Four Kavli IPMU researchers receive the Frontier of Science Award

30 July, 2025
Kavli Institute for the Physics and Mathematics of the Universe (Kavli IPMU, WPI)

(from left) Project Researcher Sunjin Choi, Professor Mikhail Kapranov, Professor Yukinobu Toda, and Professor Masahito Yamazaki

Professor Mikhail Kapranov, Professor Yukinobu Toda, Project Professor Masahito Yamazaki, and Project Researcher Sunjin Choi of the University of Tokyo Kavli Institute for the Physics and Mathematics of the Universe (Kavli IPMU, WPI) have been awarded Frontier of Science Awards in their respective fields.

Choi is being commended in Physics for his work on String Theory and Quantum Gravity. Kapranov, Toda and Yamazaki are being commended in Mathematics, specifically Toda’s work on Category, Logic and Homological Algebra, and Yamazaki’s work on Mathematics of String Theory and Condensed Matter. Kapranov has received awards in two categories, first, his work on Mathematics of String Theory and Condensed Matter, and second, his work on Ordinary Differential Equations, Special Functions and D-Modules.

An award ceremony was carried out on July 13 during the 3rd International Congress for Basic Science (ICBS) in Beijing, China, taking place from July 13 to 25.

The ICBS is an annual conference held in Beijing that brings together leading experts to celebrate the three areas of basic sciences: mathematics, theoretical physics, and theoretical computer and information sciences. This year, the Frontiers of Science Award commended basic and applied research in 40 areas of the three basic sciences, choosing recipients who have published papers in the last ten years of the highest scientific merit and originality, and which have had a significant impact on their fields.

Frontier of Science Award details
Project Researcher Sunjin Choi
Award category: String Theory and Quantum Gravity
Paper title: Large AdS black holes from QFT
Publication: arXiv 1810.12067
Authors: Sunjin Choi (Kavli IPMU, University of Tokyo)
Joonho Kim (Atomic Industries Inc.)
Seok Kim (Seoul National University)
June Nahmgoong (OpenAlpha Inc.)

Professor Mikhail Kapranov
Award category: Mathematics of String Theory and Condensed Matter
Paper title: Algebra of the infrared and secondary polytopes
Publication: Advances in Mathematics 2016
Authors: Mikhail Kapranov (Kavli IPMU, University of Tokyo)
Maxim Kontsevich (IHES)
Yan Soibelman (Kansas State University)

Award category: Ordinary Differential Equations, Special Functions and D-Modules
Paper title: Perverse sheaves over real hyperplane arrangements
Publication: Annals of Mathematics 2016
Authors: Mikhail Kapranov (Kavli IPMU, University of Tokyo)
Vadim Schechtman (Paul Sabatier University)

Professor Yukinobu Toda
Award category: Category, Logic and Homological Algebra
Paper title: Gopakumar-Vafa invariants via vanishing cycles
Publication: Inventiones Mathematicae 2018
Authors: Davesh Maulik (MIT)
Yukinobu Toda (Kavli IPMU, University of Tokyo)

Professor Masahito Yamazaki
Award category: Mathematics of String Theory and Condensed Matter
Paper title: Gauge Theory and Integrability, I
Publication: ICCM Notices 2018
Authors: Kevin Costello (Perimeter)
Edward Witten (IAS, Princeton)
Masahito Yamazaki (Kavli IPMU, University of Tokyo)