A Fascinating Lecture on Probability and Statistics with Grégory Miermont at LFIK!

On Friday, November 7, 2025, the Lycée Français International de Kyoto had the honor of welcoming Mr. Grégory Miermont, a renowned mathematician and professor of probability at the École normale supérieure de Lyon, for a captivating lecture for our high school students.

Accompanied by our teachers Mr. Jean-François Berbon, Ms. Marie Duaut, Ms. Déborah Daas (mathematics), and Mr. Antoine Boyer (science), Mr. Miermont immersed students in the world of probability, statistics, and their concrete applications.

The students explored fundamental concepts such as the law of large numbers, illustrated through the example of flipping a coin, showing how the frequency of an event stabilizes over a large number of trials. Mr. Miermont also emphasized the importance of caution when interpreting probabilistic data, notably referring to a striking case from the 1990s involving statistics and miscarriages of justice.

The lecture continued with enlightening demonstrations on the probabilities related to gender at birth and concluded in a playful and memorable way with a card magic trick, interactively illustrating the principles of probability. The students’ enthusiasm was palpable.

A big thank you to Mr. Grégory Miermont for this enriching and inspiring lecture. His clear teaching approach and the relevance of his examples greatly engaged our students, who participated actively by asking many questions. The session ended with enthusiastic applause from the students, a clear sign of its success.