced research.

Read more at the official Abel Prize page. 

Uppsala Philology Conference results in “The Uppsala Declaration”

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Jens Braarvig (MAE) and Danuta Shanzer at the Uppsala Conference.

Jens Braarvig (MAE) and Danuta Shanzer at the Uppsala Conference.

The Uppsala Conference and The General Assembly of the World Philology Union (WPU) at Uppsala University, December 2024, resulted in the signing of the “The Uppsala Declaration on the Preservation of Philology and the Study of Historical Languages”.

– For the board of the World Philology Union and for philological scholars gathered in Uppsala before Christmas, it is of vital importance to see the recognition and the working conditions for the philological disciplines brought back to the centre of humanistic studies, rather than being scaled down as we see in many universities today, says the president of the WPU, Professor Jens Braarvig (MAE).

To underline this urgency, “The Uppsala Declaration” points out, among other issues, that “philology, defined as the grammatical and literary study of the oral and written heritage of the world’s various languages, is the ultimate foundation of the humanities”.

The work to anchor “The Uppsala Declaration” is in its early stages and is expected to go through several phases, Amund Haave of the WPU board explains.

– The Assembly at Uppsala were signatories as an assembly, and by extension also as individuals. In the first phase, we’ll ask academic institutions to sign, and possibly in a second phase, we will ask for individuals to sign, Amund Haave adds.

WPU president Jens Braarvig has been driving force at the WPU since it was founded in 2021, working to bring back philology as a central discipline of humanistic studies.

– Looking at my own University in Oslo, we see that a proud philological tradition is now reduced to just a few subjects being studied. Now, only Greek, Latin and Old Norse is being studied from a philological perspective at University in Oslo. This reduction in the field of Philology is also seen internationally, Braarvig says.

We have to ask ourselves as a society if we want to have basic research on historic texts. If yes, we need to access the sources. When early texts in ancient and classical languages are the source, then the philological expertise is needed to interpret them, Braarvig adds.

Philology as intangible heritage

Amund Haave

Amund Haave

In addition to their work with universities, and with Science Academies such as Academia Europaea, The World Philology Union is also working to give the discipline of philology recognition on the World Heritage List from UNESCO.

– A dichotomy is seen between intangible heritage and tangible heritage. Of course, great buildings and great architecture, or other forms of tangible heritage is important to honour. Still, intangible heritage is also important to the human experience. That’s why the WPU is working with UNESCO to recognize the discipline of philology as a central part of the intangible heritage of the world, Jens Braarvig says.

Founded in 2021

President of the WPU, Professor Jens Braarvig (MAE), at the Uppsala Conference.

President of the WPU, Professor Jens Braarvig (MAE), at the Uppsala Conference.

The World Philology Union (WPU) was founded on the 2nd of December 2021 at the Norwegian Academy of Arts and Sciences in Oslo, as an international association which promotes the philological study of written cultural heritage from all regions of the world. It was established in coordination with the Union académique internationale (UAI), the umbrella organization of all academies of science worldwide, and the UNESCO-related Conseil international de la philosophie et des sciences humaines (CIPSH).

With the establishment of the WPU in 2021, comparative philology has also come more into the forefront of the discipline.

– For a long time, philologists were friends that did not communicate very much. As we’re now working to establish philology again, we will also try to strengthen comparative studies in philology, Braarvig says.

Read or download the programme of The Uppsala Conference here. 

Click here to read or download “The Uppsala Declaration”

Innsikt og erfaringer fra geologisk lagring av CO2

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One Ocean Week – NTVA/Tekna/AE Foredrag

Hvordan forutsi og utvikle systemer i komplekse omgivelser? Innsikt og erfaringer fra geologisk lagring av CO2

Mange viktige samfunnsbeslutninger omhandler sammensatte system som kan være både ufullstendig beskrevet og vanskelig å fremskrive i tid. Ett eksempel er geologisk lagring av CO2, der CO2 skal pumpes inn langt under havbunnen, med formål å lagres nærmest permanent. Professor Jan Martin Nordbotten vil belyse usikkerhet rundt datadrevne fremskrivelser og professor Philip Ringrose vil presentere analyser fra CO2-lagring i Utsira-formasjonen.

