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Invitation for Susanna Zimmermann to the International Congress of Mathematicians (ICM)
Prof. Susanna Zimmermann has been invited to the International Congress of Mathematicians (ICM). Held every four years, the ICM is the most influential conference in the field of mathematics. Leading mathematicians from around the world gather there. The conference serves as a platform for new research results, and the most prestigious prizes in mathematics are awarded there, such as the Fields Medal. Being invited to speak there is a special honor. The congress will take place from July 23 to 30, 2026, in Philadelphia.
Susanna Zimmermann is the first woman from the University of Basel to receive this honor. Previous speakers from the University of Basel include Norbert A’Campo (1974), David Masser (1983), and Philipp Habegger (2022).
After defending her PhD at the University of Basel in 2016 under the supervision of Prof. J. Blanc, Susanna Zimmermann was awarded a postdoctoral fellowship from the Swiss National Science Foundation to work with Stéphane Lamy at the University of Toulouse. She quickly achieved significant research success and, in collaboration with Jérémy Blanc and Stéphane Lamy, solved a conjecture that had remained open for nearly 150 years. In 2017, she became an Associate Professor at the University of Angers, and in 2022 she was appointed Full Professor at the Institut de Mathématiques d'Orsay at Université Paris-Saclay, as well as a junior member of the Institut Universitaire de France. In 2023, she was awarded an ERC Starting Grant, and since February 2025, she has been a full professor in the Department of Mathematics and Computer Science at the University of Basel.
In Basel, Prof. Susanna Zimmermann leads the Algebraic Geometry research group. Her group studies transformations of algebraic structures such as rotations, translations, and symmetries, particularly those that are invertible, such as circle inversions, Möbius transformations, or blow-ups. This topic is important for various areas of mathematics, including group theory, dynamical systems, complex analysis, and hyperbolic geometry.
Susanna Zimmermann will speak on July 24, 2026, in Section Lecture 4, “Algebraic & Complex Geometry.” There, she will present recent advances in the study of algebraic groups acting via birational transformations on algebraic varieties.