30/01/2018

With a young mathematician, Brazil reaches the elite of research.

Foto de grupo para o 1° Colóquio Brasileiro de Matemática

* The text below was part of Brazil's application dossier for Group 5, the elite of world mathematics, of the International Mathematical Union.

Brazil is a newcomer to the world of science, largely due to the late development of its higher education and research institutions. Initial efforts, around the beginning of the 20th century, focused on specific areas such as public health or agriculture. Mathematics was not a priority at that stage.

The first mathematics seminar was organized in 1935 by the Faculty of Philosophy, Sciences and Letters of the University of São Paulo. The Faculty had been founded the previous year and had also launched a mathematics journal. In the 1940s and 1950s, the institution hired several distinguished foreign mathematicians on a visiting basis, including André Weil, Oscar Zariski, Jean Dieudonné, and Alexander Grothendieck.

A turning point at the national level was the creation, in 1951, of the two main federal research agencies, the National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq) and the Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Education Personnel (CAPES). The Institute of Pure and Applied Mathematics (IMPA) was founded by CNPq in 1952, and Brazil joined the International Mathematical Union (IMU) in 1954. The Brazilian Mathematics Colloquium was created by IMPA in 1957 and has been held biennially ever since. Much of Brazilian mathematics grew up around the Colloquium. In 1962, Leopoldo Nachbin became the first Brazilian invited to the International Congress of Mathematicians (ICM) in Stockholm to speak about his research.

Leopoldo Nachbin: primeiro matemático brasileiro a discorrer no ICM, em 1962.

He was followed by Mauricio Peixoto at the ICM 1974 in Vancouver. The Brazilian Mathematical Society (SBM) was created during the 7th Brazilian Mathematical Colloquium in 1969, and soon became the country's affiliated organization to the IMU.

Within the IMU structure, Brazil moved to Group II in 1978 and to Group III in 1981. The most recent development was in 2005, when it was promoted to Group IV. In all cases, Brazilian mathematicians have made significant contributions to the functioning of the Union.

Jacob Palis, guest speaker at ICM 1978, secretary of the IMU (1991-1998) and president of the IMU (1999-2002)

Jacob Palis was the IMU Secretary from 1991-1998 and the IMU President from 1999-2002. Paulo Cordaro was a member of the IMU Development and Exchange Committee from 2007-2010. Marcelo Viana was the IMU Vice President from 2011-2014 and served as a general member of the IMU Executive Committee from 2007-2010.

Artur Avila: palestrante no ICM 2010 e medalhista Fields 2014.

In 2014, Artur Avila, PhD and researcher at IMPA, received the Fields Medal. That same year, Brazil was honored with the right to host the International Congress of Mathematicians, ICM 2018, and the International Mathematical Olympiad, IMO 2017. Both events will take place in Rio de Janeiro, from August 1st to 9th, 2018, and from July 12th to 2Tuesdays, 2017, respectively.