Stanford mathematics professor honored with major award

Photo by Chloe Reynolds

Ciprian Manolescu, mathematics professor in Stanford’s School of Humanities and Sciences, has been named a Simons Investigator. The award is given by the Simons Foundation in New York to outstanding scientists doing theoretical research in mathematics, physics, astrophysics, or computer science. Manolescu was recognized for his work in topology, the study of geometric shapes with regard only to those properties that are unchanged by stretching and bending.

News of the award came as a “very pleasant surprise,” Manolescu said. “It’s a major recognition and a signal that we’re doing good research here. I hope it will help us recruit more talented students and postdocs.”

“The Simons grant allows for a lot of flexibility in how to spend the research funds,” Manolescu said. “I will use most of it to support graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, and visitors, with the goal of building a strong topology group at Stanford. Most of my research is done in collaboration, and having a group of people around with whom I can exchange ideas is essential.”

One of Manolescu’s accomplishments is a proof of the existence of higher-dimensional shapes that cannot be triangulated or built out of simpler pieces. “We can imagine geometric shapes of any number of dimensions, and I am mostly interested in understanding the four-dimensional ones,” he said. Higher dimensional spaces are used by physicists in models of the universe and by computer scientists to model distributed networks.

The award includes an initial appointment of five years, research support of $100,000 per year, and an additional $10,000 per year provided to the recipient’s department.