2018

Prof Gustav Holzegel, at the time at Imperial College in London, has been awarded a Consolidator Grant by the European Research Council (ERC). The mathematician who carries out research at our Cluster of Excellence Mathematics Münster is working on the "Black hole stability problem and the analysis of asymptotically anti-de Sitter spacetimes". For his ERC project, starting in November, he will be receiving around 2 million euros for the next five years.

A decision has been reached in the first funding line, “Cluster of Excellence”, in the Excellence Strategy being pursued by the national and state governments in Germany. In the competition, the University of Münster was successful with two of the three Cluster applications it submitted. The following Clusters of Excellence will receive funding for a period of seven years, with effect from 1 January 2019: “Religion and Politics. Dynamics of Tradition and Innovation” and “Mathematics Münster. Dynamics – Geometry – Structure”.

The PhD thesis of Dr. Barbara Verfürth from the Institute of Analysis and Numerics demonstrates pioneering mathematical work by making her the first person to calculate the connection between materials and their refraction. This fundamental work in the field of mathematics can help later in developing high-resolution microscopes – or in improving sound-absorbing walls, which are important for good acoustics in concert halls or recording studios.

Hours of contemplation, approaching a solution in small steps, and a healthy scepticism towards computer-generated results. In these guest articles, two mathematicians at the University of Münster, Dr. Franziska Jahnke und Dr. Mira Schedensack, explain what mathematical research means to them and what the aim of this research is. Both undertake research and teaching at the University of Münster within the framework of the MATHRIX junior professorships, which were established in 2017 to promote gender equality in mathematics.

After ten years, Prof. Raimar Wulkenhaar from the University of Münster’s Mathematical Institute and his colleague Dr. Erik Panzer from the University of Oxford have solved a mathematical equation which was considered to be unsolvable. The equation is to be used to find answers to questions posed by elementary particle physics. In this interview with Christina Heimken, Wulkenhaar looks back on the challenges encountered in looking for the formula for a solution and he explains why the work is not yet finished.

Artur Bartels, Eva Viehmann (Technical University of Munich), and Wilhelm Winter, members of the Cluster of Excellence Mathematics Münster, have been invited to present their research at the International Congress of Mathematicians (ICM) in Rio de Janeiro. The ICM takes place every four years and is the oldest, largest, and most significant event in mathematics.

The North Rhine-Westphalian Academy of Sciences and Arts has admitted mathematician Prof. Dr. Burkhard Wilking as a member. Academy President Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Löwer presented the membership certificates at the annual celebration on 16 May in the presence of North Rhine-Westphalia's Minister-President Armin Laschet and the NRW Minister for Culture and Science, Isabel Pfeiffer-Poensgen.

Professor Eva Viehmann, at the time Technical University of Munich, receives a Consolidator Grant from the European Research Council (ERC). The mathematician, who conducts research at the Cluster of Excellence Mathematics Münster, is focusing on "Newton Strata - Geometry and Representations." For her ERC project, which starts in June, she will receive approximately 1.2 million euros over the next five years.