First awarded in 1981, the Princess of Asturias Award for Technical and Scientific Research is aimed at recognizing the work of fostering and advancing research in the field of mathematics, astronomy and astrophysics, physics, chemistry, life sciences, medical sciences, earth and space sciences or technological sciences. In 2020, the prize was awarded to Yves Meyer (French), Ingrid Daubechies (Belgian and American), Terence Tao (Australian and American), and Emmanuel Candès (French).

From the citation: The laureates have made immeasurable, ground-breaking contributions to mathematical theories and techniques for data processing, which have extraordinarily expanded our sensorial capabilities of observation and which constitute the foundations and backbone of the modern digital age.

For their part, Yves Meyer and Ingrid Daubechies have led the development of the modern mathematical theory of wavelets, which are like mathematical heartbeats that enable us to approach Van Gogh and discover his style or to listen to the music enclosed in the apparent noise of the Universe, among many other applications of all kinds. In short, they enable us to visualize what we cannot see and listen to what we cannot hear.

On the other hand, in addition to the undeniable advances in medical imaging and other diagnostic tests derived from the collaboration between Terence Tao and Emmanuel Candès, their contributions to the techniques of compressed sensing enable us to complete electromagnetic signals or reconstruct melodies from which time has stolen notes.

Ilka Agricola (University of Marburg) was elected the new president of the German Mathematical Union (DMV). Her term of office will start in January 2021. More information in the DMV news blog.

Prof. Agricola will be only the second woman in this role, after Ina Kersten (DMV president from 1995 to 1997).

May 12 was chosen for the Celebration of Women in Mathematics because it is the birthdate of Maryam Mirzakhani. The initiative was  proposed by the Women's Committee of the Iranian Mathematical Society and voted by a vast majority of attendees to (WM)², the World Meeting for Women on Mathematics on last July 31 in Rio.

Several suggestions for local activities around May 12 are listed here.Please feel free to organize one and mention it on May 12 website.

In the countries where there are restrictions to gatherings because of the coronavirus crisis, organizing collective events with physical presence might  be difficult this year. But, adapting our suggestions, it might be possible to organize events differently and virtually.

Free screenings on line of Secrets of the Surface are proposed in agreement with Zalafilms.

The initiative is  supported by several organisations for women in mathematics worldwide (European Women in Mathematics, Association for Women in Mathematics, African Women in Mathematics Association, Indian Women and Mathematics, Colectivo de Mujeres Matemáticas de Chile and the Women's Committee of the Iranian Mathematical Society).

More information here.

Established in 2013, the AWM Joan & Joseph Birman Research Prize recognizes exceptional research in topology and geometry by a woman early in her career. The biennial presentation of this prize serves to highlight to the community outstanding contributions by women in the fields of topology and geometry and to advance the careers of the prize recipients. The award is made possible by a generous contribution from Joan and Joseph Birman.

The 2021 Joan & Joseph Birman Research Prize in Topology and Geometry is awarded to Emily Riehl for her deep and foundational work in category theory and homotopy theory. Riehl has proved many fundamental theorems in category theory and its relations to homotopy theory and has produced a large body of exceptional research as well as expository andpedagogical work. Her work is transforming the ways we work with higher categorical objects, drawing on classical category-theory tools and constructions to illustrate and simplify higher categorical constructions. Riehl's theorems and machinery beautifully showcase how these higher categorical constructions can often be viewed as intuitive generalizations of the ordinary ones. Her books on category theory and on homotopical category theory have become the standard
references, and her draft book on ∞-categories is already finding immediate use by researchers. Riehl is an internationally recognized scholar for her important research works in category theory and her innovative ideas about mentorship and communication of mathematics.

Olena Vaneeva from the National Academy of Sciences in Kiev is the first mathematician to win the L'Oreal International Rising Talents award for women.

The book World Women in Mathematics 2018 (Proceedings of the First World Meeting for Women in Mathematics (WM)² , Vol. 20, C. Araujo, G. Benkart, C. Praeger, B. Tanbay (Eds.) was published at the end of 2019 in the Association for Women in Mathematics Series (Springer).

Presentation: The first World Meeting for Women in Mathematics - (WM)² - was a satellite event of the International Congress of Mathematicians (ICM) 2018 in Rio de Janeiro. With a focus on Latin America, the first (WM)² brought together mathematicians from all over the world to celebrate women mathematicians, and also to reflect on gender issues in mathematics, challenges, initiatives, and perspectives for the future. Its activities were complemented by a panel discussion organized by the Committee for Women in Mathematics (CWM) of the International Mathematical Union (IMU) inside the ICM 2018 entitled "The gender gap in mathematical and natural sciences from a historical perspective”.

This historical proceedings book, organized by CWM in coordination with the Association for Women in Mathematics, records the first (WM)² and the CWM panel discussion at ICM 2018. The first part of the volume includes a report of activities with pictures of the first (WM)² and a tribute to Maryam Mirzakhani, the first woman to be awarded the Fields medal. It also comprises survey research papers from invited lecturers, which provide panoramic views of different fields in pure and applied mathematics.  The second part of the book contains articles from the panelists of the CWM panel discussion, which consider the historical context of the gender gap in mathematics. It includes an analysis of women lecturers in the ICM since its inception.

This book is dedicated to the memory of Maryam Mirzakhani.