Thursday, 19 July 2018 8th PhD Summer School in discrete mathematics - a total success
In the first week of July, mathematicians from 17 countries took part in 8th PhD Summer School in discrete mathematics which is traditionally organized by UP FAMNIT and UP IAM.
As in previous years, mathematicians from all over the world applied. Two mini-courses were lectured by Colva Roney-Dougal (University of St. Andrews, United Kingdom) and Gabriel Verret (The University of Auckland, New Zealand), while invited speakers were Francesco Belardo (University of Naples Federico II, Italy), Shaofei Du (Capital Normal University, China), Wilfried Imrich (Montanuniversität Leoben, Austria), Arnold Neumaier (University of Vienna, Austria), Sanja Rukavina (University of Rijeka, Croatia), Primož Šparl (University of Ljubljana) and Paul Terwilliger (University of Wisconsin–Madison, USA).
For many of the 55 participants, this was not the first time at the summer school. “We are trying to make participants feel good here. The goal is to strengthen and deepen our relationships, so the atmosphere in the classrooms and during different social and sport activities is relaxed.” Assis. Prof. Ademir Hajdurović, PhD, member of the scientific and organizational committee, explains. “We carefully choose our lecturers, so the classes are always interesting enough for everyone. In the previous years, we have hosted lecturers from all over the world, and many have returned to UP FAMNIT – either for a research visit or to deliver lectures to our students. Everyone loves to come back to Rogla and to Slovenia. It often happens that new students or researchers find us, usually after hearing many great things from other participants.”
The PhD Summer school has worldwide reputation. So when head speaker, Prof. Colva Roney-Dougal, PhD from University of St. Andrews, was asked why she decided to participate this year, she replied: “Because I was invited! I then looked at the list of the people who had previously been invited, and was really impressed by their quality, so decided to accept.”
Meetings like this are very important to the scientific community, as Prof. Colva Roney-Dougal says: “I think that they are a great way to encourage communication within the community, and to expose both your own students and those from nearby countries to mathematics and mathematicians with different points of view, from around the world. They are also excellent for building links between the more senior mathematicians who were present. So yes, I think that they are very important. And I’m sure that they are also helpful for students when looking for jobs after their PhD.”
As said, participants are both researchers and students, which represents an important opportunity for integration between young and more experienced mathematicians. “This year, half of the participants were students. Many of them are still at the beginning of their career and that is why we encourage them to connect with their senior colleagues more freely.” Prof. Hajdurović adds.
For this purpose, this year for the first time, students took part in competing for the Best Student Talk Award, which was given to José Antonio Montero Aguilar from National Autonomous University of Mexico.
Read more about this year's program and participants here.
