Summer School on the Foundations of Geometry in Historical Perspective

The Max Planck Institute for Mathematics in the Sciences in Leipzig organizes a Summer School on the Foundations of Geometry in Historical Perspective. The School deals with a selection of topics in history of geometry, philosophy of geometry, and the history and the contemporary perspectives on the foundations of geometry. The School is open to PhD students writing a dissertation in any of the related field, as well as to Master Students in their final years who have a strong interest in the discipline, and post-doctoral researchers who have obtained their PhD since no more than five years and whose main field of research are the history and the foundations of geometry.

The School will take place in Leipzig from Monday, the 2nd of July, to Saturday, the 7th of July, 2018. The six days of the School are dedicated to an intensive series of lectures and discussions on various aspects of the history of the foundations of geometry, given by leading experts in the field.

The six professors lecturing at the School are:

• Andrew Arana (Université Pantheon-Sorbonne)
• Vincenzo De Risi (CNRS, Paris)
• Jeremy Gray (Open University, Milton Keynes)
• Gerhard Heinzmann (Archives Poincaré, Nancy)
• Jürgen Jost (MPI MiS, Leipzig)
• Victor Pambuccian (Arizona State University, Phoenix)

A trip to Dresden will be arranged for all participants on Thursday, the 5th of July, to visit the Mathematisch-Physikalischer Salon (Royal Cabinet of Mathematical and Physical Instruments) in the Zwinger Palace.

The organizers of the School will take care of the accommodation of all the participants in Leipzig, of the morning and afternoon tea/coffee breaks as well as lunches during the days of the School.

Limited funds are available to cover the travel expenses to Leipzig from abroad. Please specify your financial needs in the application form.

Applications may be submitted electronically by April 2nd, 2018. The outcome of the evaluation process will be communicated by April 25th, 2018 at the latest.

• Master students should provide:
  • a letter of intent explaining their interest in the foundations of geometry;
  • a Curriculum Vitae;
  • a letter of recommendation by their supervisor.
• PhD students should provide:
  • a letter of intent explaining their interest in the foundations of geometry;
  • a Curriculum Vitae, including a list of publications (if any);
  • a five-page exposé of their dissertation, as well as the names of their supervisors.
• Post-doctoral researchers should provide:
  • a letter of intent explaining their interest in the foundations of geometry;
  • a Curriculum Vitae, including a list of publications;
  • a writing sample (a paper or a chapter of the dissertation).

The relevant documents may be written in English, French, or German. All the lectures and discussions of the School will be in English, and the applicants are requested to be able to explain their views on geometry in this language.

The Summer School is supported by SPHère.

For questions concerning the School, please contact

• Antje Vandenberg

The organizers

• Vincenzo De Risi
• Jürgen Jost