My name is Enya Hsiao. I am a PhD student of Anna Wienhard working in the group Geometry, Groups and Dynamics. Prior to moving to Leipzig with Anna Wienhard in October 2023, I was based at the University of Heidelberg.

In my research, I mainly study Higgs bundles. The moduli space of Higgs bundles is a quasi-projective variety that can be identified with the character variety, a space consisting of surface group representations and the object of interest to many in our group, via the nonabelian Hodge correspondence. In a somewhat different direction, Higgs bundles play a significant role in mirror symmetry and the geometric Langlands correspondence.

Although I am curious about a broad range of topics from literature, linguistics to astronomy, my interest in mathematics actually developed relatively late in life. As a child, I was very much drawn to theoretically physics. It was only upon studying general relativity in university that I discovered an enthusiasm for geometry and topology. One thing I particularly like about the mathematics community is that it is welcoming to diverse individuals from all kinds of backgrounds with various approaches to problem solving.