Von Kaven Award Goes to Mathematician Bernhard Schmitzer
DFG recognises research in the field of optimal transport / Award ceremony to be held at the Annual Meeting of the German Mathematical Society in Konstanz on 7 September
Professor Dr. Bernhard Schmitzer of the University of Göttingen is to receive this year’s von Kaven Award from the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation) in recognition of his outstanding research in the field of optimal transport. The von Kaven Award traditionally goes to mathematicians who are in receipt of funding under the DFG’s Heisenberg Programme or Emmy Noether Programme. Endowed with €10,000, this year’s award will be presented on 7 September at the opening reception of the Annual Meeting of the German Mathematical Society (Deutsche Mathematiker-Vereinigung, DMV) in Konstanz. The laudatory speech will be given by Professor Dr. Jürg Kramer of HU Berlin, a former member of the DFG’s Mathematics review board and the current President of the DMV.
Bernhard Schmitzer works on the theory of optimal transport. In simple terms, this involves transforming an initial distribution into a desired target distribution as efficiently as possible. Historically, this concept served as a simplified model for logistics planning or for optimally assigning workers to tasks. Today, optimal transport is used primarily in mathematical data analysis and machine learning to determine the similarity between probability distributions. Researchers in the life sciences can use modern imaging techniques to obtain high-resolution images of biological cells and tissues, for example. Optimal transport enables the structure and variation in such complex data to be quantified and made amenable to interpretation.
Bernhard Schmitzer’s aim is to further develop and establish this technology. To this end, he and his working group design efficient algorithms for solving optimal transport problems numerically on computers. Another focus is the definition of extended transport models that can handle noisy and incomplete data more robustly. Schmitzer works closely with researchers in the natural and life sciences to analyse their data using the newly developed methods.
After studying theoretical physics in Würzburg and London, Bernhard Schmitzer completed his doctorate in applied mathematics at Heidelberg University in 2014. This was followed by postdoctoral positions at Université Paris-Dauphine and the University of Münster. From 2019, he led a research group under the DFG’s Emmy Noether Programme at TU Munich. A year later, he was appointed to a W2 tenure-track professorship with progression to W3 at the University of Göttingen, where he has since headed the Optimal Transport Group at the Institute of Computer Science. Schmitzer is the author of numerous journal articles and conference papers and has organised a range of international seminars and workshops. He has also served as a project leader in Collaborative Research Centres and Priority Programmes.
The von Kaven Award
The Kaven Award usually goes to mathematicians participating in the DFG's Heisenberg Programme or Emmy Noether Programme as a special distinction, but may also be awarded on recommendation for outstanding research achievements by mathematicians working in the European Union. The recipient is selected by the DFG’s Mathematics review board. The prize money comes from a foundation established in 2004 by mathematician Herbert von Kaven together with the DFG. Von Kaven was primarily interested in the foundations of mathematics, to which he was committed to promoting throughout his life. He died in 2009 at the age of 101.
Further Information
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