Johannes Schmidt-Hieber awarded prestigious Van Dantzig Prize Placed on 25 March 2025

Every five years, the VVSOR (Netherlands Society for Statistics and Operations Research) awards the Van Dantzig Prize to a researcher under 40 years old who has made significant advancements in the field. The 2025 edition awarded the prize to Johannes Schmidt-Hieber for his pioneering work in statistical learning theory, nonparametric statistics, and the mathematical foundations of deep learning. His research has provided critical insights into how neural networks function, offering a more rigorous understanding of artificial intelligence.

Named after David van Dantzig, one of the founding figures of Dutch statistics and operations research, the Van Dantzig Prize is a symbol of excellence in the field and is, in fact, the highest prize attainable in Dutch statistics and operations research.

With his contributions to mathematical statistics, Johannes has shown that statistical thinking can provide the theoretical underpinnings of new methods such as machine learning and data analytics. His research is building the theoretical foundations for commonly used algorithms. Despite the very technical nature of his research, Johannes holds a keen interest in the applicability of his work. This is one reason behind the fact that one of his papers, published in 2020, has already accumulated over 1,000 citations, a very exceptional achievement for papers from the field of mathematical statistics.

We congratulate Johannes with this incredible achievement!

AMEP winner 2025 Placed on 24 March 2025

On Thursday 13 March, the three nominees for the Applied Mathematics Education Prize (AMEP), Gjerrit Meinsma, Felix Schwenninger and Jasper de Jong, all gave a talk on the theme 'Cultural Mathematics'.

Gjerrit Meinsma linked playing the piano to mathematics through the use of signals, showcasing how modern pianos are out of tune when tuned.

Felix Schwenninger linked theoretical mathematics to culture within mathematics, highlighting fallacies in how certain topics are presented to be building upon one another while never explaining the basis.

Jasper de Jong used mathematics to link strategies to win the 2022 gaming classic Among Us to the culture of studying.

With a very tight vote, if anything indication of just how appreciated all three finalists are among students, Jasper de Jong has been voted winner of the AMEP 2025!

We thank all three finalists for their participation and for their wonderful talks, but, most importantly, we thank them for their efforts in educating the next generation of mathematicians here at the UT.

Applied Mathematics Education Prize Placed on 6 March 2025

Thursday 13 March, between 12:45 and 13:30, the Applied Mathematics Education Prize (AMEP) is set to take place in SP4.

This year, the students of AM have elected the following three finalists:

• Jasper de Jong
• Gjerrit Meinsma
• Felix Schwenninger

Both students and staff members are invited to come listen to these three inspiring teachers talk about 'Cultural Mathematics'.

Particulalry the students are invited to attend and vote on their favourite talk and teacher.

We wish luck to the three finalists and hope to see many there showing their support for the fantastic teachers AM has the luck of having.