04/12/2020

Hubert Lacoin is elected an affiliate member of the ABC.

IMPA researcher Hubert Lacoin was elected an affiliated member of the Brazilian Academy of Sciences (ABC) , and will take office on January 1, 2021. The result was announced this Thursday (3), after an Ordinary General Assembly. Lacoin will serve a five-year term, not renewable. Based in Brazil since 2014, the French researcher is a specialist in probability theory, focusing on physical problems, such as mixing time. Among researchers, IMPA has two affiliated members and 21 full members of the ABC, two of whom have already passed away.

“I am very honored to have been nominated and elected to the position. Since moving to Brazil, I have been very well received and integrated into the Brazilian mathematical community, and this appointment continues the good treatment I have received from them. I am very grateful for that,” commented Lacoin.

The researcher explains that the responsibilities of the position are related to the ABC's main mission of "representing the Brazilian scientific community and promoting its mobilization." He adds that the appointment as an affiliated member will accentuate his responsibility as a member of this community, offering new opportunities to fulfill them, such as in organizing events or disseminating information and meetings with other researchers.

"Hubert is an internationally recognized researcher in the field of probability, with important results in statistical mechanics. Very active, he has contributed to strengthening the area in the country," said Claudio Landim, deputy director of IMPA and full member of the ABC.

Created in 2007, the ABC's affiliated member category aims to identify and encourage young people with great potential for science. It includes promising researchers up to 40 years old from all regions of Brazil, nominated and elected by full members of their respective regions. Five young scientists are elected per region per year.

The awards ceremony for new affiliate members is usually held during scientific symposia in each region, where the elected members present their research. Due to the pandemic, the events were suspended, and the ABC board is evaluating the situation for 2021.