The 13th Heidelberg Laureate Forum has officially begun!

On Sunday, September 13, the Opening Ceremony of the 13th HLF took place in the New Auditorium of Heidelberg University.

Check out the video above or head to our YouTube channel for some snapshots of the day’s events!

200 young researchers in mathematics and computer science from over 50 nations around the world were in attendance, as were 21 laureates of the most distinguished prizes in those disciplines.

In a video message delivered at the Opening Ceremony, Dorothee Bär, Germany's Federal Minister of Research, Technology, and Space, commended the HLF for its work and emphasized the importance of mathematics: 

"Here, young researchers get to meet some of the greatest minds in their field. And the kind of knowledge you simply can't read in a paper gets passed on here – in person from one generation to the next.

"This Forum also shows something else: mathematics is the universal language. A theorem proved in one country is equally true in every other. A proof convinces anyone willing to have a look at it, no matter where they are from. That's what makes your fields a meeting point for the whole world, and this Forum a place where that understanding actually happens. Mathematics has outlived every border ever drawn around it. Please keep it that way."

Photos from the 13th HLF, updated daily, can be found on the HLF’s Flickr page.

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We look forward to an exciting week with all of you!