KJlikk for flere detaljer om møtet. 

illustrasjonsgrafikk

Foto/ill.:
Illustrasjonsgrafikk, Fernø/Saló Salgado/Nordbotten

Om møtet (holdes på norsk)
Atmosfære, hav, og undergrunn. Verden som omgir oss styres av fysiske lover som hver for seg kan være enkle og relativt godt forstått, men som når settes sammen til virkelige fysiske systemer blir komplekse. Dette er ikke bare en metodisk kompleksitet, men gir opphav til ikke-trivielle fenomener som f.eks. et variabelt klima, havstrømmer og jordskjelv. Innenfor denne virkeligheten skal vi planlegge og utvikle matproduksjon, energisystemer, transportsystemer og andre bærende funksjoner for det moderne samfunn. I alle tilfeller må planer og beslutninger tas med støtte av forutsigelser i hvordan det naturlige systemet utvikler seg, og responderer til eventuelle inngrep og endringer.

Å kunne identifisere og utvikle trygge geologiske lager for CO2 er et eksempel på slik industriell utbygging innenfor rammene av et komplekst system. Gitt lagringsdybder på over en kilometer under havflaten, er tilgang til gode data og observasjoner begrenset.  Videre tvinger tidsperspektivet i CO2-lagring oss til å vurdere utviklingen av systemet over flere hundre år, noe som kun kan gjøres ved hjelp av databeregninger. Dermed vil utvikling av CO2-lagring nødvendigvis være karakterisert av beslutninger tatt under usikkerhet.  I likhet med mange andre slike system, er det også i en viss forstand en gradert usikkerhet, hvor noen aspekter av CO2-lagring kan være forstått med høy sikkerhet, mens andre aspekter kan være mer usikre.

I første del av møtet vil professor Nordbotten gi en introduksjon til problemstillingen, og adressere to spørsmål: Først: Er analysen av et gitt CO2-lager mer avhengig av hvilke metodevalg som gjøres, eller hvilke ekspert som utfører analysen?  Deretter: Hvor godt forstår eksperter usikkerheten ved sine egne forutsigelser?

I andre del av møtet vil professor Ringrose bruke CO2-lagring i Utsira-formasjonen som utgangspunkt for å gi innsikt i hvordan prosjektet ble gjennomført i lys av tilgjengelig kunnskap og tilhørende usikkerhet, og hvordan observasjoner, spesielt fra seismisk avbildning, ble integrert i både prognoser og beslutningsprosesser. Hvor forutsigbar er CO2-lagring?

Det blir anledning til spørsmål og tid til diskusjon etter presentasjonene.

Om foredragsholderne
Jan Martin Nordbotten er professor ved Matematisk institutt, UiB, og medlem av NTVA. Han har jobbet med CO2-lagring og relaterte problemstillinger siden 2002, og ga sammen med Michael Celia ut lærebok på temaet i 2012.

Philip Ringrose er professor i energiomstilling geovitenskap ved NTNU og medlem av NTVA. Han har utgitt lærebøkene ‘How to Store CO2 Underground’ og ‘Reservoir Model Design’ og har tidligere jobbet med mange CCS-prosjekter i Equinor.

Praktisk informasjon

  • Møtet holdes tirsdag 8. april, og inngår som del av One Ocean Week i Bergen
  • Møtet holdes i Storsalen i Nygårdsgaten 5
  • Lett servering utenfor Storsalen fra kl. 16.00.
  • Møtet er åpent for alle, og starter 16.30.

Arrangører
NTVA, Tekna Bergen og Academia Europaea Bergen.

Annual Report 2024 summarizes an active year for Academia Europaea Bergen

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As evidenced by the Annual Report of the Academia Europaea Bergen Hub, 2024 was a highly active year for the Hub, with several lecture series, and a strong engagement in the research and innovation landscape of our region.

Click to find the Annual Report to read or download.

The hub continued it’s cooperation in lecture series at University of Bergen, such as the Horizon lecture series and the NTVA/Tekna/AE-Bergen lecture series.

In 2024, as in the previous year, our Hub’s had several activities focused on science and science diplomacy in the Arctic. We hosted a well-attended side event at Arctic Frontiers 2024 conference, titled “A New Arctic Energy Mix”, featuring leading experts on energy and the green transition. Through our ongoing Rethinking Arctic Collaboration project we have organised events at key European Arctic conferences, including the Arctic Circle in Berlin in May and at the Arctic Circle Assembly in Reykjavik in October, the latter featuring both a closed roundtable with key stakeholders and an open event. We also attended a workshop at Dartmouth College’s Institute of Arctic Studies, kicked off with a public event.

We encourage our members to bring forward suggestions and initiatives for Hub activities, which this year led to our partnership with Professor Jens Braarvig (MAE) in co-organising the Second Biennial Conference of the World Philology Union at Uppsala University from December 4th to 6th, 2024.

