​BBVA Foundation Leonardo Grant 2026 · Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC), Barcelona · August 2026 – January 2028

Topological recursion gives a universal framework for enumerative geometry on orientable surfaces, from intersection numbers on moduli spaces of curves to Weil–Petersson volumes, with deep links to integrability and matrix models. Its counterpart for non-orientable surfaces and real structures is still largely missing.

This project is a first, focused step in a longer-term programme on refined invariants interpolating between the orientable (b = 0) and non-orientable (b = 1) settings. It concentrates on b = 1.

Research lines:

• Real Givental–Teleman reconstruction

• Volumes of moduli spaces of Klein surfaces

• Non-orientable maps, Hurwitz covers and real symmetric matrices

Activities:

• Postdoctoral position: one year from January 2027, extendable by a second year with other funding. Applications 6–16 November 2026.

• Research stays at Nagoya University (Japan) and in Warsaw (Poland), the latter during the Simons Semester “Combinatorial Structures, Integrable Probability, and Topological Recursion” (2027).

• International conference “Mathematical physics and the future of topological recursion”, Humboldt University Berlin (2027), co-organised by the PI and marking 20 years of topological recursion.

• Workshop at UPC (2027) on geometric aspects of the project.

Team:

• PI: Elba Garcia-Failde, Ramón y Cajal researcher.

• Postdoctoral researcher: to be recruited (2027) (open call until the 16/11/26).

• PhD student: Lingxuan Wu, since August 2026.