King Faisal Prize 2006 awarded to Imperial College London mathematician

For immediate release
Thursday 5 January 2006

An award recognising research of global influence has been awarded to a mathematician at Imperial College London.

The King Faisal International Prize for science will be presented to Professor Simon Donaldson  in February 2006 at a ceremony in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. It recognises his contribution to theories of pure mathematics that have strengthened the links between maths and physics, and have helped to form an in-depth description of the laws of matter at the sub-nuclear level.

As the President of Imperial's interdisciplinary Institute for Mathematical Sciences, Professor Donaldson is now focused on applying his mathematical expertise to understanding and tackling global scientific problems such as climate change and disease. He says:

"Mathematical ideas make a vital and fundamental contribution to all branches of science, and the input from other sciences continually enriches maths. The human genome project, the control of infectious diseases, the search for the unified theories in physics and countless other problems drive this many-faceted interaction, and stimulate the research of hundreds of mathematical scientists."

Professor Donaldson, also a recipient of the Fields Medal, shares the Prize for science with mathematician Professor M S Narasimhan, an honorary fellow at the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, India. Each will be presented with a gold medal and will share prize money of USD200,000. He adds:

"I deeply appreciate the honour of this award and am humbled to join the company of outstanding scientists who have received it in previous years. It is a special pleasure to share it with Professor Narasimhan, since much of my research career has been devoted to extending a line of work begun by him in the 1960s."

Professor Sir Peter Knight, Principal of the Faculty of Natural Sciences, joined his colleagues in congratulating Professor Donaldson.

"Simon's work has been hugely influential world-wide, not only amongst pure mathematicians, but also in connecting geometry with field theory and especially string theory. He is a very deserving winner of this award."

King Faisal International Prizes are awarded annually by Saudi Arabia's King Faisal Foundation to reward and encourage outstanding research. Other areas recognised by the Foundation this year include medicine and Arabic language and literature.

For further information contact:

Abigail Smith
Imperial College London Press Office
Tel: 020 7594 6701
Email: abigail.smith@imperial.ac.uk

Notes to editors

About Professor Simon Donaldson

Simon Donaldson, 48, is known for his work on exotic four-dimensional spaces in differential geometry using instantons, and the discovery of new differential invariants.

Donaldson gained a BA in mathematics from Pembroke College, Cambridge in 1979, and in 1980 began postgraduate work at Worcester College, Oxford.

After gaining his doctorate from Oxford University in 1983, he was appointed a Junior Research Fellow at All Souls College, Oxford, he spent the academic year 198384 at the Institute for Advanced Study at Princeton, and returned to Oxford as Wallis Professor of Mathematics in 1985. In 1999, he moved to Imperial College London.

Donaldson received the Junior Whitehead Prize from the London Mathematical Society in 1985 and in the following year he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society and, also in 1986, he received a Fields Medal. He was awarded the 1994 Crafoord Prize.

About the King Faisal International Prizes

King Faisal Foundation was established in 1976 by the eight sons of the late King Faisal ibn Abd Al Aziz, a son of Saudi Arabia's founder and the Kingdom's third monarch.

Of the many philanthropic activities of the Foundation, the King Faisal International Prize is the most widely known. By drawing attention to important issues and rewarding gifted scientists who have made these issues a priority in their careers, it is hoped that the direct and indirect effects of the Prize will be far reaching.

King Faisal International Prize laureates have earned numerous other prestigious national and international prizes for their efforts. In some cases, the Prize has preceded other international awards, including the Nobel Prize.

The granting of these Prizes embodies King Faisal Foundation's firm belief that through the collective efforts of outstanding individuals the highest aspirations of mankind are realized. The Prizes enable the Foundation to show its appreciation to men and women who have made truly outstanding contributions in their respective fields.

About Imperial College London

Consistently rated in the top three UK university institutions, Imperial College London is a world leading science-based university whose reputation for excellence in teaching and research attracts students (11,000) and staff (6,000) of the highest international quality.
Innovative research at the College explores the interface between science, medicine, engineering and management and delivers practical solutions that enhance the quality of life and the environment - underpinned by a dynamic enterprise culture.
Website: www.imperial.ac.uk