 

 

Recorded event: The search for habitable planets in other solar systems

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The first planet in another solar system was discovered in 1995 and raised existential questions: Are we alone? Could humans thrive on other planets? How can we detect life or assess habitability? In this recorded lecture, Professor Carina Persson, professor of astrophysics and head of Chalmers Exoplanet Group, provides an overview of the field, describe the current frontiers, and paint an outlook of the discoveries to come with better observational capacity.

The recording was made during the Darwin Day & Horizons lecture with Professor Carina Persson at University of Bergen on Wednesday 12th of February 2025.

The first planet in another solar system was discovered in 1995 and immediately raised existential questions: Are we alone? Could humans thrive on other planets? How can we detect life or assess habitability?

The first exoplanet, a planet that orbits another star than our sun, was seen from Earth as late as 1995 by Michel Mayor and Didier Queloz and earned them a shared Nobel Prize in Physics. Before their breakthrough, it was believed that all planets and systems would look like our own. But the first planet was an unexpected new type.

In the decades that followed, enormous efforts have been made to detect and characterize exoplanets with both dedicated space missions and ground-based facilities. Now almost 6000 exoplanets have been found, and the two most common types of planets have no counterparts in our own solar system. Further, no exoplanet system with similar architecture to our own has so far been detected.

This has led to a dramatic change of our understanding of planets and planetary systems: there is an enormous diversity of exoplanets and system architectures.

It is, however, extremely difficult to observe exoplanets: most often they are seen as faint dips in a star’s brightness as the planet passes in front. The smaller the planet the harder it is to document, and very few of those have been well characterized. There is still an observational bias so that the full diversity of exoplanets has not yet been explored and explained.

Future space missions and development of state-of-the-art spectrographs mounted on ground-based facilities promise new discoveries. There is hope that these will reveal the true breadth and variability among exoplanets. A fundamental challenge is investigations of planet atmospheres, which are key to inferring habitability and the search for extraterrestrial life.

In this talk, professor Carina Persson will provide an overview of the field, describe the current frontiers, and paint an outlook of the discoveries to come with better observational capacity.

 

The search for habitable planets in other solar systems

Posted onAuthornilsolav

Darwin Day & Horizons lecture:

The first planet in another solar system was discovered in 1995 and raised existential questions: Are we alone? Could humans thrive on other planets? How can we detect life or assess habitability? In this lecture, Professor Carina Persson, professor of astrophysics and head of Chalmers Exoplanet Group, will provide an overview of the field, describe the current frontiers, and paint an outlook of the discoveries to come with better observational capacity.

The lecture starts at 16.15, on Wednesday 12th of February 2025 in Egget at Studentsenteret. 

Outer space

The lecture (held in english): Life on other planets – The search for habitable planets in other solar systems

The first planet in another solar system was discovered in 1995 and immediately raised existential questions: Are we alone? Could humans thrive on other planets? How can we detect life or assess habitability?

The first exoplanet, a planet that orbits another star than our sun, was seen from Earth as late as 1995 by Michel Mayor and Didier Queloz and earned them a shared Nobel Prize in Physics. Before their breakthrough, it was believed that all planets and systems would look like our own. But the first planet was an unexpected new type.

In the decades that followed, enormous efforts have been made to detect and characterize exoplanets with both dedicated space missions and ground-based facilities. Now almost 6000 exoplanets have been found, and the two most common types of planets have no counterparts in our own solar system. Further, no exoplanet system with similar architecture to our own has so far been detected.

This has led to a dramatic change of our understanding of planets and planetary systems: there is an enormous diversity of exoplanets and system architectures.

It is, however, extremely difficult to observe exoplanets: most often they are seen as faint dips in a star’s brightness as the planet passes in front. The smaller the planet the harder it is to document, and very few of those have been well characterized. There is still an observational bias so that the full diversity of exoplanets has not yet been explored and explained.

Future space missions and development of state-of-the-art spectrographs mounted on ground-based facilities promise new discoveries. There is hope that these will reveal the true breadth and variability among exoplanets. A fundamental challenge is investigations of planet atmospheres, which are key to inferring habitability and the search for extraterrestrial life.

In this talk, professor Carina Persson will provide an overview of the field, describe the current frontiers, and paint an outlook of the discoveries to come with better observational capacity.

Is our planet unique? Or is the current lack of Earth-like planets only a matter of detection bias? Can this question be answered by future missions?

