05.11.2024 In News By rogler

New Chairs for the Berlin Excellence Cluster MATH+

From left to right: Claudia Schillings, Andrea Walther, Sebastian Pokutta

At the annual MATH+ Day on 18 October 2024, the General Assembly elected three new MATH+ Chairs: Andrea Walther (HU Berlin), Claudia Schillings (FU Berlin), and Sebastian Pokutta (TU Berlin). The General Assembly went on to give an official send-off to the former Speakers Michael Hintermüller (HU Berlin), Christof Schütte (FU Berlin), and Martin Skutella (TU Berlin), and thank them for their outstanding work since 2019.

MATH+ is a joint project of the mathematical institutes of the three universities FU Berlin, HU Berlin and TU Berlin – as well as the Weierstrass Institute for Analysis und Stochastik (WIAS) and the Zuse Institute Berlin (ZIB). Following an amendment to the MATH+ regulations, the previous construct of a Chair with two Co-Chairs will now be replaced by a Chairs Team, which will head the cluster. This is also the case for the graduate school, the Berlin Mathematical School (BMS), whose Chairs Team will consist of Gavril Farkas (HU Berlin), Holger Reich (FU Berlin) and John M. Sullivan (TU Berlin).

Introducing the new MATH+ Chairs Team:

Sebastian Pokutta is Professor for Mathematical Optimization and Machine Learning at the Technische Universität Berlin, as well as Vice President of the Zuse Institute Berlin. As a leading scientist in the areas of mathematical optimization, machine learning and artificial intelligence, he has developed numerous innovative methods which are used in diverse areas of industry and business.

Claudia Schillings is Professor for Numerical Analysis at the Freie Universität Berlin and focuses her attention on the quantification of uncertainty in inverse and optimization problems. Her research concentrates on the theory, development, and analysis of methods to deal with uncertainty in inverse and optimization problems. She works at the interface between applied mathematics and statistics and considers applications in the areas of environmental, physical, and social systems, amongst others.

New Chair Claudia Schillings

Andrea Walther heads a working group at the Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, which conducts research in the areas of nonlinear optimization and algorithmic differentiation. She dedicates herself to the development of efficient mathematical methods for solving complex optimization problems, which are significant in numerous applications in science and industry. A central element of her work is the link between theory and practice.

The MATH+ Day began with the General Assembly, at which the yearly report of the departing Speaker Michael Hintermüller was presented. There followed the send-off of the previous chairs and the new elections of the board and the new Chairs Teams.

After the General Assembly, more than 60 MATH+ research projects were presented in an extensive poster session. It is one of the highlights of the MATH+ year, at which the whole community convenes to present their scientific results, take part in discussions and find inspiration that can lead to new interdisciplinary projects.

With over 120 groups and more than 500 researchers, of which 200 are doctoral students, MATH+ covers a broad spectrum from pure mathematics research to applications in industry. The research topics cover pain medication design, sustainable and optimized travel planning, battery research for solar cells, climate change and energy themes, and dynamics of networks, for example the spread of illnesses or the distribution of information in the social networks.

The diversity of the research topics is testament to the relevance of mathematics for our society. It endeavors to comprehend and demonstrate complex systems in order to contribute to finding solutions for urgent social challenges – in accordance with the MATH+ motto “Transcending Boundaries, Transforming Worlds.“

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