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24/07/2023 29/07/2023

Summer School on the History of Space in Mathematics and Physics

The Max Planck Institute for Mathematics in the Sciences in Leipzig organizes a Summer School on the History of Space in Mathematics and Physics. The School deals with the history of the notion of space and its uses in the sciences. It will address topics such as the development of the concept of space from the Renaissance to the modern age, the birth of the notion of a mathematical space, the Newton-Leibniz debate on the nature of space, Kant’s theory of space and the foundations of physics, the further debates on non-Euclidean geometry and absolute space in the 19th century, the role of space in relativity theory and the epistemological discussions in the 1920s and 1930s, space in quantum mechanics, and some contemporary perspectives on cosmology and astrophysics. 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 obtained their PhD at most five years ago and whose main field of research are the theory and history of space (in mathematics, physics, philosophy).

The School will take place in Leipzig from Monday, the 24th of July, to Saturday, the 29th of July, 2023. The six days of the School are dedicated to an intensive series of lectures and discussions on various aspects of the history of the notion of space, given by leading experts in the field.

The seven professors lecturing at the School are:

  • Vincenzo De Risi (Laboratoire SPHère, France / MPIWG, Germany)
  • Brigitte Falkenburg (TU Dortmund, Germany)
  • Jürgen Jost (MPI MiS, Germany)
  • Claus Kiefer (University of Cologne, Germany)
  • David Marshall Miller (Auburn University, USA)
  • Thomas Ryckman (Stanford University, USA)
  • Jeffrey Weeks (Geometry Games)


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.


WARNING: Please be wary if a company directly contacts you regarding payment for accommodation in Leipzig: this is fraud / phishing.


The deadline for applications has been extended to March 27th, 2023. The outcome of the evaluation process will be communicated by mid April, 2023 at the latest.

  • Master students should provide:
    • a letter of intent explaining their interest in the theory and history of space;
    • a Curriculum Vitae;
    • a letter of recommendation by their supervisor.
  • PhD students should provide:
    • a letter of intent explaining their interest in the theory and history of space;
    • 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 theory and history of space;
    • 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 in this language.

For questions concerning the School, please contact

  • Antje Vandenberg

The organizers

  • Vincenzo De Risi
  • Jürgen Jost

Speakers

Brigitte Falkenburg

TU Dortmund, Germany

Jürgen Jost

Max Planck Institute for Mathematics in the Sciences, Germany

Claus Kiefer

University of Cologne, Germany

David Marshall Miller

Auburn University, USA

Thomas Ryckman

Stanford University, USA

Jeffrey Weeks

Geometry Games, USA

Program

08:30 - 20:00

Participants

Wanjun Ai

Max-Planck-Institut für Mathematik in den Naturwissenschaften, Germany

Lukas Barth

MPI MiS, Germany

Pedro Brandão

Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Pablo Caballero

University of Sevilla, Spain

Gabriele Cafiero

Scuola Normale Superiore, Italy

Daniel Camesella

Universidad de Sevilla, Spain

Olivier Claude

ULB, Belgium

Vincenzo De Risi

Laboratoire SPHère, France

Fabio DI NOCERA

Max Planck Institute for Mathematics in the Sciences, Germany

Alvaro Diaz-Ruelas

MPI fuer Mathematik in den Naturwissenschaften, Germany

Marzieh Eidi

SCaDS AI/ MPI institute, Germany

Jeffrey Elawani

University McMaster (On, Canada)/ Université de Paris Cité (Paris), France

Fatemeh Fahimi Sheyjani

ScaDS.AI, Uni Leipzig, & MPI MiS, Germany

Brigitte Falkenburg

TU Dortmund, Germany

Corentin Fève

Nantes University, France

Angel Garcia Chung

Tecnológico de Monterrey, Mexico

Luca Gasparinetti

University of Italian Switzerland, Switzerland

Scott Harkema

Ohio State University, USA

Mahmoud Jalloh

University of Southern California, USA

Jürgen Jost

Max Planck Institute for Mathematics in the Sciences, Germany

Claus Kiefer

University of Cologne, Germany

Brendan Kolb

Princeton University, USA

Eeshan Kumar

San Francisco State University, USA

Federico Laudisa

University of Trento, Italy

Phillip Levin

Arizona State University, USA

Junyu Li

MPI for evolutionary anthropology, Germany

Ruowei Li

MPI for Mathematics in the Sciences, Germany

Qiu Lin

Cornell University, USA

Jesse Loi

The Ohio State University, USA

Duc Luu

MPI MIS, Germany

William Marsolek

The Ohio State University, USA

David Marshall Miller

Auburn University, USA

Luca Molinari

Scuola Normale Superiore, Italy

Nicolas Noldus

ENS Ulm, France

Carlo Petronio

Università di Pisa, Italy

William Phillips

University of California, Berkeley, USA

Renata Possobon

UNICAMP + MPI MiS

Armin Pournaki

MPI MiS, Germany

Maria Alejandra Ramirez

MPI MiS & MPI EvolBio, Germany

Guillermo Restrepo

MPI-MiS, Germany

Michelle Roost

Max Planck Institute for Mathematics in the Sciences, Germany

Thomas Ryckman

Stanford University, USA

Simone Salzano

University of Italian Switzerland, Switzerland

Pia Schneider

University of California, Berkeley, USA

Julia Struwe

Universität Bielefeld, Germany

Diaaeldin Taha

Mathematisches Institut der Universität Heidelberg, Germany

Marie Teich

MiS, Germany

Yi Shee Gerald Teng

Tufts University, USA

Daniel Usma Gomez

University of Lorraine ; Archives Henri Poincaré PReST, France

Michael Veldman

Duke University, USA

Tao Wang

MPI for Mathematics in the Sciences, Germany

Jeffrey Weeks

Geometry Games, USA

Eliška Wichterlová

Boston University, USA

Scientific Organizers

Vincenzo De Risi

Laboratoire SPHère (Paris), France and MPIWG, Germany

Jürgen Jost

Max Planck Institute for Mathematics in the Sciences (Leipzig), Germany

Administrative Contact

Antje Vandenberg

Max Planck Institute for Mathematics in the Sciences, Germany Contact via Mail