Fall 2026 Horizons Lectures

Photo Credit: MIT Math Department

The Department of Mathematics is pleased to announce Professor Gigliola Staffilani of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to give the Fall 2026 Horizons Lectures series. 

Gigliola Staffilani is the Abby Rockefeller Mauze Professor of Mathematics at MIT since 2007. She received her Ph.D. from the University of Chicago.  She had faculty appointments at Stanford, Princeton and Brown University  before joining  MIT in 2002. Staffilani is an analyst, with a concentration on dispersive nonlinear PDEs. In 2013 Staffilani became a fellow of the AMS, and in 2014 a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. In 2017 she received a Guggenheim fellowship and a Simons Fellowship in Mathematics. In 2018 she received the MIT Earll M. Murman Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Advising and in 2021 she was elected member of the National Academy of Sciences.

Special Department Colloquium

Thursday, October 29, 2026

Fine Hall 314,  4:30PM - 5:30PM

The Study of Wave Turbulence: A Meeting Ground for Mathematical Techniques

Wave turbulence theory is a rich and expansive field, aiming to provide a framework for understanding how waves interact across different settings. Wave interactions occur over a wide range of scales and media—spanning from gravitational waves in the cosmos to ripples on the ocean’s surface, from the swirling patterns in a morning cup of coffee to quantum particles behaving as wave packets.

Despite their ubiquity, these phenomena pose significant challenges to rigorous mathematical analysis. Yet, it is precisely this difficulty that has inspired mathematicians to develop powerful and elegant interdisciplinary methods.

In this talk, I will explore some of these approaches, highlighting both the remarkable progress achieved and the intriguing open questions that continue to drive research in this area.

Horizons Seminar

Friday, October 30, 2026

Fine Hall Common Room,  12:15PM - 1:00PM

A Conversation with Gigliola Staffilani —  Is there a formula for our personal success?

Moderator: Alison Tatsuoka