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Press Reports
Cellular Cartography - Charting the Sizes and Abundance of Our Body's Cells Reveals Mathematical Order Underlying Life (19.09.2023)
International scientists unveil the first human cell index, mapping cell size and abundance throughout the body. In a landmark PNAS study, they uncover surprising mathematical patterns that challenge our basic understanding of cellular organization.
What do neurons, fireflies and dancing the Nutbush have in common? (08.09.2023)
Synchronicity is all around us, but it is poorly understood. Jürgen Jost, Joseph Lizier, and colleagues have now developed new tools to understand how human and natural networks fall in and out of sync.
Social media for more democracy - Million-euro funding for project to study the impact of social media on society and politics (25.04.2023)
Social media is an increasingly important element of public discourse and has gained enormous influence in recent years. A research project coordinated by MiS explores the communication mechanisms in social media and their impact on political discourse and liberal democracy.
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Fascinated by symmetries - Anna Wienhard appointed director at the Max Planck Institute for Mathematics in the Sciences (02.11.2022)
We are delighted to welcome Prof. Anna Wienhard as our new Max Planck director! Her newly established research group focuses on fundamental research in the areas of geometry, group theory, and dynamics, explores applications and interactions with other sciences, and engages in science communication.
Get a glimpse into her work and passion for mathematics >>>
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Understanding social dilemmas through games - The development of moral norms encourages selfless behavior (30.09.2022)
Mohammad Salahshour has addressed the question of how individual strategic choices, social norms, and morality influence the decision-making process. His game-theory-based approach elucidates how the complexity of real-world strategic settings can lead to the evolution of moral norms, which help societies to better govern themselves by channeling individuals’ decision-making in the interest of groups.
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Space determines the arrangement — Researchers study historical developments of the periodic system of chemical elements (01.08.2022)
A team of researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Mathematics in the Sciences and the University of Leipzig provides computational approaches that explain the development of the first periodic systems. Their results are relevant for both the history of science and the future expansion of chemical knowledge.
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László Székelyhidi is appointed director at the Max Planck Institute for Mathematics in the Sciences (14.07.2022)
The Leipzig mathematician and university professor László Székelyhidi was appointed director at the MPI MiS. Prof. Székelyhidi's research focuses on partial differential equations and the calculus of variations and their application in fluid mechanics, elasticity theory, and differential geometry. These topics form the basis of his newly established research group at our Institute.
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Teubner Foundation Science Award goes to Michael Struwe (30.06.2022)
The Teubner Foundation honors Prof. Michael Struwe with the 2022 Prize for the Promotion of Mathematical Sciences. The public award ceremony with laudation by Jürgen Jost and a keynote lecture will take place on Friday, July 8 at 4:30 p.m. at the University of Leipzig. In the morning, Michael Struwe will give a lecture at the Max Planck Institute, which can be attended online.
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Human activity has altered an ocean-wide law of nature (11.11.2021)
In a worldwide collaboration, environmental scientists assessed the even distribution of aquatic biomass among size classes, from bacteria to whales, for the first time on a global scale. Their quantification of human impact reveals a dramatic shift in one of the most significant scale patterns in nature.
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Perfectly linked — Minerva Fast Track Fellowship for the study of networks (01.09.2021)
Dr. Raffaella Mulas was awarded a Minerva Fast Track position by the Max Planck Society to establish her first own research group at the Max Planck Institute for Mathematics in the Sciences in Leipzig. The young and promising mathematician is honored for her excellent research on networks, focusing on the spectral theory of graphs and hypergraphs.
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Precise and fast – how mathematical methods from nonlinear algebra ensure an effective handling of huge amounts of data (29.03.2021)
The constant creation of information and its corresponding data are one of the hallmarks of the 21st century. A newly founded Emmy Noether Research Group at the Max Planck Institute for Mathematics in the Sciences focuses on the interpretation, effective handling and usage of these huge amounts of data. By applying mathematical theories and developing appropriate software, the scientists aim to contribute to solving complex problems in nonlinear algebra and making the theoretical foundations applicable in various fields of the sciences.
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Its curvature foreshadows the next financial bubble (16.03.2021)
An international team of interdisciplinary researchers has identified mathematical metrics to characterize the fragility of financial markets. Their paper “Network geometry and market instability“ sheds light on the higher-order architecture of financial systems and allows analysts to identify systemic risks like market bubbles or crashes.
