Always Try New Ideas: In Conversation with Adriana Garroni

We had the pleasure of speaking with Adriana Garroni, Professor of Analysis at the University of Rome "La Sapienza" and a leading expert in the calculus of variations, as part of her visit to our institute for the 2025 Ladyzhenskaya Lecture.

In a video interview with our postdoc, Peter Morfe, Adriana Garroni shared insights into her scientific journey, her motivations and the real-world impact of her research in mechanics and materials science. She also reflected on her connection to the institute, her path into mathematics, and the role of women in the field.

In her Ladyzhenskaya Lecture titled "Sharp interface models for grain boundaries: derivation and approximation", Adriana Garroni explored how complex, locally periodic structures—such as those found in metals or block copolymers—give rise to energetic phenomena at grain boundaries. Her talk presented both a theoretical derivation and a phase-field approximation, offering new perspectives inspired by geometric modeling and image reconstruction.