Associate Professor Fabian Haiden Receives Prestigious International Science Award

The news arrived in Fabian’s email-inbox signed by Professor Shing-Tung Yau, President of the International Congress of Basic Science (ICBS).

"On behalf of the ICBS, we offer our warmest congratulations on this extraordinary achievement. Your dedication to pushing the boundaries of human knowledge is an inspiration to the scientific community."

A Welcome Recognition

It is not the most bragging personality Fabian delivers when we are sitting in the QM lounge talking about his lates recognition. He is not someone who seeks the spotlight and has always admired the world's leading mathematicians without imagining that he might one day be counted among them.

Yet his latest award combined with several others is another testament to the international impact of his research.

"It is nice to receive the recognition. I think it is wonderful that there are more ways of celebrating breakthroughs in science, especially because mathematics has relatively few major awards," says Haiden.

Foto: Award show in Beijing - Professor Maxim Kontsevich Fabians co-auther receives the award on behalf of all authors.

A Career Marked by Excellence

The Frontiers of Science Award is the latest in a series of prestigious recognitions throughout Haiden's career.

After completing his PhD, he had the prestigious Benjamin Peirce Fellowship at Harvard University, awarded to outstanding early-career researchers who have already demonstrated exceptional promises and are expected to become leaders in their fields.

Later he was appointed Titchmarsh Research Fellow at the University of Oxford - one of the university's most prestigious fellowships in mathematics. Named after mathematician Edward Charles Titchmarsh, the fellowship enables exceptionally talented researchers to pursue independent research with limited teaching responsibilities.

Earlier this year, Haiden also received a DKK 18 million Villum Ascending Investigator grant. The programme supports talented researchers who have already established themselves internationally and provides the resources needed to pursue ambitious research at the highest level.

A PhD that Continues to Shape Mathematics

The latest award, Frontiers of Science, honors the paper Flat Surfaces and Stability Structures, co-authored by Fabian Haiden, Ludmil Katzarkov and Maxim Kontsevich. The paper grew out of Haiden's PhD research and has become highly influential across several areas of mathematics.

"My PhD thesis is still the foundation of much of my current research. It has simply evolved over the years," says Haiden.

In the paper, Fabian and his colleagues developed a framework that connects ideas from different branches of mathematics. It allows researchers to transfer concepts between fields, creating new perspectives and opening up entirely new lines of research.

The official award ceremony took place in August 2026.