Two New MATH+/BMS Dirichlet Postdocs
The MATH+/BMS Dirichlet Postdoctoral Program offers two-year positions for early-stage postdoctoral researchers from around the world across all fields of mathematics. MATH+ and the BMS support these researcher development into independent scientists, helping them further qualify for their future careers and gain international visibility. We are pleased to announce that two new BMS Dirichlet Postdoctoral Fellows have taken up their postdoc positions in Berlin. We warmly welcome Lucía Martín Merchán and Martin Winter to the MATH+ community and wish them the very best for their research stay at Technische Universität Berlin and Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin.
The Dirichlet Postdoctoral Fellows pursue their research agendas while exploring their individual research interests. Berlin’s extensive mathematical community provides them with access to the latest advancements in their respective fields. They will also receive support in establishing collaborative networks, both nationally and internationally, and benefit from engaging with research groups in related or diverse areas. Furthermore, the postdoctoral researchers will have abundant opportunities to acquire teaching, supervision, and mentoring experience within the framework of MATH+ and the BMS.
Lucía Martín Merchán:
Lucía Martín Merchán obtained a Bachelor’s Degree from the University of Málaga and a Master’s Degree from the Complutense University of Madrid. In December 2021, she completed her PhD at the University of Málaga with a thesis entitled “Spin(7) Structures, Spinors, and Nilmanifolds”. This research focused on geometric structures on Riemannian manifolds and incorporated techniques from related fields, including orbifolds, Lie groups, spin geometry, and rational homotopy theory.
After her PhD, Martín Merchán worked as a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Turin (Italy) and the University of Waterloo (Canada). During this time, her research delved into 7- and 8-dimensional compact Riemannian manifolds with exceptional holonomy metrics. Her most recent project examined whether these manifolds are “formal,” a concept rooted in rational homotopy theory, while also investigating their submanifolds and the geometrical properties of certain associated bundles.
At BMS, she is looking forward to continuing her work on open questions related to her previous research and further developing her understanding of the gauge-theoretical aspects of manifolds with exceptional holonomy through collaboration with Thomas Walpuski’s research group. Reflecting on the Dirichlet Postdoc Fellowship, she shared: “I am very excited about the opportunity to broaden my research perspective and become part of the MATH+/BMS community!”
More information on Lucía Martín Merchán’s personal homepage
Martin Winter:
Martin Winter obtained a Bachelor’s Degree in Computational Science and a Master’s Degree in Mathematics with Computer Science, both from TU Chemnitz. He earned his PhD in Mathematics at TU Chemnitz in 2021 with a thesis titled „Spectral Realizations of Symmetric Graphs, Spectral Polytopes, and Edge-Transitivity.“ This work was conducted within the group “Algorithmic and Discrete Mathematics” and explored connections between spectral graph theory, polyhedral geometry, and symmetry in graphs.
Following his PhD, Martin Winter held a postdoctoral position at the University of Warwick (UK), where he focused on discrete geometry and spectral graph theory. He is now a Dirichlet Postdoc Fellow at TU Berlin in Martin Henk’s research group and a guest researcher at the Max-Planck-Institute for Mathematics in the Sciences (MPI-MiS) in Leipzig. His research centers on the Wachspress Geometry of convex polytopes, specifically the Wachspress coordinates, which form a bridge between algebra, geometry, combinatorics, and rigidity theory. Martin Winter is also engaged in the formalization of polytope theory using the proof assistant Lean and is a principal investigator in the DFG priority program “Combinatorial Synergies.”
During his time at BMS, he aims to advance his research on Wachspress Geometry while strengthening collaborations in polyhedral combinatorics and geometry. Speaking about his experience as a Dirichlet Postdoc Fellow, he noted: “Here in Berlin, I am working amidst the leading researchers in the field of polyhedral combinatorics and geometry. Especially, TU Berlin and FU Berlin offer great opportunities for collaboration, and I am happy that MATH+ and the BMS foster interactions between the universities. I am also currently teaching a course in rigidity theory. It is great that the Dirichlet Fellowship offers the opportunity to teach a subject of one’s own choice.”
More information on Martin Winter’s personal homepage