5 million rubles for science: RUDN University named the winner of the university’s first prize in mathematics

The award winner is a Doctor of Physico-Mathematical Sciences, Corresponding Member of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Professor at St. Petersburg State University and Chief Researcher at the St. Petersburg Branch of the Steklov Mathematical Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences. The award ceremony took place on August 18 during the International Conference on Differential and Functional Differential Equations (DFDE).

The award was established in 2025 and will be presented every three years. In total, eight applications were received for the first competition: four from Russian scientists, one from an international team from Russia and Colombia, and three more from scientists from Italy, China, and Azerbaijan.

"Each application was sent for review to two external experts, specialists in the relevant field who are not part of the competition committee. Leading scientists from Russia, Germany, France, Portugal, the USA, China and the Netherlands were involved. The experts assessed the scientific significance of the results achieved by the candidates and their relevance to the world level. They evaluated each work on a 10-point scale," Alexander Skubachevsky, Doctor of Physico—Mathematical Sciences, Scientific director of the Mathematical Institute named after S.M. Nikolsky RUDN University.

After the experts' assessment, it's time for the competition committee to work. It consisted of 14 scientists, including 5 foreign scientists. The secret ballot for the candidates took place in two rounds: in the first round, several people could be selected, in the second, voting was allowed for only one candidate for the award.

"The jury had a difficult task — to objectively compare works from different scientific fields, each of which was of great value. After a detailed discussion, the commission came to a unanimous decision, focusing on the key criteria: scientific novelty, the impact of the author's work on the further development of this field of mathematics and their compliance with the world level. The winner's project stood out for its special depth and scientific significance, becoming the undisputed leader," Alexander Skubachevsky.

RUDN University Prize winner Sergey Vladimirovich Ivanov is one of the leading geometers of our time. He solved a number of long-standing open problems formulated by outstanding mathematicians. In particular, we are talking about the Hopf hypothesis on tori without conjugate points, the Buseman problem for two-dimensional polyhedral surfaces with given face directions, and the Banach problem on isometric subspaces of dimension 4. Solutions to some of these problems have formed the basis of new significant theories. The professor's research interests cover not only geometry, but also the theory of dynamical systems, where he has achieved the highest level of results. Sergey Ivanov solved one of the main problems of CAM theory (on dynamics outside chambers), and he also obtained for the first time an exponential lower limit on the number of collisions in systems of solid balls. He was awarded the prize for his outstanding work on metric geometry, which laid the foundations for new fields of science.

The professor's research interests cover not only geometry, but also the theory of dynamical systems, where he has achieved the highest level of results. Sergey Ivanov solved one of the main problems of Kolmogorov–Arnold–Moser theorem, and he also obtained for the first time an exponential lower limit on the number of collisions in systems of solid balls. He was awarded the prize for his outstanding work on metric geometry, which laid the foundations for new fields of science.

"I love mathematics because it's a world unto itself, a place where you can go and be the master there, doing what you like. And because I'm good at it, I'm satisfied with the results I've achieved. I am pleased to receive an award from RUDN University, a university of high international standing in many fields, including mathematics," Sergey Ivanov, Doctor of Physics and Mathematics, Corresponding Member of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

The winning works that were submitted to the competition:

• S. Ivanov, D. Mamaev, A. Nordskova, Banach’s isometric subspace problem in dimension four, Inventiones mathematicae, 2023, № 233, с.1393—1425 (ARWU, Scopus TOP-5%).
• D. Burago, S. Ivanov, Boundary rigidity and filling volume minimality of metrics close to a flat one, Annals of Mathematics, 2010, № 171, с. 1183–1211 (ARWU, Scopus TOP-1%).
• D. Burago, S. Ivanov, Examples of exponentially many collisions in a hard ball system, Ergodic Theory and Dynamical Systems, 2021, № 41, с. 2754–2769 (Scopus Q1).
• Ch. Fefferman, S. Ivanov, Ya. Kurylev, M. Lassas, H. Narayanan, Reconstruction and Interpolation of Manifolds. I: The Geometric Whitney Problem, Foundations of Computational Mathematics, 2020, № 20, с. 1035–1133 (Scopus TOP-5%).
• D. Burago, S. Ivanov, Riemannian tori without conjugate points are flat, Geometric and Functional Analysis, Vol. 4, No.3 (1994) (Scopus TOP-5%).