Professor of Physics Emeritus Pranab Das has been selected by the Institute for Pure and Applied Mathematics to serve as a senior fellow for fall 2024.
Pranab Das, professor of physics emeritus, will be a senior fellow at the Institute for Pure and Applied Mathematics (IPAM) at UCLA this fall. IPAM is one of six centers funded by the National Science Foundation to advance American and global excellence in math and related fields. As described by the NSF, “institute activities help focus the attention of some of the best mathematical minds on problems of particular importance and timeliness.”
IPAM hosts twice-annual programs chosen on a competitive basis that invite some 40-50 leading scientists to residence. Das and his colleagues will study the mathematics of intelligence. He will also help convene a one-week workshop in November focused specifically on collective intelligence (including collective behaviors of humans, non-human animals, and machines). Further information can be found here.
This fellowship represents a continuation of eight years of Das’ work supporting the study of diverse forms of intelligence including service as principal advisor on a $50 million grants program, summer convenings and ongoing international collaborations. Among the most recent of these is an exploration of the application of Buddhist concepts of care and mindfulness to artificial intelligence in collaboration with researchers in Nepal, Bhutan and Japan.