The distinguished public lecture  series is in honour of renowned theoretical physicist Prof. David I. Olive  CBE, FRS, FLSW (1937-2012), founding member of the Swansea Particle Physics Theory group.

Professor ROBBERT DIJKGRAAF, FRSE   presently the Director of the Institute for Advanced Study at Princeton is an eminent theoretical physicist whose research encompasses the interface of mathematics and physics, particularly within string theory and quantum field theory and their relation to geometry.   He has also delved into quantum properties of Black Holes and shown how their  thermodynamical properties arise from precise quantum mechanical mathematical counting formulae. For his distinguished scientific achievements, Prof. Dijkgraaf was awarded the Spinoza Prize, the highest scientific award in the Netherlands,  in 2003. He has served as the President of the Royal Netherlands Academy of the Arts and Sciences, and was named Knight of the Order of the Netherlands Lion.  In addition to being a renowned mathematical physicist, Prof. Dijkgraaf is a passionate science communicator  and educator to the wider public, and a champion of curiosity-driven research which leads not only to the greatest scientific discoveries  but also to the most revolutionary technological breakthroughs.