Jean Laurent Bonnafé, co-Président du Comité de campagne de l'IHES

Good evening everyone. We are gathered tonight to celebrate the success of the third campaign of IHES in 2018, which I had the pleasure of co-chairing with Philippe Camus, who cannot be with us tonight, he regrets it. This campaign was a pleasure for all who participated: the campaign committee, all of you. It is a great success. The campaign had an initial target of 50 million euros. 50 million euros is a bit like conjectures in mathematics: we launched this dimension, but some did not really believe in it, including me. And in fact, I don't know if the figure is secret or not, but the figure was exceeded since the campaign collected 55 million euros. So I think it is truly a great success. Once again, it is the fruit of the commitment of all the members of the campaign committee, the networks of each other. There are many, many mathematicians lost in trading floors, in funds, perhaps doing science late in life, they think that if some are ready, it's not so simple and it's quite hard, but it's still very good to help them because it is a noble ambition. What is crucial in this campaign is that with 55 million, we contribute to the independence of IHES. I believe the secret of this institute is its independence, its intellectual independence, its ability to decide for itself the professors it brings in, and to give its professors the freedom to think about whatever they like. I think that's how it should be said, because you cannot command research at this level; it is fundamental research. What is exceptional is that with funds at this level, we can attract talents naturally, emerging from the best French universities or the best schools, but also talents from around the world. I think it is very important to allow the plateau de Saclay, Paris, our country to continue to shine at the highest level. To shine at the highest level means bringing in people from around the world, since there are very intelligent people everywhere, and it is interesting to bring them to exchange, work together, create, and advance. Yesterday's mathematics is often today's innovation. There's a funny little phrase that American venture capitalists often say: research is transforming cash into knowledge, and innovation is transforming knowledge into cash. Well, that's the venture capitalists' favorite phrase. And IHES makes knowledge. It contributes to advancing science so that tomorrow technologies that will exist, that we don't yet know about, whose utility we don't even have an idea of, can be deployed because some people thought far ahead about fundamental work in total freedom. Think about GPS, cryptography, which are everyday objects as soon as you open your phone. There's GPS, maybe even more than we should, almost a question of whether we are still free. But all that is mathematics, all that is science, fundamental science. I said, IHES contributes to illuminating the plateau de Saclay. For me, it's a bit of a guiding star. I think to have very good mathematics teachers, to have trained people everywhere in technologies, in companies, in labs, to do proper work. Doing proper work requires intellectual rigor. And often, we see many decisions made with a certain lack of intellectual rigor. The world would probably be a tiny bit better if from time to time we took five minutes to step back and consider whether the decision being made is taken with a minimum of intellectual rigor or none at all, because we want to or because it seems easier to say such and such. This small approximation, when one is well trained in this exercise of research, one avoids it. That doesn't mean one is immune, but one avoids it; one always tries to take the time, the minute, the quarter-hour, the month, the year to think properly. Training people with this type of discipline, I think it is fundamentally universal science; it's not just mathematics. So having very high-level researchers allows us to have very high-level professors who can teach at a very high level to all those who will work for the economy: it can be companies, it can be the solidarity sector, it can be social impact companies, whatever. But it is very important. And I believe IHES, in this role as a guiding star on the plateau de Saclay, within Paris-Saclay, with all its collaborations, which has been ranked number one in the world for the third time in mathematics and ninth in physics in the Shanghai ranking. I repeat: number one in the world for the third consecutive time in the Shanghai ranking, and number nine in physics. Not everyone knows this. For example, not everyone knows, and when we see certain decisions, if we knew, perhaps we would invest a bit more in the plateau de Saclay. That's it. The institute is also a springboard. I know that one of its main talents is to spot the nuggets, the researchers who tomorrow will allow progress to move quickly. It is also a capacity to host postdocs, doctoral students, an openness. So I don't want to be longer. At the end of the day, our companies need well-trained people. That's why a company like BNP Paribas needs engineers, modelers; we are 200,000 employees, 36,000 IT specialists, 15,000 bankers. So we need 50,000 people who have done good studies, serious, solid, no approximation: 1+1=2, more than 2 is 4, there is no 2+2=8 or 8-2=9; that doesn't exist. I say that because from time to time it is very, very important. And I guarantee you that daily, having people trained the right way is extremely important, even if we often just use the rule of three. But this ability to ask oneself: am I taking a dangerous shortcut? Just asking the question is of immense value. So good talents, good trainers, good researchers, and exceptional researchers who find fundamental things, that is what IHES is for. I'll stop there. I am very, very happy, very proud to have participated in this campaign, and I congratulate the entire IHES team for this excellent work, which is absolutely remarkable. Thank you all.