The fifth edition of the international congress of the Catalan Society of Mathematics, held from 7 to 9 October in Barcelona, featured first-rate plenary lectures, eight thematic sessions and special activities in collaboration with the CRM and the European Mathematical Society.
From 7 to 9 October 2026, the headquarters of the Institute of Catalan Studies (IEC), in Barcelona, hosted the fifth edition of the Barcelona Mathematical Days (BMD2026), the international research congress that the Catalan Society of Mathematics (SCM) organises every three years.
Over three days, the congress was a meeting point for researchers from different areas of mathematics, with a programme aimed at sharing the most recent advances, fostering scientific debate and encouraging connections between disciplines and institutions.
Four plenary lectures and eight thematic sessions
One of the main attractions of this fifth edition was the participation of four researchers of recognised international prestige: Xavier Ros-Oton, from the University of Barcelona; Dan Crisan, from Imperial College London; Ruth Charney, from Brandeis University, and Marco Abate, from the University of Pisa.
The first day, Wednesday 7 October, included the plenary lecture by Xavier Ros-Oton, focused on the regularity theory of partial differential equations. On Thursday 8 October, the programme continued with the talks by Dan Crisan, on stochastic partial differential equations in fluid dynamics, and Ruth Charney, devoted to Artin groups and geometric group theory.
On Friday 9 October, Marco Abate gave the last plenary lecture of the congress, devoted to holomorphic iterated function systems and the hyperbolic derivative.
In parallel, BMD2026 featured eight thematic sessions that addressed questions of combinatorics, dynamical systems, group theory, analysis and probability, partial differential equations, mathematical modelling, arithmetic geometry, stochastic analysis and topological data analysis.
This set of sessions made it possible to connect different lines of research and to give visibility to the diversity of work currently being developed in mathematics.
Institutional collaboration and reflection on the challenges of research
Beyond the lectures and scientific sessions, BMD2026 incorporated a special programme organised in collaboration with the Centre de Recerca Matemàtica (CRM), the’European Mathematical Society (EMS) and’EMS Young Academy (EMYA).
On Wednesday 7 October, a session dedicated to researchers in the early stages of their careers included a special hybrid edition of the Mathematics Online Seminar Series (MOSS), with the participation of Elba Garcia-Failde, from the Polytechnic University of Catalonia, and a space for debate on the challenges of starting a research career in mathematics.
On Friday 9 October, the round table Challenges and Trends in Mathematical Research, organised jointly with the CRM, brought together Ruth Charney, Joaquim Ortega-Cerdà and Jan Philip Solovej, with Antonio Huerta as moderator, to address the challenges and trends of mathematical research.
The day also included the EMS-SCM special session on mathematics learning, with a lecture by Nuno Crato, from the University of Lisbon, devoted to the relevance of European PISA results for the mathematical community.
These activities broadened the congress's outlook beyond specialised research, incorporating questions related to scientific careers, mathematics education and the challenges of the discipline.
Three days to share mathematics and strengthen ties
The programme also reserved spaces for exchange among participants outside the scientific sessions.
Among the scheduled social activities, highlights include the institutional reception at Barcelona City Hall, on Wednesday 7 October, in the Sala de Cròniques and the Gothic cloister; the special visit to the Sagrada Família, led by Jordi Faulí, and the congress dinner, held on Thursday 8 October.
The poster session also offered a space to showcase research work and encourage contact among researchers, especially among the younger generations.
These complementary activities are part of the spirit of the Barcelona Mathematical Days: creating opportunities for meeting, conversation and collaboration within a diverse scientific community.
A fifth edition that strengthens the ties of the mathematical community
With this fifth edition, the Barcelona Mathematical Days continue to consolidate their position as a reference event in the scientific calendar of the Catalan Society of Mathematics.
The combination of plenary lectures, specialised sessions, activities for young researchers and collaborations with research institutions has once again highlighted the importance of having meeting spaces to share knowledge and drive the development of mathematics.
From the Catalan Society of Mathematics, we would like to thank the speakers, the scientific and organising committees, the collaborating institutions and all the people who have participated in this fifth edition of BMD2026.
Three days of mathematics, scientific exchange and community that reinforce the will to continue building ties and opening new opportunities for collaboration.
