The Istanbul Center for Mathematical Sciences (IMBM) is an independent center for mathematics situated in the South Campus of
Boğaziçi University
Boğaziçi University (Turkish language, Turkish: ''Boğaziçi Üniversitesi''), also known as Bosphorus University, is a Public university, public research university in Istanbul, Turkey, historically tied to a former American educational insti ...
,
Istanbul
Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...
, in close proximity to the Mathematics Department. The center was initiated by several major universities in Istanbul and was formally inaugurated in 2006. The center aims to host and encourage the mathematical research and the interaction of researchers.
Background
IMBM is currently the only center for mathematics in Turkey. It was proposed by Betül Tanbay in 2003, then the chairwoman of the Mathematics Department of Boğaziçi University to its rector Sabih Tansal who immediately allocated a site. The center was opened in 2006 by the rectors of three universities in Istanbul, Boğaziçi University,
Koç University
Koç University () is a private non-profit research university in Istanbul, Turkey. It started education in temporary buildings in İstinye in 1993, and moved to its current Rumelifeneri campus near Sarıyer in 2000. Koç University is ranked hi ...
and
Sabancı University
Sabancı University () is a private research university that adopts a liberal arts education approach, established in 1994 and located on a 1.26 million squaremeter campus which is about 40 km from Istanbul's city center. Its first students ...
. At that time, the three rectors were all mathematicians,
Ayşe Soysal,
Attila Aşkar
Attila Aşkar (born September 4, 1943) is a Turkish civil engineer, scientist and former president of the Koç University in Rumelifeneri, Istanbul, Turkey during 2001 and 2009.
Life
Attila Aşkar was born on September 4, 1943 in Afyonkarahisar, ...
and
Tosun Terzioğlu respectively, which made the contract easier. The universities provided academic and from time to time small amounts of financial support. An account of the history can be found in
EMS Newsletter.
IMBM is administrated by a management committee, a scientific steering committee, and an international scientific advisory board. The scientific advisory board consists of the following mathematicians:
David Mumford
David Bryant Mumford (born 11 June 1937) is an American mathematician known for his work in algebraic geometry and then for research into vision and pattern theory. He won the Fields Medal and was a MacArthur Fellow. In 2010 he was awarded th ...
from
Brown
Brown is a color. It can be considered a composite color, but it is mainly a darker shade of orange. In the CMYK color model used in printing and painting, brown is usually made by combining the colors Orange (colour), orange and black.
In the ...
and
Harvard
Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher lear ...
,
Victor Kac
Victor Gershevich (Grigorievich) Kac (; born 19 December 1943) is a Soviet and American mathematician at MIT, known for his work in representation theory. He co-discovered Kac–Moody algebras, and used the Weyl–Kac character formula for th ...
from
MIT
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Established in 1861, MIT has played a significant role in the development of many areas of modern technology and sc ...
,
Selman Akbulut
Selman Akbulut (born 1949) is a Turkish mathematician, specializing in research in topology, and geometry. He was a professor at Michigan State University until February 2020.
Career
In 1975, he earned his Ph.D. from the University of Californi ...
from
Michigan State University
Michigan State University (Michigan State or MSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan, United States. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State o ...
,
Gilles Pisier from
Paris VI and
Texas A&M
Texas A&M University (Texas A&M, A&M, TA&M, or TAMU) is a public university, public, Land-grant university, land-grant, research university in College Station, Texas, United States. It was founded in 1876 and became the flagship institution of ...
,
Edriss Titi from
Weizmann Institute
The Weizmann Institute of Science ( ''Machon Weizmann LeMada'') is a Public university, public research university in Rehovot, Israel, established in 1934, fourteen years before the State of Israel was founded. Unlike other List of Israeli uni ...
and
University of California Irvine
The University of California, Irvine (UCI or UC Irvine) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Irvine, California, United States. One of the ten campuses of the University of California system, U ...
. David Mumford agreed to join the Scientific Advisory Board during his visit to Turkey back in 2003. He has reported his personal observations in Notices of the AMS.
The opening seminar of IMBM was delivered by
Dan Goldston,
János Pintz and
Cem Yalçın Yıldırım in 2006. Since then, the center has hosted many activities with distinguished participants.
Resources of IMBM come from endowment income, personal and institutional grants and collaboration agreements and gifts.
Buildings
There are two buildings of the center. Both have an excellent view of the
Bosphorus
The Bosporus or Bosphorus Strait ( ; , colloquially ) is a natural strait and an internationally significant waterway located in Istanbul, Turkey. The Bosporus connects the Black Sea to the Sea of Marmara and forms one of the continental bo ...
strait. The buildings had been in very bad condition and were brought to life by the initiative of Betül Tanbay from Boğaziçi University Mathematics Department, the first codirector of IMBM. The first floor of the main building consists of three offices with a modest library and computers. A 40-person seminar room is on the second floor.
There are four bedrooms of the center, accommodating up to six people. Two bedrooms are located in the last floor of the main building. The other two are located in a self-contained one-storey house next to the main building, which has, besides, a kitchen and a living room.
References
External links
IMBM homepageBoğaziçi UniversityBoğaziçi University Mathematics Department
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Mathematical institutes