Episoder

  • In this interview, Jeremiah Heller and Vesna Stojanoska share their experience of combining math and family life, discuss their ways to get over occasional demotivation in research and speak about social aspects of research. Jokes included!

    Jeremiah's homepage: https://faculty.math.illinois.edu/~jbheller/

    Vesna's homepage: https://faculty.math.illinois.edu/~vesna/

    Mike Hopkins’ talk at Paul Goerss’ birthday conference: youtu.be/Ix4pg87LKVk

    Chapters:

    0:00 teaser

    0:34 their family and other animals

    4:04 kids’ curiosity about math

    8:30 wishes for kids’ future

    11:04 existential chat about adulthood 

    13:51 research & relationship

    16:13 finding friends outside math bubble

    19:26 two-body problem

    21:59 math talks as storytelling

    27:01 approaches to doing math

    31:02 getting over demotivation in research

    35:23 mathematics is a social endeavour

    37:12 jobmarket pressure

    43:24 having kids & academia

    47:18 solid advice

  • Dhruv Ranganathan is a lecturer at Cambridge University, working in algebraic geometry. In this video, Dhruv talks about doing research with undergrads, being tortured by math problems, looking for friends to write math papers, and other cool stuff!

    Dhruv's webpage: https://www.dhruvrnathan.net

    Photo: from the webpage

    0:00 teaser

    0:41 from cricket to air planes

    2:16 adventure novels childhood

    4:46 what do algebraic geometers do

    8:39 experience of undergrad research

    12:30 how undergrad research really works

    15:35 “now I’m a believer”(c)

    18:25 why so much pressure in doing math

    21:09 how we create pressure for young people

    23:44 doing math as a coping mechanism

    27:00 math torture vs intense cartoon watching

    28:50 speakers love getting any math questions

    30:54 math for extroverts 

    34:25 teaching students who leave academia

    37:33 don’t beat yourself up for math mistakes

    39:39 how we try and fail to improve inclusivity

    43:44 don’t put people from minorities on every committee

    45:45 the advice that’s too hard to follow

    48:35 fireplace

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  • Kevin Buzzard is a professor in Imperial College London working in number theory and formal proof verification. In this interview, Kevin shares his views on the role of computers in doing math, tells about his experience of upbringing 3 kids as a researcher and raises questions about the way we approach math education. Lots of glorious laughter and unforgettable facial expressions are included!

    Kevin's homepage: https://www.imperial.ac.uk/people/k.buzzard

    Channel podcast: https://anchor.fm/math-life-balance​​​​

    Chapters:

    0:00 teaser

    0:48 Kevin’s t-shirt

    3:06 imagination in math

    5:36 computers vs humans

    10:43 computers and infinity

    12:35 math as a zen puzzle

    15:19 role of fashion in math

    20:06 mathematicians detecting mistakes

    24:41 imperfections in our math

    29:14 when the dust settles

    31:56 not caring what people think

    36:01 how to entertain kids in the subway

    40:26 babies as the way to understand humanity

    42:52 doing math when you have 3 kids

    46:09 writing papers with non-mathematicians

    48:54 why kids are forced to memorize math?

    53:29 doing exams vs learning math

    57:16 unusual advice for students

    59:15 the answer to the ultimate question

  • Maria Chudnovsky is a professor at Princeton University, working in graph theory and combinatorics. In this interview, Maria shares her personal experiences: learning Hebrew from math lessons, giving a talk at NASA, using math at her own wedding, and many more!

    Maria's homepage: http://web.math.princeton.edu/~mchudnov/

    Photo: from Maria's homepage

    The essay we mentioned:

    W.T. Gowers "The two cultures of mathematics"

    https://www.dpmms.cam.ac.uk/~wtg10/2cultures.pdf

    0:00 teaser

    0:29 respect for math at home

    2:43 math helps when you don’t speak the local language

    6:42 building a world around a research problem

    11:37 explaining math to a broad audience

    16:00 giving a talk at NASA

    19:42 applying graph theory to your wedding

    23:16 problem solving vs learning

    27:58 being bad at math olympiads 

    30:40 working with your own students

    33:23 experience of doing a PhD

    36:02 memorizing math 

    37:55 studying physics vs math

    43:43 maintaining a work-life balance

    49:08 everyone has self-doubts

    50:54 first time teaching a class

    55:46 final advice

  • Tomer Schlank is a professor at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, working in homotopy theory and arithmetic geometry. In this interview, Tomer shares his experience of advising a big group of students, speaks about the importance of embracing the struggle, and explains how to get unstuck in a math problem.

