Mathematics

Thanks to genetic tools that allow computers to accurately count neurons from microscopy images, EPFL researchers have estimated with unprecedented accuracy the number of neurons and other types of cells in the brain of fruit fly larvae—and discovered that females have substantially more neurons than males.

Maryna Viazovska has received a Fields Medal, a prestigious honor often described as the Nobel Prize of Mathematics, for her work on the sphere-packing problem in 8 and 24 dimensions. Previously, the problem had been solved for only three dimensions or fewer. Another Fields Medal is awarded to University of Geneva mathematician Hugo Duminil-Copin.

Oliver Janzer is a mathematician who specialises in graphs – that is, collections of nodes that may or may not be connected, such as Facebook users. As part of his ETH Fellowship, the young researcher has been busy solving problems that had stumped mathematicians for decades.

EPFL’s Blue Brain Project has found a way to use only mathematics to automatically draw neurons in 3D, meaning we are getting closer to being able to build digital twins of brains.

In her research as a number theorist, Sarah Zerbes focuses on one of the oldest – but also most topical – branches of mathematics. Her work is closely tied to one of the great open mathematical problems, the solution for which carries a prize of one million dollars.