Everybody is welcome! Light refreshments will be served from 15.45. The lecture starts at 16.15, on Wednesday 12th of February 2025 in Egget at Studentsenteret. Find the event on Facebook. See poster from Darwin Day 2025 in Bergen.

Professor Carina Persson
Carina Persson is professor of astrophysics and head of Chalmers Exoplanet Group at Chalmers University of Technology in Gothenburg, Sweden. Her research is focused on discoveries of new exoplanets in transit photometry surveys by space telescopes (Kepler, TESS, CHEOPS, and the future PLATO mission), and characterization using follow-up observations from ground-based facilities.

Organisers
This lecture is a joint event organised by the Horizon Lecture Committee at the Faculty of Natural Sciences and Technology, the Darwin Day Committee at the Department of Biological Sciences, and Academia Europaea Bergen Hub. The lecture receives economic support from Selskapet til Vitenskapenes Fremme.

Recorded Event: The Future of Arctic Collaboration at a Crossroad

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Warming nearly four times faster than the global average, the Arctic stands as both a warning and a roadmap for addressing the interconnected crises of climate change, biodiversity loss, and geopolitical tensions. Rather than just to reflect on these challenges, we try to chart a way forward for collaboration, innovation, and equitable governance in the Arctic, project director Ole Øvretveit  said in his introduction at the Arctic Frontiers event co-hosted by Academia Europaea Bergen.

The event was hosted under the UArctic-funded project, Rethinking Arctic Collaboration, led by a consortium of institutions, including Academia Europaea Bergen, the University of Bergen, the Alfred Wegener Institute, Nord University, and Dartmouth College, among others. The project’s mission is clear: to understand the current state of Arctic research and science diplomacy while facilitating new frameworks for sustainable, ethical, and impactful collaborations.

Historically, the Arctic has benefited from international cooperation frameworks, such as the Arctic Council, fostering collaboration in research and governance. However, recent geopolitical events, including Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine and growing global geopolitical tensions, have disrupted key activities in Arctic scientific diplomacy and collaboration. As we approach the Fifth International Polar Year (IPY5) in 2032–33, we urgently need to rethink and frame the future of polar science cooperation and diplomacy to address global challenges with the most effective, impactful, and equitable ethical research collaborations for our planet.

Find the recording here, and explore the discussion on issues like:

What might future challenges, stakes, and key strategic pathways toward future Arctic science diplomacy be?

How do we safeguard the integrity of knowledge production informing Arctic policy and diplomacy?

How do we embed equitable and ethical engagement in Arctic science diplomacy to increase its effectiveness in informing and shaping global policy?

Panelists are Volker Rachold, Head of the German Arctic Office, Miguel Roncero, International Relations Officer at the European Commission, Melody Brown Burkins, Director Institute of Arctic Studies at Dartmouth, Ole Øvretveit, Project Manager at Academia Europaea Bergen, Anders Oskal, Secretary General of the Association of World Reindeer Herders and Jenny Baseman, consultant.

 

Fremtidens utvikling av medisiner og materialer: KI og autonomi

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Det finnes flere mulige molekyler enn stjerner i universet. Om ikke lenge vil nåla i høystakken, det nye legemiddelet eller materialet, bli oppdaget av KI-styrte beregninger og roboter. Kom og hør hva professor Vidar R. Jensen, som jobber med design og utvikling av katalysatorer, legemidler og andre funksjonelle molekyler, tenker om tematikken.

Portrett av foredragsholder

Foto/ill.:
Vidar Remi Jensen/Foto Eivind Senneset/UiB

Om møtet (holdes på norsk)
Vi lever i en tid der kunstig intelligens (KI) synes å revolusjonere alle deler av samfunnet. Store språkmodeller har bestått Turing-testen for intelligens, og begynner å bli daglige hjelpemidler for mange av oss.

På den vitenskapelige fronten kan Nobel-pris-verktøyet AlphaFold forutsi 3D-strukturen til proteiner med bortimot eksperimentell nøyaktighet, og vi hører også stadig at KI kan fremskynde utviklingen av legemidler. Likevel er det så langt få eksempler på KI-utviklede legemidler. Maskinlæringsmodellene krever rett og slett mer data enn tidkrevende kjemisk syntese og analyse kan levere. Men det finnes håp! Molekyler kan undersøkes, og data genereres, raskere gjennom beregninger enn eksperimenter. Samtidig er KI-styrte roboter i ferd med å innta laboratoriene, og de kan gjøre mange eksperimenter samtidig og til alle døgnets tider, uten å bli trøtte.

