Didier Sornette Keynote Speaker

  • Professor of Entrepreneurial Risks, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich (ETH Zurich) (2006-present)
  • Director, Financial Crisis Observatory (2008-present)
  • Co-founder, ETH Risk Center (2011)

Didier Sornette's Biography

Prof. Dr. Didier Sornette, Professor of Entrepreneurial Risks at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich (ETH Zurich), is an expert in exploring data patterns to help predict crises and extreme events in complex systems, like global financial crises, with particular applications to risk assessment in economics and technology.

Didier is Director of the Financial Crisis Observatory, a project to test the hypothesis that markets can be predictable, especially during bubbles. He has introduced the concept of Dragon-Kings, an extension of the king effect, a theory to predict crises such as economic bubbles, social disruptions, engineering failures, epileptic seizures and more. In 2004, he used Amazon.com sales data to create a mathematical model for predicting best-seller potential based on very early sales results.

In 2019, Dr. Sornette founded the Institute of Risk Analysis, Prediction and Management, at the Academy for Advanced Interdisciplinary Studies, Southern University of Science and Technology.

From April 2019 until January 2023, Dr Sornette worked as an advisor to the global earthquake forecasting system, RichterX, the first fully operational real-time predictive earthquake system.

Didier is an elected Member of Academia Europaea (elected as a full member “class of August 2020”) and Member of the Swiss Academy of Engineering Sciences (Schweizerische Akademie der Technischen Wissenschaften, SATW), as of November 2019. In 2013, Didier was elected to the rank of AAAS (American Association for the Advancement of Science) Fellow for “scientifically or socially distinguished efforts on behalf of the advancement of science or its applications”.

He has co-authored 11 books, including ‘Critical Risks of Different Economic Sectors’ (2020), ‘New Ways and Needs for Exploiting Nuclear Energy’ (2018) and ‘Man-made catastrophes and risk information concealment’ (2015). He also has 800 publications in international journals with reviews.

Read More

Videos of Didier Sornette

TEDtalk: How we can predict the next financial crisis (2013)
TEDtalk: How we can predict the next financial crisis (2013)
Pop Tech! Predicting Risk (2012)
Pop Tech! Predicting Risk (2012)
Approaches to Risk & Predictability (2014)
Approaches to Risk & Predictability (2014)

Articles, Media & Podcasts

Books by Didier Sornette

Critical Risks of Different Economic Sectors
New Ways and Needs for Exploiting Nuclear Energy
Man-made Catastrophes and Risk Information Concealment

Comments & Testimonials

Didier Sornette has immersed his life in risk." Wall Street Journal

Check Didier Sornette's speaking fees and availability

    Sending your message…

    Please wait, this can take a moment

    Message sent…

    Close

    Please provide your details and we’ll get in touch as soon as possible.

    We can only respond to requests for professional speaking engagements. We are unable to respond to requests for autographs, shoutouts and personalized messages.

    View our related Speakers

    Richard Davies Speaker
    Exclusive
    Richard Davies
    Award winning author, Director- Economics Observatory, Professor of Economics- Bristol University, Fellow at LSE's Centre for Economic Performance
    Bill Hayton Speaker
    Exclusive
    Bill Hayton
    Geopolitics Expert of Southeast Asia
    Kwasi Kwarteng speaking
    Kwasi Kwarteng Speaker
    Exclusive
    Kwasi Kwarteng
    Former UK Chancellor of the Exchequer
    Martin Wolf Speaker
    Exclusive
    Martin Wolf
    Associate Editor and Chief Economics commentator, Financial Times
    julian king
    Julian King Speaker
    Exclusive
    Julian King
    EU Commissioner for the Security Union (2016-2019)
    Alex Salmond speaking
    Alex Salmond Speaker
    Exclusive
    Alex Salmond
    Former First Minister of Scotland (2007-2014)
    Tom Wright Speaker
    Exclusive
    Tom Wright
    Bestselling author & Investigative journalist
    Henry Curr Speaker
    Exclusive
    Henry Curr
    Economics Editor, The Economist
    George Parker Speaker
    Exclusive
    George Parker
    Political Editor at The Financial Times
    David Pilling Speaker
    Exclusive
    David Pilling
    Associate Editor & Africa Editor - Financial Times