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ICTP-IBM Brahmagupta AI Prize for Early Career Scientists

ICTP and IBM have established an annual prize for outstanding early-career researchers working in AI for Science/Science for AI. The prize, worth €10,000, is supported by a five-year sponsorship by IBM and has been established to promote research focusing on approaches to AI and science that can benefit the society at large. This effort contributes to the ultimate goal of the AI Alliance, a global organization launched in December 2023 by IBM and Meta, which ICTP has also joined, to accelerate responsible open innovation in AI while ensuring safety, security, and trust. The prize ceremony will take place every year at ICTP, during a two-week conference and summer school on AI.

An international committee of distinguished scientists, chaired by Professor Marc Mézard of University Bocconi, selects the winners from a list of nominated candidates.

Nominations

Nominations should be submitted online. One or more scientists can be nominated; self nominations are not accepted. Information including name, address, institute, email etc. are required in the online nomination form (for both the nominator and the nominee); the nominee's short CV, short list of publications, and reference/support letters are also required and can be uploaded in pdf format. A citation is also requested. Candidatures of scientists within 12 years from their PhD graduation ceremony will be considered acceptable.

For further information, please write to director@ictp.it.

 

In honor of

Brahmagupta

For outstanding young researchers working in AI for Science/Science for AI

ICTP-IBM Brahmagupta AI Prize for Early Career Scientists image

This award honours Indian mathematician and astronomer Brahmagupta, known for his important contributions to mathematics. In particular, he was the first to consider zero as a number and for introducing negative numbers. 

Brahmagupta (598 – 668, modern day Bhinmal, India) was an Indian mathematician and astronomer. Building on the corpus of the Brahmapaksha school of astronomy, he greatly improved the mathematical knowledge of his time, introducing the first (almost correct) definition of a field of numbers, and establishing the first instance of the quadratic formula. His work is contained in two books: the Brāhmasphuṭasiddhānta (“correctly established doctrine of Brahma”), a theoretical treaty laying the mathematical foundations for astronomical computations that he composed in 628, and the Khandakhadyaka (“edible bite”), a practical manual for astronomy dated 665.

The Awardees

2025
Simon Olsson