Datamengdene og KI-revolusjonen er altså på vei, også i kjemien. Men hvordan kan KI hjelpe til med utvikling av legemidler, og hvordan vil den fremtidige KI- og robotbaserte utviklingen av legemidler og materialer se ut? professor Vidar R. Jensen, ved Kjemisk institutt, UiB, som jobber med design og utvikling av katalysatorer, legemidler og andre funksjonelle molekyler, vil gi en gjennomgang av tematikken.

Til slutt blir det spørsmål fra salen og antatt en interessant og lærerik diskusjon.

Om foredragsholderen
Vidar R. Jensen er professor ved Kjemisk institutt, UiB. Hans hovedinteresse er design og utvikling av katalysatorer, legemidler og andre funksjonelle molekyler.

Praktisk informasjon

  • Dato 4. februar 2025
  • Møtet er åpent for alle, og starter 16.30 i Auditorium 2 i Realfagbygget (underetasjen), Allegaten 41.
  • Det blir lett servering utenfor auditoriet fra kl. 16.00.  
  • Arrangører: NTVA, Tekna Bergen og Academia Europaea Bergen.

Season’s greetings from Hub Director Eystein Jansen

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Dear Members of Academia Europaea in the Nordic and Baltic Regions,

As we approach the end of the year, I would like to share some reflections on our concerns and activities at the Bergen Hub.

This year has once again been profoundly affected by the ongoing war in Ukraine, which has reshaped the landscape for research and academic life across Europe. The aggression and its broader geopolitical implications have diminished security and limited opportunities for peaceful scientific collaboration and the open exchange of ideas and results. Our Hub’s activities have focused significantly on understanding these challenges.

We now find ourselves in a situation where research funding competes increasingly with military expenditures, raising concerns about the norms of openness in science. The potential for research outcomes to be misused for hostile purposes against our European democracies (the Dual Use dilemma) is a pressing issue.

The ongoing conflicts in the Middle East, marked by horrific atrocities against civilians, further complicate this landscape. Additionally, the return of the Trump administration in the USA creates uncertainties for rational, science-based governance in the world’s largest economy, which could have global repercussions for academia.

The current climate for research is undeniably precarious. Europe is lagging in research-based innovation compared to the USA and China, and the long-term outlook appears challenging. However, there are positive developments also. In my role as Vice-President of the ERC, overseeing Physical Sciences and Engineering, I have seen influential reports emerge as we approach the 10th EU Framework Programme for research. The Draghi report on the future of European competitiveness, the Letta report on the European internal market, and the Heitor report on the design of the 10th Framework Program all commend the ERC’s achievements in advancing world-class frontier science. These reports advocate for the extension of the ERC and the restructuring of the European research and innovation landscape, following the ERC’s model of excellence and independent governance. If these recommendations are implemented, they could foster the emergence of more leading research groups in Europe, strengthening our research and innovation base against global competition. This development aligns closely with the strategic goals of Academia Europaea.

In 2024, as in the previous year, our Hub’s activities have focused especially on the Arctic. We successfully hosted a well-attended side event at Arctic Frontiers 2024 conference, titled A New Arctic Energy Mix, featuring leading experts on energy and the green transition. And through our ongoing Rethinking Arctic Collaboration – project we have organised events at key European Arctic conferences, including the Arctic Circle in Berlin in May and at the Arctic Circle Assembly in Reykjavik in October, the latter featuring both a closed roundtable with key stakeholders and an open event; Rethinking Arctic – Scenarios on future Scientific cooperation and diplomacy . We have just finished a workshop at the Dartmouth College’s Institute of Arctic Studies, kicked-off with a public event; Climate Diplomacy on Thin Ice: Navigating Arctic Cooperation & Polar Governance. The outcomes of the workshop will be both a scientific paper and policy briefs on future perspectives of Arctic science cooperation and science diplomacy, pointing towards the upcoming International Polar Year in 2032.

We encourage our members to bring forward suggestions and initiatives for Hub activities, which this year led to our partnership with Professor Jens Braarvig (MAE) in co-organising the Second Biennial Conference of the World Philology Union at Uppsala University from December 4th to 6th, 2024. The central theme will be on historical languages. We look forward to welcoming further membership initiatives in the coming year.

The membership in our regions needs renewal, and I will use this opportunity to encourage all to be active in the ongoing nomination cycle.

I wish all our members a peaceful and relaxing holiday period, in the hope that next year we will see the world coming somewhat back to its senses.

 

Eystein