The 2026 Singapore-Abu Dhabi-Shanghai-India (SASI) Workshop on Probability opened at NYU Shanghai on May 25, bringing together leading scholars for a week of research exchange in probability and statistical physics. This year’s workshop also carried a special significance, celebrating the work and influence of Professor Charles Newman on the occasion of his 80th birthday.
The workshop was hosted by the NYU Shanghai Mathematics Institute and spearheaded by a global organizing committee featuring NYU Shanghai’s Alejandro Ramirez (Area Head of Mathematics) and Pierre Tarrès (Director of the Mathematics Institute), alongside international partners Rongfeng Sun and Adrian Roellin (National University of Singapore), Federico Camia (NYU Abu Dhabi), and Siva Athreya (ICTS Bangalore).
Topics ranged from critical percolation, Gaussian free fields, conformal field theory, and the Ising model to random walks, stochastic dynamics, spin glasses, high-dimensional critical phenomena, and Liouville models, reflecting the breadth of current research in probability and statistical physics.
In his welcome remarks, NYU Shanghai Vice Chancellor Jeffrey Lehman heralded Professor Newman, who serves as Silver Professor of Mathematics at NYU’s Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences at New York University and Affiliated Professor of Mathematics at NYU Shanghai, as one of the scholars who helped shape NYU Shanghai’s early academic ambitions in mathematics. “None of the stars at Courant shines brighter than Chuck,” he said, as he reflected on the role Professor Newman played in connecting the young university with the intellectual strength of NYU’s Courant Institute. He added that Professor Newman’s influence helped NYU Shanghai build a strong research culture and gain visibility in the global mathematics community.
NYU Shanghai Provost Bei Wu highlighted the workshop as both a research gathering and a tribute to Professor Newman’s broader impact as a scholar, mentor, and institution-builder. “Research discoveries change how we understand the world,” she said. “But helping build a community, creating an environment where ideas and people can flourish, has an impact that continues across generations.”
By combining research presentations with a celebration of Professor Newman’s academic legacy, the 2026 SASI Workshop offered participants a space not only to share recent progress in probability, but also to reflect on the communities and collaborations that make such progress possible.