In this episode of our Voices of Mathematics podcast we talk to Julian Sahasrabudhe, Professor of Combinatorics in the Department of Pure Mathematics and Mathematical Statistics (DPMMS).
Julian Sahasrabudhe and his collaborators have made headlines for a number of recent breakthroughs, including remarkable results in sphere packing, which you can imagine in terms of packing oranges into a very large, higher-dimensional box, and Ramsey theory, which involves finding order within systems which, at first sight, appear completely disordered. His outstanding research has been rewarded with several prizes, including a Whitehead Prize in 2024.
Julian is also one of the invited speakers at the International Congress of Mathematicians (ICM) in July 2026. Taking place every four years, the ICM is one of the highlights of the mathematical calendar: it celebrates the diversity and excitement of modern mathematics, and also sees the award of some of the subject's most prestigious prizes, including the famous Fields Medals.
We talked to Julian to learn more about his path into mathematics, a brief introduction to his work in the field of combinatorics and how it offers partnerships with other areas of maths, and the advice he'd give on how to make progress when wrestling with hard problems. And we also heard from Julian on what he's most looking forward to about attending this year's ICM.
The podcast is hosted by Marianne Freiberger and Rachel Thomas, Editors of Plus, from the communications and outreach team at the Mathematics Faculty.
To find out more about topics mentioned in this podcast see:
- Our 2024 article exploring Julian Sahasrabudhe's work when he won the Whitehead Prize.
- The podcast mentions Fields Medallist Maryna Viazovska's work on sphere packings - find out more in this Plus article.
- Meet all three of the Cambridge speakers at the 2026 International Congress of Mathematicians in this article.
You can listen to the podcast using the player above, and you can listen and subscribe to our Voices of Mathematics podcast through Apple Podcasts, YouTube, Spotify and through most other podcast providers via Podbean.