2014-12-94

Letters to the EditorLetters to the EditorAn External View onMathematical ScienceLudwig Holzleitner (Stutensee, Germany)Dear Editor,As a mathematician currently working in the field of applicationof mathematical science, I have been followingthis issue of application-oriented mathematics (as waspointed out by Professor Massimo Ferri in the Newsletterfrom June 2014) with great interest. I do not want tocomment on the case of the Marie Curie fellowship discussedthere; I feel I don’t know enough about this specificcase. Rather, I would like to provide my colleaguesat universities with an “outside” view from the partialacademic and more application-oriented world as onefinds it in a research centre, hoping to clarify some misunderstandings.I must clearly point out that the opinionexpressed in this letter is solely mine.There is much collaboration between my researchcentre and colleagues from both universities and industry;this has generally been seen as very fruitful for bothsides. Colleagues from all over Europe and of differentsciences (chemistry, physics, engineering, etc.) benefitfrom grants to work at our centre. However, I have notfound any mathematician among them so far. Also, othersciences regard mathematics rather as an application ofprefabricated “recipes”, which in fact it should not be.When recently encountering some statistical/combinatorialproblems in particle radiation detection and materialbalance evaluation I had no time for proper mathematicalmodelling, theorem proving or digging deeper into it.Therefore I mentioned this to university colleagues, tryingto encourage them to collaborate or to ask youngercolleagues to apply for grants to work here. I was verysurprised to find them not interested at all, neither forthemselves nor to pass it onto younger colleagues. Afterreflecting a while about that experience I realised somepoints which I would like to stress subsequently:mathematician, am now working in the field of physicsdemonstrates how open other sciences are comparedto mathematics.3. Looking at awards granted to young researchers (e.g.published in the EMS Newsletter) it is striking thatmost of them are awarded on grounds of research intheoretical topics like the Riemann-conjecture, Poincaré-conjecture,etc., which may not be without applications,albeit very distant ones (having applicationin other theories, e.g. quantum physics, is not consideredas a real “application” in the non-mathematicalworld). These awards pave the way for one of the rareopportunities nowadays of getting a position in mathematics.The above message seems clear to me as to others: if ayoung mathematician wants to stay in his field, they betterconcentrate on getting well known in a highly theoreticaltopic, hoping to publish a highly-appreciated paperor receiving some award, and they better stay away fromany application as far as possible. This attitude directsmathematicians away from application-oriented science,making collaboration between mathematical institutesand more practically oriented institutions difficult.I’m afraid that in this way, mathematical science currentlyisolates itself by ignoring the outside scientificworld and believing in its self-sufficiency. Collaborationbetween mathematical institutes is not regarded as “interdisciplinary”and application of mathematical results inother theories is – as has already been mentioned – notconsidered as a real “application” by the outside scientificworld and I fully agree with that. There is clearly a needfor pure mathematics. However, for a successful transitionto the 21st century, mathematical science must openitself to collaboration with other sciences and appliedinstitutions, both concerning collaboration in researchprojects and in opening its institutes and positions.Ludwig HolzleitnerStutensee, Germany1. Looking, for example, at the board of the EMS orsimilar mathematical societies, it is striking that allacting members are employed at some kind of university.So the sole employer for people working in thefield of mathematics seems to be universities, asidefrom some think-tanks, for example in France (almostnegligible in terms of number of persons).2. I do not know a single instance of a mathematicianwho returned to university after having spent someyears in industry. However, although not the rule, it iscommon practice in many other sciences like chemistry,physics, engineering … Also, the fact that I, as a62 EMS Newsletter December 2014