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With Number 9 to the SIGEST Award (01.03.2021)
Michael Joswig was awarded the prestigious SIGEST award by the Society of Industrial and Applied Mathematics (SIAM) for the paper "Log-barrier interior point methods are not strongly polynomial". The paper, which deals with a special problem for solving linear programs, is considered one of the most outstanding recent articles in the SIAM journals.
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Belowground biodiversity in motion (25.02.2021)
Global change is expected to increase the diversity of bacteria at the local level, while their composition will become more uniform at the global level. This is the finding of a team of researchers involving the Max Planck Institute for Mathematics in the Sciences, the German Center for Integrative Biodiversity Research, Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg and the University of Leipzig. The researchers have – for the first time – holistically assessed how climate and land use changes affect bacterial communities in soil.
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Wolfgang Hackbusch receives most highly endowed prize for Mathematics in Germany (27.11.20)
The Carl Friedrich von Siemens foundation awards director emeritus Wolfgang Hackbusch of the MPI MiS the Heinz Gumin prize for mathematics. The foundation distinguishes his pioneering contributions to numerical mathematics especially regarding the progress on H-matrices and hierarchical tensors.

Dr. Noémie Combe on the fast track to structural unification (14.04.2020)
The mathematician Dr. Noémie Combe was awarded a Minerva Fast Track position by the Max Planck Society. The young scientist is honored for her promising research at the intersection of algebraic geometry and topology and is given the opportunity to set up her first research group at the Max Planck Institute for Mathematics in the Sciences in Leipzig. The young researcher also gave an interesting exposé on her research in a video portrait.
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Gleaning the best of out of bad data - Predictions for the epidemiological control of COVID-19 (02.04.2020)

Scientists from the Max Planck Institute for Mathematics in the Sciences in Leipzig provide a regularly updated statistical analysis of the growth trends of the corona pandemic. Through a better understanding of its spread, they aim to support decision-making with regard to existing and future measures
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Gmelin-Beilstein medal will be awarded to Guillermo Restrepo (27.02.2020)

The Gesellschaft Deutscher Chemiker (GDCh – German Chemical Society) honors Prof. Dr. Guillermo Restrepo with the Gmelin-Beilstein memorial medal. The scientist from the Max Planck Institute for Mathematics in the Sciences in Leipzig is recognized for his scientific expertise in the fields of mathematics, history and philosophy of chemistry. "His quantitative and computer methods are important complements to the conventional approaches in understanding the history of chemistry," said GDCh President Prof. Peter Schreiner. <strike>The <a href="https://veranstaltungen.gdch.de/tms/frontend/index.cfm?l=9138&modus" target="_blank" class="external-link-new-window">award ceremony will take place on March 30</a> at the chemistry lecturers' conference in Dresden.</strike> Unfortunately the ceremony has to be cancelled, in accordance with social distancing measures imposed to slow down the spread of SARS-CoV-2.
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Growth dynamics – what unites growth processes of cells and entire ecosystems? (31.01.2020)

The Alexander von Humboldt foundation has awarded Dr. Ian A. Hatton a Humboldt Research Fellowship. In a two-year research stay at the Max Planck Institute for Mathematics in the Sciences in Leipzig, Hatton plans to expand his studies of biological scaling and growth dynamics. In a joint project with the Max Planck research group leader Dr. Matteo Smerlak the post-doctoral scientist will investigate biological growth dynamics across a multitude of systems and scales in the hope of identifying unifying aspects of their development.
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Blurred lines – mathematical software unites theory and practice (08.01.2020)

Classically there is a clear distinction between theoretical and applied mathematics in the classification of different fields in the mathematical sciences. Bernd Sturmfels at the Max Planck Institute for Mathematics in the Sciences, along with Paul Breiding and Sascha Timme at the Technical University of Berlin present a novel approach that illustrates how this line can be blurred. They developed a custom software, which is not only able to compute numerical solutions for systems of polynomial equations, but can also be employed to answer classical questions of theoretical mathematics. Their results made the cover story of the January issue of the "Notices of the American Mathematical Society".
An exceptional enrichment for mathematical research in Leipzig (02.12.2019)
Prof. Dr. Michael Joswig, Einstein-Professor of discrete mathematics and geometry at the Technical University of Berlin was appointed Max Planck Fellow by the Max Planck Society. Alongside his full professorship in Berlin he will lead the newly founded mathematical software group at the Max Planck Institute for Mathematics in the Sciences in Leipzig starting in December 2019. The Max Planck Fellow Programme promotes cooperation between outstanding university professors and Max Planck Society researchers.
