Stavros Garoufalidis

Stavros Garoufalidis is a Professor at the Southern University of Science and Technology (SUSTech) in Shenzhen, China, and an External Scientific Member at the Max-Planck-Institute for Mathematics (MPIM) in Bonn, Germany. He holds a Hirzebruch Research Chair (2018-19) and has been a Professor at Georgia Institute of Technology (2003-2019). He earned his Ph.D. in Mathematics from the University of Chicago (1992) and has held postdoctoral positions including CLE Moore Instructor at MIT (1993-95) and Tamarkin Instructor at Brown University (1995-96).

His research focuses on low-dimensional topology, quantum topology, and mathematical physics, with emphasis on knot theory, hyperbolic geometry, Chern-Simons theory, and resurgence phenomena. Key areas include colored Jones polynomials, Volume Conjecture, and connections between quantum invariants and geometric structures.

Garoufalidis has collaborated with over 70 researchers and advised multiple Ph.D. students. His awards include the Bronze medal at the 1998 IMO, American Mathematical Society Centennial Fellowship (1998-2000), Simons Foundation Fellowship (2013), and Simons Guggenheim Fellowship (2012).

He is affiliated with the International Center for Mathematics at SUSTech and leads research groups exploring topics like 3D-index, quantum modular forms, and topological recursion. His work bridges topology, geometry, and mathematical physics through interdisciplinary approaches.