ECMath is coming! In December 2011, the three Berlin universities (FU, HU, TU Berlin) submitted an application to the Einstein Foundation Berlin for an “Einstein Center for Mathematics Berlin”. ECMath is designed to ensure the international visibility of mathematics in Berlin even after the DFG (German Research Foundation) funding for Matheon ends. ECMath will provide a platform for joint activities of Matheon, the Berlin Mathematical School (BMS), and the “German Center for Teacher Education in Mathematics” (DZLM).   

An international panel of reviewers came to Berlin in March 2012 to evaluate the application, and the enthusiastic recommended its approval. Now the trustees of the Einstein Foundation have made the final decision to establish ECMath as the first Einstein Center in Berlin. Berlin’s former Senator for Education and Research, Prof. Jürgen Zöllner, the founding father of the Einstein Foundation and still a member of its board of trustees, personally announced the decision at the celebration of Matheon's 10th anniversary held on 10 May at TU Berlin.   

“We are very pleased that the Einstein Foundation approved our application so quickly. It means that we can continue the successful work in Matheon and the whole of Berlin mathematics” said Matheon chair Volker Mehrmann (TU Berlin). DZLM chairman and BMS co-chair Jürg Kramer (HU Berlin) commented: “The fact that DZLM is an integral part of the ECMath proves the importance of teacher education in the future Einstein Center and indicates the changes needed and desired in the way mathematics is taught in schools today.”  BMS chair Konrad Polthier (FU Berlin) added: “The longstanding cooperation between Matheon and BMS will increase within the framework of ECMath. With its decision, the Einstein Foundation has guaranteed that Berlin mathematics will be able to continue its high-quality research for years to come.”   

The new center begins on 1 Janurary 2013 with a start-up phase in which the institutional structures for closer cooperation between Matheon, BMS and DZLM will be set up.   

Full funding will begin on 1 June 2014, coinciding with the end of DFG funding for Matheon.  Initial research will concentrate on four Innovation Areas: “Mathematics in clinical research and health care”, “Mathematics in sustainable energies”, “Mathematics in metropolitan infrastructures and “Mathematics in optical technologies”.  Later, further activities in other areas of mathematics will follow.

For further information please contact Volker Mehrmann, Chair of the DFG Center Matheon, phone 030 314 - 25736,
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