WWU Research Prize for Prof. Dr. Eugen Hellmann

The Rectorate has awarded the WWU Research Prize for 2020 to Prof. Dr. Eugen Hellmann, an investigator of our Cluster of Excellence, for his outstanding achievements. The mathematician is one of the world’s leading specialists in the field of arithmetic geometry.

As a result of the Corona pandemic, the University’s management dispensed with the traditional presentation of the award during the New Year’s Reception. Instead, Rector Prof. Johannes Wessels presented the certificates in a small gathering and, together with the fellow members of the Rectorate, praised the recipients of prizes in his welcoming speech during the digital New Year’s Reception. "Eugen Hellmann’s scientific work is outstanding, and his research into arithmetic geometry delivers valuable results for mathematics worldwide," said Johannes Wessels.

The WWU Research Prize, worth 30,000 euros, is awarded for excellent, internationally recognized research work and is intended to fund further profile-building research activities undertaken by the recipient. The prize is awarded every two years.

Eugen Hellmann has been a professor at the Mathematical Institute at Münster University since 2016 and, at 34, is already one of the world’s leading experts in his field of arithmetic geometry. His work on solution sets of polynomial equation systems in rational numbers or integers does not aim to solve a concrete given equation, but rather to recognize structures and conceptual connections. Specifically, he looks at p-adic limits of automorphic forms and Galois representations, as well as at the connection between these geometric objects.

He combines different techniques from a variety of mathematical areas in a creative way, which enables him to repeatedly identify and work on new, relevant research questions. Some of his results have turned out to be groundbreaking for arithmetic geometry and have been published in leading scientific journals. Eugen Hellmann’s innovative research strengthens not only the Cluster of Excellence Mathematics Münster and the new Collaborative Research "Centre Geometry: Deformations and Rigidity" – but also, as a result, Münster as a whole as a centre of Mathematics.

Links:

On YouTube, the eulogy can be seen in the recording of the digital New Year’s Reception [de], as can a video showing Eugen Hellmann’s research work [de].

Press release [de] of the University of Münster (22 January 2021)

Portrait [de] of Eugen Hellmann in the university's newspaper "wissen I leben" 02/03 2021 (p. 3)

Personal website and contact information of Eugen Hellmann