MATH+ and its Graduate School, the Berlin Mathematical School (BMS), celebrated their graduates, Young African Mathematicians (YAM) Fellows, and the MATH+ Dissertation Award winners of 2024 with a festive certificate ceremony on 11 July 2025 at Freie Universität Berlin. Around 100 members and guests attend the event and enjoyed a wonderful afternoon get-together in a cheerful atmosphere, topped off with a delightful barbecue.

The afternoon began at 14:00 with a MATH+ Friday Colloquium titled “On optimality conditions for nonsmooth functions” by Andrea Walther, professor of mathematical optimization at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Vice-President of the Zuse Institute Berlin (ZIB), and one of the three MATH+ Chairs since October 2024.

     
MATH+ Friday Colloquium with a lecture by MATH+ Chair Andrea Walther (HU Berlin/ZIB) Following the colloquium, BMS Chair John M. Sullivan (TU Berlin) and MATH+ Chair Claudia Schillings (FU Berlin) warmly welcomed the BMS graduates, their families and friends, and the broader MATH+ community to the certificate ceremony.

     
BMS Coordinator Annika Preuß-Vermeulen (left photo), BMS Chair J. M. Sullivan, Dissertation Awardee S. Griesbach, MATH+ Chair C. Schillings

MATH+ Chair Claudia Schillings (FU Berlin) then delivered a laudation for the MATH+ Dissertation Award winners of 2024, a prize first established in 2020. In cooperation with the Einstein Foundation Berlin, the BMS awards up to four annual prizes for outstanding dissertations to BMS graduates. This year, the awards went to Fabian Altekrüger, Svenja Griesbach, Federico Moretti, and Luisa Plato for their excellent theses. Congratulations to all of them! You can find more information about the four awardees on the MATH+ website.

Svenja Griesbach and Luisa Plato attend the event and proudly received their Dissertation Award certificates. Unfortunately, Federico Moretti and Fabian Altekrüger could not participate in the ceremony, as Federico recently began his postdoctoral position in the USA and Fabian is currently traveling around the world.

Claudia Schillings also honored the three Young African Mathematician (YAM) of the MATH+ YAM Fellowship Program 2024-2025: Sintia Laura Nyaffi Achikwoue and Gill Wilfried Laken Kouatche from Cameroon, and Sergio Germain Tinaharimanjaka from Madagascar. The fellows successfully completed the nine-month program within MATH+. Laura and Wilfried will continue with the BMS PhD program in Berlin this fall.


Afterwards, BMS Chair John M. Sullivan announced this year’s Phase I and Phase II graduates.


Bright sunflowers, presented along with the certificates, brought a sunny touch to an otherwise cloudy day. Photos captured joyful BMS alumni in groups, with supervisors, and with their loved ones.

     
Relaxed get-together of the mathematical community enjoying the barbecue  |   BMS Chairs Holger Reich and John M. Sullivan with MATH+ Managing Director Nadja Wisniewski and FU Berlin President Günter M. Ziegler

The evening closed with a lively barbecue reception and summer party — the perfect opportunity to connect, talk about science, and exchange memories with graduates and the entire MATH+ community.

Photos: © Kay Herschelmann / MATH+