    Tomer's homepage: https://mathematics.huji.ac.il/people/tomer-schlank

    Photo: from Tomer's homepage

    0:00 teaser

    0:31 astronaut’s dreams

    4:06 enjoying the struggle

    8:27 top-down thinking

    11:35 seminar with physicists

    14:52 math dream with Vesna Stojanoska

    19:24 taking breaks in projects

    22:32 advising 11 students

    26:47 doing math & drinking arak

    31:14 being stuck is good for you

    34:49 how to get unstuck

    38:08 don’t worry about talent

    42:33 why people hate math

    45:36 run towards the problem

    48:25 don’t look down on other parts of math

    51:43 final advice

  • Saul Glasman worked in homotopy theory and K-theory, and now works as a software engineer. In this interview, we discuss the hardships of academic jobmarket, fears around leaving math, and the fundamental problems in academia.

    Saul's homepage: http://www-users.math.umn.edu/~sglasman/

    Photo: from his website

    #mathematician​​​​​​ #mathlife​​​​​​ #interview​​​​​​ 

    #academiavsindustry #leavingacademia #jobmarketacademia

    0:00 teaser

    0:44 always loved math

    2:04 why left academia

    8:55  the fears of leaving

    14:02 staying in touch with math

    20:33 send greetings to Saul :)

    21:55 stigma around leaving academia

    25:13 problems in academia

    30:11 we aren't taught to teach

    35:50 there's freedom in industry

    37:36 and you feel productive!

    42:44 social interactions: academia vs industry

    45:19 learning effective team work

    49:15 you can learn to enjoy a job

    52:20 why can't we do internships

    55:47 what you wish you knew

    59:02 advice for those who have doubts

  • Giulia Saccà is an assistant professor at Columbia  University, working in algebraic geometry. In this interview, Giulia gives jobmarket advice for mathematicians, contemplates some of the struggles that minorities in math get to deal with, and tells about books that resemble math research. 

    Giulia's homepage: http://math.columbia.edu/~giulia/

    Photo: Allegra Boverman

    Women in Math program at IAS: https://www.ias.edu/math/wam

    0:00 teaser

    0:27 interests in history in philosophy

    6:51 jobmarket advice

    11:37 talking about our insecurities helps

    16:23 struggles of minorities in math

    20:05 what to do with impostor syndrome

    27:01 how to find role models

    30:48 Women in Math program at IAS is great

    35:57 the future of online seminars

    41:06 how to keep track of math projects

    47:27 which music helps to do math

    49:31 alpinism resembles doing research

    52:21 Proust writes about math

    58:44 the joy of cooking

    1:00:40 a wish for young mathematicians

  • In this [episode], I read a piece from Thurston's essay "On proof and progress in mathematics", where he reflects on the importance of seeing mathematicians' progress and contributions much broader than just in proving new theorems.

    William Thurston on Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Thurston

    Cover photo: from this Wikipedia page

    The full essay: https://arxiv.org/pdf/math/9404236.pdf

    Thurston's lecture "Knots to Narnia": https://youtu.be/IKSrBt2kFD4

    Thurston's answer on MathOverflow about contributions in mathematics: https://mathoverflow.net/questions/43690/whats-a-mathematician-to-do/44213#44213

  • This sarcastic [episode] is dedicated to my family and all my friends of the last 10 years. They will see why.

    A special thanks to Nicole R. for the help with the video(s)! And to my brother for the T-shirt: there’s a tiny cute bug that says "I have giant problems".

    0:00 Prologue

    0:53 Inclusivity statement

    1:24 How to build an abusive relationship with your research

    3:00 How to suffer from doing research

    5:10 How to be unproductive  

    7:01 How to compare yourself with others

    8:38 How to feel worse from reassurance

    9:33 Epilogue

  • Irakli Patchkoria is a lecturer at the University of Aberdeen, working in homotopy theory. In this interview, he speaks about math-tennis balance, shares his experience of moving from Georgia to Western Europe and admits taking part in illegal actions on university exams.

    Irakli's homepage: https://www.abdn.ac.uk/people/irakli.patchkoria

    Photo: Irakli's private photo collection

    0:00 teaser

    1:13 epic story of family math

    6:21 father’s advice

    10:25 don’t work too much

    14:41 experience in collaborations

    19:02 Georgians and assimilation

    21:47 making new friends (hey, Zurich!)

    25:47 cheating on exams

    28:38 you will have ideas for papers

    33:48 don’t be afraid of stars in math

    38:16 partying hard

    41:25 drinking with mathematicians

    43:41 math and the meaning of life

    46:22 please make jokes in talks

    48:53 helping young mathematicians

  • Peter Scholze is a professor in Bonn University, working in number theory and arithmetic geometry. In this interview, we chat about the pressure of the Fields medal, discuss the pain of writing math papers and argue about math.

