Australians picked to attend top German science forum

The 3rd Heidelberg Laureate Forum (HLF) will offer 200 promising young researchers the chance to meet and network with the winners of the most prestigious prizes in their fields. Four lucky Australians have been selected to attend this year’s event.

From 23-28 August, 100 mathematicians and 100 computer scientists will meet and interact with more than 20 laureates in their disciplines - winners of such top international awards as the Fields medal and the Abel, Turing and Nevanlinna prizes. The laureates will mentor and exchange knowledge with young researchers through lectures, workshops and social events.

One of the Australian attendees is Dr Philipp Bader, a mathematics researcher at La Trobe University. His special research interest is the geometric integration of differential equations, with Dr Bader stating, “These equations are the centrepiece of most engineering and scientific research.

“The aim is to design new methods that provide accuracy using fewer steps, to achieve the important goal of more efficient, high-speed computation,” he continued.

By attending the HLF, Dr Bader will experience a combination of scientific, social and outreach activities in an informal atmosphere. The forum has been described as “unique” by Dr Bader’s supervisor, Professor Reinout Quispel, who said the event “gives young mathematicians both a detailed and wider view of what a career in high-level maths might look like”.

Image caption: Professor Reinout Quispel and postdoctoral researcher Dr Philipp Bader.