1964-

Russian mathematician who received his Ph.D. from the University of Bonn, Germany, in 1992. He has established a reputation in pure mathematics and theoretical physics and in 1998 was awarded the Fields Medal for work in string theory, quantum field theory, and knot theory. Mathematicians are looking for ways of classifying knots, as there are scientific applications in cosmology, statistical mechanics, and genetics. Kontsevich taught at the Institut des Hautes Etudes Scientifiques in France.