2025 David Crighton Medal for Gresham College's Professor of Geometry, Alain Goriely

Congratulations to Alain Goriely, Professor of Geometry at Gresham College and Professor at the University of Oxford, on being awarded the 2025 LMS/IMA David Crighton Medal.

The medal recognises his deep and influential contributions to the mathematics of mechanical and biological processes and materials, his support for early career researchers, and his work advancing public understanding of mathematics and its applications.

Alain’s research has reshaped how we understand complex phenomena. His early work in dynamical systems established new criteria for chaotic solutions and integrability in complex time. In mechanics, he developed powerful models of filaments and a general theory of stability, including identifying the instability he termed “tendril perversion,” explaining how vines and other biological structures twist and entangle. He has also classified nonlinear solids to determine the types of defects they can develop, and created mathematical tools to describe growth-induced instabilities in elastic materials—helping explain pattern formation in fungi and bacteria.

At Gresham College, his lecture series have explored topics including Mathematics and the Brain: How Mathematics Changed the Way We Think About Ourselves and Geometry in Nature.

The David Crighton Medal is awarded jointly by the London Mathematical Society and the Institute of Mathematics and its Applications. The award ceremony and Crighton Lecture will take place in spring 2026.

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