Martin Hairer facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Sir Martin Hairer
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![]() Hairer in 2014
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Born | Geneva, Switzerland
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14 November 1975
Citizenship |
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Education | University of Geneva |
Spouse(s) |
Xue-Mei Li
(m. 2003) |
Awards |
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Scientific career | |
Fields | |
Institutions | École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne Imperial College London University of Warwick New York University |
Thesis | Comportement Asymptotique d'Équations à Dérivées Partielles Stochastiques (2001) |
Doctoral advisor | Jean-Pierre Eckmann |
Sir Martin Hairer (born 14 November 1975) is a brilliant mathematician from Austria and Britain. He works on a special area of math called stochastic analysis. This field helps us understand things that involve randomness, like how stock markets change or how particles move.
He is a professor at EPFL in Switzerland and at Imperial College London in the UK. Before this, he taught at other famous universities like the University of Warwick and New York University. In 2014, he received the Fields Medal, which is one of the biggest awards a mathematician can get. It's like the Nobel Prize for math! He also won the 2021 Breakthrough Prize in Mathematics in 2020.
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Becoming a Math Whiz
Martin Hairer was born in Geneva, Switzerland. He went to high school there and finished in 1994. While in school, he created some amazing sound editing software. This software, called Amadeus, became very popular and was still used widely years later! He even kept working on it while studying.
After high school, he went to the University of Geneva. He earned a Bachelor's degree in Mathematics in 1998. Then, he got a Master's degree in Physics later that same year. In 2001, he completed his PhD in Physics. His PhD supervisor was Jean-Pierre Eckmann, another famous scientist.
What Does a Mathematician Do?
Sir Martin Hairer's main work is in an area called stochastic partial differential equations (SPDEs). These are complex math equations that help describe systems where things change randomly over time and space. Think about how heat spreads in a room, but with some unpredictable wobbles or noise added in.
He also works on other parts of stochastic analysis. This includes understanding how random systems behave over long periods. He has developed new ways to solve very difficult math problems. His work helps scientists in many fields, from physics to finance.
Besides his math research, Martin Hairer also develops computer software. His company, HairerSoft, creates programs for Macintosh computers.
Where Sir Martin Hairer Has Worked
Sir Martin Hairer has been a part of many important universities and research groups. He was a professor at the University of Warwick from 2014 to 2017. He has also been a visiting professor at universities in France and Germany. He was even a member of the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, USA. This is a place where top scientists go to focus on their research.
He has also helped guide many scientific committees. He has been an editor for several important math journals. This means he helps decide which new research papers get published.
Awards and Special Honours
Sir Martin Hairer has received many awards for his amazing contributions to mathematics. These awards show how important his work is to the world of science.
- 2008 – Whitehead Prize from the London Mathematical Society
- 2008 – Philip Leverhulme Prize
- 2009 – Royal Society Wolfson Research Merit Award
- 2013 – Fermat Prize
- 2014 – Elected a Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS). This is a very high honour in science.
- 2014 – Fröhlich Prize
- 2014 – Fields Medal. This is one of the most prestigious awards in mathematics, given every four years to mathematicians under 40.

- 2015 – Became a Fellow of the American Mathematical Society.
- 2015 – Became a member of the Austrian Academy of Sciences.
- 2016 – Received an honorary Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire. This means he can be called "Sir."
- 2021 – Won the Breakthrough Prize in Mathematics. This prize celebrates major achievements in science and math.
- 2022 – Received the King Faisal Prize.
About His Life
Sir Martin Hairer has both Austrian and British citizenship. He can speak three languages: French, German, and English. In 2003, he married another mathematician named Li Xue-Mei. His father, Ernst Hairer, is also a mathematician at the University of Geneva. It seems a love for math runs in the family!