Following their research stay at MATH+ in Berlin, the 2025 Hanna Neumann Fellows Monika (Indian Statistical Institute Kolkata) and Alice Marveggio (Hausdorff Center for Mathematics, Bonn) share insights into their scientific work, collaborations, and experiences in a new follow-up interview.

The MATH+ Hanna Neumann Fellowship enabled them to work with leading mathematicians in Berlin and deepen their expertise. During their fellowship, Monika collaborated with Marc Kegel, while Alice worked with Barbara Zwicknagl, both are MATH+ members at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin.

Monika’s research interests focuses on low-dimensional topology, knot theory, and contact and symplectic geometry. She is currently working on several projects related to the classification problem for Legendrian knots and 3-dimensional contact manifolds. Alice’s research lies at the intersection of partial differential equations and the calculus of variations, with a particular focus on interface evolution problems arising in continuum mechanics.

In the interview, both fellows discuss how the Berlin research environment shaped their work, highlight new collaborations and research directions that emerged during their stay, and reflect on how these experiences continue to influence their academic paths.

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The MATH+ Hanna Neumann Fellowship
The fellowship is named after the outstanding Berlin mathematician Hanna Neumann (1914–1971), who was born in Berlin and forced to leave Germany in 1938. As a mathematician, she made key contributions to group theory.

MATH+ awards two Hanna Neumann Fellowships annually to female postdoctoral researchers in recognition of outstanding work and provides funding for a research stay of up to six months.

LINKS:

• Read the full interview and learn more about their research experiences
• Read more about their journey as women in mathematics (first interview, May 2025)
• The MATH+ Hanna Neumann Fellowship