Three months full of maths - and New York
The Cluster of Excellence Mathematics Münster supports its doctoral researchers to go abroad for short intensive research stays. Julia Schleuß, who is about to finish her doctorate at the Institute for Analysis and Numerics, took the opportunity to spend time in the USA this year. In her report, she tells us about her experiences.
Julia's report:
"In spring 2022, I had the great opportunity to spend a three month research stay at the Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken, New Jersey, which is located directly at the Hudson River waterfront opposite to Manhattan, New York. The stay was funded by the MM PhD Outgoing Programme.
At Stevens, I visited my PhD co-supervisor Prof. Dr. Kathrin Smetana. During my stay, we worked on a challenging project that connects to my previous research in the field of multiscale and localized model order reduction methods.
At the institute, I was offered a workplace in an open place office. Hence, I easily got in contact with several other PhD students working at Stevens and there was always someone to spend the lunch break or to have a coffee with. I felt welcome from the first moment I arrived.
Finding an available apartment of reasonable price was quite a difficult task. But after several days of searching on airbnb, I was successful and managed to rent a nice apartment in Hoboken that was only about 12 minutes walk from the institute.
Especially after two years of pandemic, it was an overwhelming experience to explore the area in and around Manhattan and discover the culture and habits. In particular, I experienced that people are very friendly and always happy to help.
Besides fruitful and inspiring discussions about our latest mathematical problems while enjoying the view of the Hudson River, Kathrin took me to the best brunch place in Manhattan, had amazing tips for sightseeing, and we spent an exciting weekend in Washington DC.
As another highlight of my stay, I was offered the opportunity to travel to Albuquerque in New Mexico to participate in the academic and research career workshop "Rising Stars in Computational and Data Sciences" that is especially tailored to female early career researchers.
The atmosphere at the workshop was very stimulating and I made many new contacts and further expanded my research network.
After my research stay, my family came to visit me. Before traveling back to Germany, we had an exciting road trip along the west coast in California and I was able to explore even more of the country.
It was an amazing time that I will never forget and I would do it again any time!"
About the programme "PhD Outgoing"
Doctoral researchers of Mathematics Münster are supported by the Cluster of Excellence to go abroad for up to 6 months for short intensive research stays, for in-depth collaborations on projects and to strengthen the international research networks.
Links:
MM PhD Outgoing Programme (access only for MM members)