Niharika Paul

My name is Niharika Paul and I am a PhD student in Irem Portakal’s group Interdisciplinary Frontiers of Algebraic Geometry and Simon Telen’s Numerical Algebraic Geometry group.

I completed a Bachelor's degree from the University of Oxford before joining the MPI on a Bachelor’s studies scholarship last October. Over the course of the last year, I took courses in both the MPI and the University of Leipzig, before taking the exams prescribed by the doctoral committee of the university. This allowed me to start as a PhD student in the MPI last month, without having a Master’s degree.

My research interests now include algebraic combinatorics, algebraic statistics, Riemann surfaces, with a strong focus on computational aspects. I am excited to learn, over the course of my studies here, the many different ways that algebraic geometry can be applied to other areas of maths and science.

Outside of maths, I enjoy cooking, reading, travelling, and drinking all different types of tea. I find Leipzig to be a welcoming city which aptly echoes the warm environment of the MPI.