Heinz Maier Leibnitz Prize goes to Nicolas Perkowski (27.02.2019)
Nicolas Perkowski, research group leader at our institute and Junior-Professor at Humboldt Universität zu Berlin, receives this year's Heinz Maier Leibnitz Prize of DFG (German Research Foundation). This prize is considered the most important award for young scientists in Germany.
First steps towards a new Mathematical Physics Center in Leipzig (12.11.2018)
The interplay between mathematics and theoretical physics is at the center of a new joint initiative of the Faculties of Mathematics and Computer Science, Physics and Geosciences of the University of Leipzig and the Max Planck Institute for Mathematics in the Sciences. The initiative intensifies existing cooperations in these fields and offers students and scientists ample opportunities for scientific exchange. The project is financially supported by the Max Planck Society.
Not only arguments count (31.10.2018)

The phenomenon of opinion polarization has gained a lot of public attention in recent years, especially in the political context. Using tools from network science and game theory, scientists at the Max Planck Institute for Mathematics in the Sciences were able to show that social interaction has a pronounced influence on opinion polarization. Their approach allows for a precise analysis of the entire opinion-forming process and could, among other things, contribute to a better understanding of opinion tendencies in social networks.
Looking at data through the lens of algebraic geometry (21.08.2018)
In a world where huge amounts of information are released and collected every day, it has become essential to be able to give meaning to data sets and to recognise any underlying pattern in the collected data. In the recent article “Learning algebraic varieties from samples”, a group of researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Mathematics in the Sciences in Leipzig has presented a novel approach to the analysis of datasets that possess an inherent geometric structure.
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Picture: Algebraic varieties naturally appear when studying datasets coming from the natural sciences. Resolution 1547 x 1047 Pixel. Copyright: MPI MIS
Million funding for Deep Learning project in Leipzig (15.08.2018)
Dr. Guido Montúfar, research group leader at the Max Planck Institute for Mathematics in the Sciences Leipzig, has been awarded an ERC Starting Grant for excellent young researchers.
The European Research Council ERC is supporting his new group on deep learning theory, which focuses on improving learning in neural networks, with an amount of 1.5 million euro.
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Picture: Guido Montufar, Resolution 2361 x 1574 Pixel, Foto: MPI MIS
Mathematical models and methods and computing with neural networks form the theoretical foundations for the study of deep learning processes. Resolution 4167 x 2917 Pixel. Copyright: MPI MIS
International award for Leipzig mathematician Felix Otto (25.06.2018)
Professor Felix Otto, director at the Max Planck Institute for Mathematics in the Sciences in Leipzig, Germany, has been awarded the Prof. Luigi Tartufari International Prize for Mathematics from the Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei in Rome in the presence of the Italian President. Felix Otto was honored for his numerous contributions to continuum mechanics and to materials science. In particular, his analysis of partial differential equations modelling the flow of a gas in porous rock or those describing a particle under frictional and random forces, was praised.
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Abbildung rechts: Felix Otto, Auflösung 3543 x 2362 Pixel, Foto: medialoge; MPI MIS
Detecting crises with the aid of social networks – international conference connects scientists in Leipzig (19.06.2018)
Communication mechanisms in social networks are at the centre of the international conference currently taking place at the Max Planck Institute for Mathematics in the Sciences. World-known experts on various disciplines, united under the Horizon 2020 project „ODYCCEUS Opinion Dynamics and Cultural Conflict in European Space“, are meeting in Leipzig to share their experiences and present their research achievements. Media representatives and journalists are welcome.
Picture at right side: ODYCCEUS - Project logo
Meaningful relationships - mathematical insights into the geometry of complex networks (07.06.2018)
Networks of very different type – from social to biological, from economical to technical – are shaping our modern world, and for many years, scientists are investigating their structures and function. Mathematicians from the Max Planck Institute for Mathematics in the Sciences, in cooperation with the Santa Fé Institute, USA and scientists from India, China, and Israel, have provided concrete proof of the effectiveness of geometrical tools in describing the variety of relationships in complex networks and in characterizing their structure. Their recent promising results are now published in Scientific Reports.
See also this press release on the MPG homepage >>>
Picture at right side: Sample of a network - European road network, © Areejit Samal
Bernd Sturmfels has been awarded the 2018 George David Birkhoff Prize (12.1.2018)
Our director Bernd Sturmfels has been awarded the 2018 George David Birkhoff Prize in Applied Mathematics recognizing his instrumental role in creating the field of applied algebraic geometry.The prize is awarded jointly by the American Mathematical Society AMS and the Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics SIAM for an outstanding contribution to applied mathematics in the highest and broadest sense.
