Since its founding in 1999, the Center for Advanced Mathematical Sciences (CAMS) has become a key player in the nucleation, stimulation, and celebration of research in the mathematical sciences in Lebanon and the MENA region. Part playground, part laboratory and part crossroads, the Center is keen on engaging multiple stakeholders in the development and dissemination of mathematics, the making and telling of its history. In addition to the research activities which it funds and organizes, the Center aims to nurture the rich and productive dialogue between mathematics, the humanities and the arts through innovative interventions that amplify the impact of mathematics across fields, and communities. Naturally, and through opportunities for collaborative, interdisciplinary research and teaching, CAMS advances AUB’s mission by attracting and retaining exceptional scholars as members of its intellectual community.
Director: Jihad Touma
International Advisory Committee
The CAMS International Advisory Committee (IAC) is envisaged to be a dynamic, relevant, and representative advisory body, taking into account gender, diversity of research fields, longstanding association with CAMS, mathematics in Lebanon, connections to Sir Michael Atiyah and his legacy, connections to leading researchers at AUB in mathematics, and related fields. The committee oversees the activities of CAMS, assists in charting future directions, and evaluates, on an annual basis, the center’s success in meeting its objectives with recommendations. Members of the committee may also provide help in securing continued external funding for CAMS in accordance with the University’s fundraising policy. Its members are appointed by the President of the University, with the Provost of AUB as an ex-officio member who acts as its vice-chair and secretary.
In addition to AUB’s Provost, and CAMS Director, members of the International Advisory Committee include:
Claire Voisin
| Collège de France |
| Cumrun Vafa | Harvard University |
| Frances Kirwan | Oxford University |
| Madhu Sudan | Harvard University |
| Mikhael Balabane | University of Paris |
| Nassif Ghoussoub | University of British Columbia |
| Peter Glynn | Stanford University |
| Peter Goddard | Institute of Advanced Study |
| Scott Tremaine | Institute of Advanced Study/University of Toronto (IAC Chair)
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CAMS Objectives
In fulfillment of its mission, CAMS engages with a spectrum of actors within the mathematical community and its broader public, via organically structured thematic explorations. In so doing, CAMS aims to:
- act as a catalyst of mathematical research that reflects longstanding interests within AUB and collaborating Lebanese Universities [e.g., number theory/algebraic geometry, complex and differential geometry, PDEs, optimal transport, stochastic modeling, theoretical computer science, complexity and network science, control theory, information theory, and increasingly statistical learning and artificial intelligence].
- stimulate the formation of research units, through targeted fellowships, and seed funding, leading to clustering around fields sustained by programmatic grants.
- act as a focal point for promoting collaborative research among scientists in the region, partly by hosting visitors, and partly by organizing thematic programs, topical meetings, workshops, and conferences in pertinent fields.
- respond to national/regional priorities by collaborating with national research centers/units around vital data and its mathematical/computational modeling (e.g. stochastic modeling of epidemics, complexity and network science at the service of resilience, modeling of hydrogeological/geophysical measurements, data driven models of ocean/atmosphere circulation).
- structure and support activities that stimulate awareness about mathematics across all levels, leading up to undergraduate and graduate research [e.g., Mathematics Olympiad, summer research programs, PhD-to-PhD conferences, CIMPA Schools, broad public talks, teacher training workshops, etc.].