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Presidential Lectures 2025

Free public talks that spotlight groundbreaking research.

This series spotlights groundbreaking research across neuroscience and autism, physics, biology, and mathematics and computer science. Featuring leading scientists and mathematicians, these talks foster discussion and discovery within the New York City research community.

Past Events

Do Mathematicians Need Computers?

Lecture

December 3, 2025

6–7 p.m. ET

Speaker

Martin Hairer

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Trade, Borrow, or Steal: How Acquired Metabolism Drives Evolution

Lecture

November 19, 2025

6–7 p.m. ET

Speaker

Holly Moeller

A woman with long brown hair, wearing a black top and necklaces, smiles at the camera against a black background.

From Equations to Superconductors: Matter Under Pressure

Lecture

November 12, 2025

6–7 p.m. ET

Speaker

Ryotaro Arita

A man wearing glasses, a dark suit, and a patterned tie stands against a plain white background, smiling softly at the camera.

Mapping Computation on Neural Circuits

Lecture

November 5, 2025

6–7 p.m. ET

Speaker

Gilles Laurent

Older man with short gray hair and green round glasses, wearing a navy and white striped shirt, smiles slightly in a softly blurred indoor office setting.

Neural Networks for Mathematical Discovery

Lecture

October 29, 2025

6–7 p.m. ET

Speaker

Geordie Williamson

A middle-aged man with gray hair, wearing dark-rimmed glasses and a blue patterned shirt, smiles at the camera in a softly lit room with blurred windows in the background.

The Function and Evolution of the Immune System in A. thaliana

Lecture

October 22, 2025

6–7 p.m. ET

Speaker

Joy Bergelson

Joy Bergelson’s headshot.

Designing Next-Generation Superconductors through Pressure Quenching

Lecture

October 15, 2025

6–7 p.m. ET

Speaker

Lilia Boeri

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From Connectome to Computation: Linking Circuits and Behavior in the Fly

Lecture

October 8, 2025

6–7 p.m. ET

Speaker

Mala Murthy

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Where is Mathematics Going?

Lecture

September 24, 2025

6–7 p.m. ET

Speaker

Kevin Buzzard

A smiling bald man wearing a black T-shirt stands outdoors with a blurred background.

Where Did All the Dogs Come From? Dogs, Ancestors, Breeds and Genomes

Lecture

September 17, 2025

6–7 p.m. ET

Speaker

Elaine A. Ostrander

A woman with short light brown hair, wearing a blue jacket and necklace, stands indoors in front of an orange wall with diagrams.

Emergent Phenomena Under Pressure: From Hydrogen to Hot Superconductors

Lecture

September 10, 2025

6–7 p.m. ET

Speaker

Russell Hemley

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Lessons on Family Relationships From Poison Frogs

Lecture

May 14, 2025

6–7 p.m. ET

Speaker

Lauren O'Connell

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Dynamic Evolution of the Spider Silk Gene Family

Lecture

May 7, 2025

6–7 p.m. ET

Speaker

Cheryl Y. Hayashi

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Wave Localization and the Hidden Structure of Disorder

Lecture

April 30, 2025

6–7 p.m. ET

Speaker

Svitlana Mayboroda

A woman with long red hair wearing a patterned scarf and beige jacket sits in front of a blurred dark background, looking calmly at the camera.

From Quarks to Nuclei: Computing the Structure of Matter

Lecture

April 23, 2025

6–7 p.m. ET

Speaker

Phiala Shanahan

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The Neuroscience of Episodic Memory in Food-Caching Chickadees

Lecture

April 16, 2025

6–7 p.m. ET

Speaker

Dmitriy Aronov

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Databases and Discovery in Arithmetic

Lecture

April 9, 2025

6–7 p.m. ET

Speaker

Brendan Hassett

A man with glasses and graying hair smiles in front of a chalkboard filled with mathematical equations. He is wearing a blue shirt and a gray blazer.

The Evolution of Darwin’s Finches

Lecture

April 2, 2025

6–7 p.m. ET

Speaker

Peter and Rosemary Grant

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Neutron Stars: The Supranuclear-Density Zombies of the Cosmos

Lecture

March 26, 2025

6–7 p.m. ET

Speaker

Anna Watts

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Evolution of the Cerebral Cortex: From New Types of Neurons to New Cognitive Functions

Lecture

March 19, 2025

6–7 p.m. ET

Speaker

Maria Antonietta Tosches

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Verified Collaboration: How Lean is Transforming Mathematics, Programming, and AI

Lecture

March 12, 2025

6–7 p.m. ET

Speaker

Leonardo de Moura

A smiling man with glasses, a beard, and a mustache, wearing a black sweater in front of a plain light blue background.

RNA-Guided Natural Genome Editing and the Emergence of Complex Genomes

Lecture

March 5, 2025

6–7 p.m. ET

Speaker

Laura Landweber

A woman with curly brown hair smiles in a laboratory, standing beside a microscope and lab equipment. She is wearing a dark blazer and a necklace. Shelves with lab supplies are visible in the background.

Quark Matter Under Pressure: Novel Probes of Hot and Cold Quark Soup

Lecture

February 26, 2025

6–7 p.m. ET

Speaker

Krishna Rajagopal

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Machine-Assisted Proofs

Lecture

February 19, 2025

6–7 p.m. ET

Speaker

Terence Tao

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Tales of Diverse Hearing and Sound Localization Specialty: From Owls to Humans

Lecture

February 12, 2025

6–7 p.m. ET

Speaker

Jose Pena

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Real and Not Just Hopeful Monsters: Evolution by Very Large Jumps

Lecture

February 5, 2025

6–7 p.m. ET

Speaker

Dmitri Petrov

Dmitri Petrov headshot.

The Earth’s Core: The Engine of Our Planet

Lecture

January 29, 2025

6–7 p.m. ET

Speaker

Dario Alfè

A man with short, curly gray hair is smiling at the camera. He is wearing a dark jacket and a light-colored shirt. The background is plain and light-colored.

Perturbations and Climate Change Shape Dynamics of Neurons and Circuits

Lecture

January 22, 2025

6–7 p.m. ET

Speaker

Eve Marder

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