Picture at right side: Bernd Sturmfels, Picture: Pablo Castagnola (resolution 5760 x 3840 pixel, 12 MB)
László Székelyhidi receives Leibniz Prize 2018 (15.12.2017)

László Székelyhidi, professor for mathematics at Leipzig University and External Scientific Member of the MPI for Mathematics in the Sciences will be recognised with the Leibniz Prize 2018 for his outstanding research on the theory of partial differential equations.
The Leibniz Prize is the most significant research prize in Germany. Established in 1985, the Leibniz Prize is endowed with 2.5 million Euro. The prize ceremony will be on March 19, 2018 in Berlin.
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Picture at ride side: László Székelyhidi, © www.foto-zentrum-leipzig.de
Prof. Felix Otto mit der Blaise-Pascal-Medaille der European Academy of Sciences geehrt (27.10.2017)
Professor Felix Otto, Direktor an unserem Max-Planck-Institut, wurde von der European Academy of Sciences mit der Blaise-Pascal-Medaille für Mathematik 2017 ausgezeichnet. Mit der Medaille würdigt die Akademie seine herausragenden wissenschaftlichen Leistungen und seinen Beitrag zur Förderung exzellenter Forschung und Bildung in Europa.
Mit der am 27. Oktober in Lissabon überreichten Medaille wurde Felix Otto insbesondere für seine bahnbrechenden Beiträge auf den Gebieten der stochastischen Homogenisierung, Variationsrechnung, Funktionalanalysis und deren Anwendung in der Materialwissenschaft, speziell bei der Untersuchung dünner Schichten, geehrt. Die Akademie hebt zudem seine innovativen wissenschaftlichen Methoden hervor, welche weltweit große Beachtung finden.
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Abbildung rechts: Felix Otto, Auflösung 3543 x 2362 Pixel, Foto: medialoge; MPI MIS
Konferenz in Gedenken an den großen Leipziger Mathematiker Eberhard Zeidler (29.09.2017)
Eine Gedenkkonferenz zu Ehren des im Jahr 2016 verstorbenen Mathematikers und Gründungsdirektors des Max-Planck-Institutes für Mathematik in den Naturwissenschaften Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. Eberhard Zeidler wird am 6. Oktober ab 10.00 Uhr im Konferenzbereich des Instituts in der Inselstraße 22 ausgerichtet. Im Anschluss an die Konferenz findet um 17: 00 Uhr im Beisein der Rektorin der Universität Leipzig Frau Prof. Beate Schücking die feierliche Widmung der „Eberhard-Zeidler-Bibliothek“ statt. Freunde und Weggefährten Eberhard Zeidlers als auch Vertreter von Presse und Medien sind herzlich eingeladen.
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Abbildung rechts: Eberhard Zeidler, Foto: MPI MIS
Sofja Kovalevskaja-Preisträger 2017 forscht am MPI (5.09.2017)
Der Sofja Kovalevskaja-Preisträger 2017 Dr. Matteo Smerlak forscht ab Dezember 2017 am Max-Planck-Institut für Mathematik in den Naturwissenschaften zum Thema "Structure of Evolution".
Matteo Smerlak kommt aus der mathematischen, theoretischen Physik und hat zur Quantengravitation bereits viel beachtete Arbeiten vorgelegt. Zuletzt hat er sich verstärkt der interdisziplinären Forschung zugewandt: Smerlak arbeitet an der Grenze von Physik und Biologie und verknüpft dabei auf innovative Weise die statistische Physik mit der theoretischen Biologie. Konkret widmet er sich den komplexen Systemen, großen Netzwerken, die sich ohne zentrale Kontrolle in hohem Maße selbst organisieren und ein komplexes Kollektivverhalten aufweisen. Solche Systeme finden sich im Bereich der Wirtschaft oder der Soziologie, insbesondere aber in der Biologie. Hier wendet Matteo Smerlak Verfahren der statistischen Physik auf die Evolutionsbiologie an, um universelle Gesetzmäßigkeiten und statistische Gesetze der Evolution herzuleiten. Als Sofja Kovalevskaja-Preisträger will er damit grundlegende Fragen aufgreifen, wie etwa die nach der Vorhersagbarkeit von evolutionären Entwicklungen.
