Nathanaël Berestycki to present Lévy Lecture at SPA 2026

We are excited to announce that Nathanaël Berestycki will present the Lévy Lecture at the the 45th Conference on Stochastic Processes and their Applications (SPA) conference on June 18th 2026 in Ithaca, New York.

He follows in the footsteps of mathematical giants such as Fields medalists Wendelin Werner and Martin Hairer, and Wolf Prize recipient Jean-François Le Gall.

 Random Bits Newsletter

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Vol 2 (Jun 2026)

Vol 1 (Dec 2025)

 Our Commitment to Science Communications

As part of our grant commitment, we’re implementing a science communication strategy to increase awareness of our research and the fields of probability and combinatorics in general.

To support this, we’ve launched new social media channels and are exploring a multitude of ways to share our work with a wider audience.

While science communication is a new area for us, we recognise its growing importance. This why we are proud to be among the first research groups in mathematics to build a dedicated social media presence.

Our goal is to connect with the public through accessible content and thereby foster an appreciation for the relevance of pure mathematics. At the heart of our approach is storytelling. We share the people behind the research: their journeys, motivations and passion for what they do.

If you would like to follow along, you can find a link to all our socials below.

 Find us on Socials

Learn more about our research on our social media channels!

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 News from our group members

Congratulations!

Nathanaël Berestycki has been named Fellow of the Institute of Mathematical Statistics (IMS) (06.05.2025)

Dr. Berestycki received the award for profound contributions to probability theory and mathematical physics, particularly to the areas of Liouville quantum gravity, coalescent theory, and Gaussian multiplicative chaos.

For 90 years, the title of IMS Fellow has represented a prestigious honor. Each Fellow has exhibited exceptional mastery in statistical or probabilistic research and/or has showcased remarkable leadership that has left a lasting impact on the field.  Established in 1935, the Institute of Mathematical Statistics is a member organization that fosters the development and dissemination of the theory and applications of statistics and probability. The IMS has over 4,900 active members throughout the world. Approximately 10% of the current IMS membership has earned the fellowship status. The announcement of the 2025 class of IMS Fellows can be viewed here: https://imstat.org/2025/05/05/congratulations-to-the-2025-class-of-ims-fellows/

This was the Long Night of Research 2026

The Random Structures team members was present at the Lange Nacht der Forschung (LNF) 2026 to share insights into the fascinating world of randomness!

They presented three fascinating activities in collaboration with some of our University of Vienna colleagues:

1. Build your own Spacetime

With Nathanaël Berestycki, Marcus Schönfelder and Yizheng Yuan

In Liouville quantum gravity (LQG), spacetime is treated as a stochastic surface. Visitors got to explore some of the possible shapes quantum spacetime can take by generating their own discrete instance of such a surface.

A stochastic graph is transformed via its concave hull into a unique, organic mesh to produce a physical snapshot of the random geometry studied in modern mathematical physics. These models were 3D-printed in real time, providing a tangible physical representation of the complex, fractal landscapes at the heart of LQG research.

2. Chladni Plate Demonstration

With Shane Chern, Nishu Kumari and Atsuro Yoshida

Visitors got to see the beautiful art that sound waves create when you place sand on a metal plate with this classic experiment, a Chladni plate demonstration. A frequency generator vibrates a metal plate at specific frequencies. Sand on the plate migrates to the nodal lines. Beautiful geometric patterns form that change dramatically as you adjust the frequency. 

3. How does the leopard get its spots?

With Nikolas Kusolitsch, Angelika Manhart, Tobias Müller, and Luisa Weginger

(For the little ones and the not so little ones alike!)

Turing showed in 1952 that two interacting substances, one spreading fast and one slow, can spontaneously generate stable spatial patterns from a uniform initial state. The same mathematical mechanism might be responsible for animal coat patterns, from leopard spots to zebra stripes.

Visitors experimented with the VisualPDE parameters and watched how small changes tip the system between spots, stripes, and spirals. They chose from three different print-outs: a leopard, a zebra and a fish and we printed the final pattern to take home.