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Maria Colombo
EPFL 2021 Maria Colombo Portrait.jpg
Colombo in 2021
Born (1989-05-25) May 25, 1989 (age 36)
Luino, Lombardy, Italy
Education Mathematics
Alma mater University of Pisa
Scuola Normale Superiore di Pisa
Awards
  • 2016 Gioacchino Iapichino Prize
  • 2017 Carlo Miranda Prize
  • 2019 Bartolozzi Prize
  • 2022 Peter Lax Award
  • 2023 Collatz Prize
  • 2024 EMS Prize
  • 2024 Stampacchia Medal
Scientific career
Institutions EPFL (École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne), ETH Zurich, University of Zurich
Thesis Flows of non-smooth vector fields and degenerate elliptic equations: With applications to the Vlasov-Poisson and semigeostrophic systems (2015)
Doctoral advisor Luigi Ambrosio
Alessio Figalli
Other academic advisors Camillo De Lellis

Maria Colombo, born on May 25, 1989, is a talented Italian mathematician. She is known for her work in mathematical analysis, a branch of mathematics that studies how things change. Maria Colombo is a professor at the EPFL in Switzerland. There, she leads research and teaches about mathematical analysis, calculus of variations, and partial differential equations.

Early Life and Education

Maria Colombo was born in Luino, a town in Italy close to the Swiss border. Even as a young student, she showed great skill in mathematics.

Math Competitions

Maria represented Italy in the International Mathematical Olympiad three times.

  • In 2005, she won a bronze medal.
  • In 2006, she earned a gold medal.
  • In 2007, she received a silver medal.

These achievements showed her early talent for solving complex math problems.

University Studies

Maria Colombo continued her studies at the University of Pisa in Italy. She earned her bachelor's degree in mathematics in 2010. The following year, in 2011, she completed her master's degree.

She then pursued her Ph.D. at the Scuola Normale Superiore di Pisa. She finished her doctoral degree in 2015. Her main advisors were Luigi Ambrosio and Alessio Figalli, who are also famous mathematicians. Her Ph.D. research was published as a book in 2017.

Academic Career

After earning her Ph.D., Maria Colombo worked as a postdoctoral researcher. She collaborated with Camillo De Lellis at the University of Zurich. She was also a junior fellow at the Institute of Theoretical Studies at ETH Zurich.

In 2018, Maria Colombo joined the EPFL as an assistant professor. Her hard work and important contributions to mathematics led to her promotion. In 2021, she became a full professor at EPFL.

Awards and Recognition

Maria Colombo has received many important awards for her mathematical research. These awards highlight her significant contributions to the field.

  • In 2016, she was given the Gioacchino Iapichino Prize by the Accademia dei Lincei.
  • In 2017, she won the Carlo Miranda Prize from the National Society of Sciences, Letters and Arts of Naples.
  • The Italian Mathematical Union awarded her the Bartolozzi Prize in 2019.
  • She received the Peter Lax Award in 2022 at the International Conference on Hyperbolic Problems.
  • In 2023, she was honored with the Collatz Prize from the International Council for Industrial and Applied Mathematics. This award recognized her work on understanding how things change in equations and fluid dynamics.
  • In 2024, she was awarded the EMS Prize for her amazing discoveries in fluid dynamics and other areas of analysis.
  • Also in 2024, she received the Stampacchia Medal.

Personal Life

Maria Colombo is married to Simone, who is an engineer. They have four children together.

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