Contents
Caucher Birkar
Making major advances in classifying algebraic shapes, including a proof of boundedness for Fano varieties.
Minimal models · Boundedness of Fano varieties
- Born
- July 1978
- Birthplace
- Marivan region, Iran
More people
Caucher Birkar
Caucher Birkar studies shapes defined by polynomial equations. His contributions to birational geometry and the minimal model programme earned the 2018 Fields Medal, following a journey from rural Iranian Kurdistan to research in Britain and China.
Early life
Kurdish childhood
Grew up in a farming family during the Iran–Iraq War and learnt mathematics with encouragement from his brothers.
University studies
Studied at Tehran before moving to Britain and completing a doctorate at Nottingham in 2004.
Career
- 2000–2004
A new start in Britain
Sought asylum and pursued doctoral research at Nottingham.
- 2000s–2010s
Cambridge research
Developed major results in algebraic geometry while working at Cambridge.
- 2021
Tsinghua appointment
Joined Tsinghua University as a professor.
Contributions
Minimal models
Co-authored a landmark paper establishing important existence results for algebraic varieties.
Boundedness of Fano varieties
Resolved a major conjecture about controlling families of algebraic shapes.
Fields Medal
Recognised for Fano varieties and the minimal model programme.
Beyond mathematics
A chosen name
Adopted Caucher Birkar after moving to Britain; the Kurdish name means migrant mathematician.
Kurdish connections
Spoke of hoping that his Fields Medal would bring happiness to Kurdish people facing difficult circumstances.
Sources & photo credit
Life, career and references ↗Institutional biography and research ↗Photo: ICM 2018. PDM-owner · Original image. Cropped and displayed in monochrome.
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