Günter M. Ziegler and Myfanwy Evans ©Sodoudi/BMSOn 7 November 2017, Günter M. Ziegler was awarded the Berlin Science Prize by the governing Mayor of Berlin, Michael Müller (SPD).

Ziegler, who is Chair of the Berlin Mathematical School, a professor of mathematics at the FU Berlin, and honorary professor at the TU Berlin, is nationally and internationally recognized for the remarkable breadth of his mathematical knowledge, and for his services to research in the areas of discrete mathematics, geometry and topology. Moreover, his reputation as a role model for young scientists, scholars and students precedes him. At the awarding ceremony, Mayor Müller acknowledged Ziegler as an excellent mathematician and impressive communicator, and President of the European Research Council (ERC) Prof. Dr. Jean-Pierre Bourguignon was proud to emphasize in his laudation that Ziegler is the second ERC laureate of this prestigious award.

The Berlin Science Prize is awarded in recognition of outstanding achievements in science and research in Berlin. The prize money of 40,000 euros benefits the researcher’s institution, and one of its key uses is to support Berlin’s continued economic development. Ziegler’s other awards and honors include the Leibniz Prize (2001), the Communicator Award (2008), an ERC Advanced Grant (2010) and the Hector Science Award (2013). He is on the board of the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences, is a member of the German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina and the National Academy of Science and Engineering acatech, and he is also a Fellow of the American Mathematical Society.

The awarding ceremony, which took place at Berlin’s “Rotes Rathaus“, included the Young Researcher Prize. This year it went to Dr. Myfanwy Evans, who is a BMS postdoctoral faculty member and Emmy Noether Research Group Leader at the TU Berlin. Evans, who hails from the Australian capital of Canberra, works at the interface between mathematics and physics. The prize, worth 10,000 euros, honors an innovative approach to research in a field that offers particular potential for Berlin’s scientific and economic future.

Many congratulations to Günter and Myf!

Written by S. E. Sutherland-Figini

Source: FU Berlin