Cathay Capital Partners with IHES to Support Basic Scientific Research

From left to right in the picture above: Mingpo Cai, Founder and Chairman of Cathay Capital and Cathay Innovation Fund, Emmanuel Ullmo, Director of the Institut des Hautes Études Scientifiques (IHES), and Denis Barrier, Managing Partner of Cathay Capital and Co-founder of Cathay Innovation Fund.

On July 21, 2026, the Institut des Hautes Études Scientifiques (referred to as "IHES") announced that Cathay Capital has officially joined its community of supporters, committing to continuously support IHES in carrying out research and exchanges in basic science fields such as mathematics and theoretical physics over the next decade.

This ten-year-long commitment not only provides sustained and stable support for IHES, but also reflects Cathay Capital's profound understanding of the value of basic science, academic freedom, and long-term exploration.

The relevant support will be mainly used to fund academic visits by scholars who conduct collaborative research with Hong Wang, a permanent professor of mathematics at IHES, to the institute, creating more stable conditions for cutting-edge mathematical research, international academic exchanges, and long-term cooperation.

Founded in 1958, IHES is one of the most influential independent research institutions in the field of global basic science research. The institute has long been rooted in academic freedom, providing outstanding scientists from all over the world with a highly focused research environment free from the influence of short-term goals, allowing them to continuously explore the most fundamental and most challenging scientific problems.

For IHES, long-term and stable social support is an important foundation for safeguarding this rare research environment. Especially against the backdrop of the long cycle of basic science research and the difficulty of pre-measuring results, a commitment spanning ten years has particularly important significance. It is not only about the funds themselves, but also represents that supporters are willing to give researchers full trust, time, and freedom.

As an investment institution that connects China, Europe, and the global innovation ecosystem, Cathay Capital has long focused on technological and ideological forces that can drive profound social progress. This support for IHES also embodies Cathay Capital's consistent long-termism: respecting the law of knowledge accumulation, and supporting explorations that have not yet shown immediate returns but may reshape the boundaries of science and technology in the future.

Mingpo Cai, Founder and Chairman of Cathay Capital, said: "Cathay has always believed that the real progress of the world comes from those who are willing to do difficult, slow, and long-term things. Basic science research may not generate immediate commercial returns, but it determines humanity's ability to understand and change the world. Mathematics is the best representative of this. It is quiet and abstract, yet forms the underlying language for the development of many sciences and technologies. Supporting IHES is the most simple practice of long-termism for the Cathay Foundation."

This cooperation is an important part of IHES' efforts to gather global long-term support forces. By joining hands with enterprises, foundations, and individuals who recognize the value of basic research, IHES can continue to safeguard a free, open, and focused scientific research environment, supporting researchers from different countries and generations to meet, exchange, and jointly expand the boundaries of human knowledge.

IHES extends its sincere gratitude to Cathay Capital and the Cathay Foundation, and is honored to welcome Cathay as an important member of the institute's long-term supporter community.