Dr. Matteo Smerlak wurde 1984 in Frankreich geboren und machte 2007 seinen Master in Theoretischer Physik an der École normale supérieure in Paris. Für seine Promotion, die er 2011 abschloss, wechselte er an die Aix-Marseille Université. Anschließend forschte er zwei Jahre als Junior Scientist am Max-Planck-Institut für Gravitationsphysik (Albert-Einstein-Institut) in Potsdam. Seit 2013 ist Matteo Smerlak als Postdoctoral Researcher am Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics in Waterloo, Kanada. Zwischendurch führten ihn immer wieder Lehrtätigkeiten an die African Institutes for Mathematical Sciences in Südafrika, Kamerun und Ghana.
Abbildung rechts: Matteo Smerlak
Schimpansen belohnen Gefälligkeiten - sie teilen Futter nur mit dem, der ihnen zuvor geholfen hat (23.6.2017)
Für uns Menschen ist es eine Selbstverständlichkeit: Wir belohnen andere als Zeichen unserer Dankbarkeit. Wissenschaftler der Max-Planck-Institute für evolutionäre Anthropologie und für Mathematik in den Naturwissenschaften in Leipzig haben nun ähnliche soziale Verhaltensweisen auch bei Schimpansen nachgewiesen. In einem Verhaltensexperiment belohnt ein Tier ein anderes mit Futter, wenn dieses ihm zuvor geholfen hat. Offenbar hat nicht erst der Mensch aus diesem Grund kooperiert, schon der Vorfahr von Mensch und Schimpanse hat offenbar aus einer ähnlichen Motivation heraus untereinander geteilt. Die Studie zeigt, warum Schimpansen dies tun und bestätigt Ergebnisse aus der Spieltheorie.
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Abbildung rechts: © MPI f. evolutionäre Anthropologie
Bernd Sturmfels als neuer Direktor berufen (11.05.2017)
Bernd Sturmfels verstärkt ab sofort das Direktorium des Max-Planck-Instituts für Mathematik in den Naturwissenschaften. Der renommierte Professor für Mathematik, Informatik und Statistik wechselt von der University of California in Berkeley, USA nach Leipzig. Unter seiner Leitung wird am Institut eine neue Arbeitsgruppe "Nichtlineare Algebra" aufgebaut.
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Abbildung rechts: Bernd Sturmfels, Foto: Pablo Castagnola
Soziale Netzwerke als Krisenbarometer – EU-Projekt ODYCCEUS gestartet (22.2.2017)
Kommunikationsmechanismen in sozialen Netzwerken stehen im Fokus eines neuen, vom Max-Planck-Institut für Mathematik in den Naturwissenschaften koordinierten EU-Projektes. ODYCCEUS - "Opinion Dynamics and Cultural Conflict in European Space" wird von der Europäischen Union im Rahmen des Forschungsprogramms Horizont 2020 in den kommenden vier Jahren mit 5,8 Millionen Euro gefördert. Derzeit treffen sich die am Projekt beteiligten Partner zu einem Kick-off-Meeting an unserem Institut.
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zur Homepage des Projektes ODYCCEUS >>>
Abbildung rechts: Logo des Projektes ODYCCEUS
Wörter sind kein Zufall (12.9.2016)
Die Lehrbücher der Sprachwissenschaft müssen offenbar umgeschrieben werden. Bislang gingen Linguisten davon aus, Laute seien in Wörtern größtenteils zufällig mit Bedeutungen verknüpft. Fälle wie etwa das M, das in vielen Sprachen im Wort für Mutter vorkommt, seien die seltene Ausnahme. Ein internationales Team, an dem Forscher der Max-Planck-Institute für Mathematik in den Naturwissenschaften und für Menschheitsgeschichte sowie der Universität Leipzig beteiligt waren, widerlegt diese Annahme nun mit einer umfassenden Analyse.
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Pressemitteilung der Teubner-Stiftung: Wissenschaftspreis 2016 posthum an Stefan Hildebrandt (21.2.2016)

Die "Stiftung Benedictus Gotthelf Teubner Leipzig / Dresden / Berlin / Stuttgart" verleiht am 21. Februar 2016 den Wissenschaftspreis der Teubner-Stiftung zur Förderung der Mathematischen Wissenschaften. Preisträger (posthum) ist der herausragende deutsche Mathematiker Prof. Dr. Dr. h. c. mult. Stefan Hildebrandt (1936-2015). Verliehen wird der Preis am heutigen 205. Jahrestag der Firmengründung B. G. Teubner in Leipzig.
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(Abbildung rechts: Benedictus Gotthelf Teubner)