    Peter's homepage: http://www.math.uni-bonn.de/people/scholze/

    Photo: Hausdorff Center for Mathematics / Barbara Frommann

    Merkurjev's lecture on the proof of Bloch-Kato conjecture: https://youtu.be/bUaWCOtBUHs

    0:00 proof or relatability 

    0:58 influence of the background

    2:50 learning math vs solving problems

    7:38 Peter is not creative

    11:55 math chat (sorry!)

    14:23 collaborating with Dustin Clausen

    16:29 math gives head ache

    18:20 pressure of Fields medal

    21:47 representing others is the worst

    24:01 interviews with prodigies

    26:53 don't waste time on the Riemann hypothesis

    29:28 emails from amateur mathematicians

    34:01 lockdown time is unproductive

    36:52 writing math is pain

    40:50 thanks to Germany for sponsoring math

    45:09 updating Hilbert’s list of problems

    49:07 Oberwolfach AG’s are cool

    55:31 advice for young mathematicians

  • Ravi Vakil is a professor at Stanford University, working in algebraic geometry. In this interview, Ravi talks about the importance of a community for learning math, discusses the ways of learning to be creative at math and shares how considering other career options helped him to be happier as a mathematician. 

    A clarification for Ravi's comment on the situation with math in USSR: 

    Due to deep-rooted antisemitism in the Soviet Union, the admission of ethnically Jewish mathematicians into top universities was unofficially “limited” by the state. Faced with these hurdles, Jewish mathematicians opted for institutions specializing in specific technologies, such as the Oil and Gas Institute. Over time, some of these lesser known institutions earned a reputation for producing leading academics in the  fundamental sciences.

    Ravi's homepage: http://math.stanford.edu/~vakil/​

    Photo: website of Stanford University

    0:00​ teaser

    0:40​ wish to be an embassador

    4:36​ school teachers are the most important

    7:17​ coming up with math questions

    12:56​ don’t write emails with vague questions

    19:12​ not making students intimidated

    25:41​ building welcoming communities

    29:34​ USSR math: fairytale vs antisemitism

    32:13​ big picture vs details

    39:55​ learn math by solving problems

    41:45​ consider other jobs to release pressure

    49:00​ why look down on applied mathematicians

    53:15​ how to follow math talks

    59:27​ the most desired interviewee

    59:58​ wish for young mathematicians

  • Max Karoubi is a Professor Emmeritus at the University of Paris 7, working in K-theory and algebraic topology. In this interview, Max shares warm memories about Grothendieck and the Bourbaki group, discusses math studies in Northern Africa and highly recommends doing research in collaborations. 

    Max' webpage: https://webusers.imj-prg.fr/~max.karoubi/

    Photo: from Max' webpage

    0:00​ teaser

    0:43​ getting into math in Northern Africa

    5:33​ getting a family helped to do math

    9:12​ PhD under Cartan and Grothendieck

    13:05​ Grothendieck: naive genius 

    16:53​ Karoubi as a name for math terminology

    19:18​ new foundations of hermitian K-theory

    22:20​ why write math in french

    26:33​ founding European Congress of Mathematics

    29:30​ collaborators are the best

    34:35​ the importance of teaching

    38:53​ why french people are arrogant

    42:26​ RIP good jobmarket times

    44:33​ how we can help math in developing countries 

    46:44​ traveling to USSR in 1961

    48:58​ please don’t boycott ICM!

    51:35​ you cannot do math alone

    55:58​ wish for young mathematicians

  • Mariana Smit Vega Garcia is an Assistant Professor at Western Washington University, working in geometric analysis and partial differential equations. In this interview, Mariana speaks, among other things, about her math-life balance, the experience of representing different minorities and the joy of teaching mathematics. In addition: lots of friendly advice for undergrads!

    Mariana's webpage: http://faculty.wwu.edu/smitvem/​

    Photo: from Mariana's webpage

    0:00​ teaser

    0:44​ didn’t want to be a professor

    3:28​ trying to find math-life balance

    9:10​ collaborators are friends

    13:06​ mathematician-extrovert

    16:05​ experiencing sexism

    19:10​ burden of representing a minority

    21:38​ insecurities in math

    27:09​ joy of teaching

    30:07​ motivation to do research

    34:28​ algebraic vs analytic worlds

    38:35​ pessimism in research

    40:31​ we are more than our math

    44:22​ moving around the world

    49:35​ advice for students from faraway

    52:32​ initiatives for minorities

    58:32​ what students have to know

    1:00:08​ final advice

  • Richard Thomas is a professor at Imperial College London, working in algebraic geometry and mirror symmetry. In this interview, Richard speaks about math education for kids, contemplates the process of doing research and gives plenty of good advice for PhD students. 

    Richard's webpage: http://wwwf.imperial.ac.uk/~rpwt/​

    Photo: Richard's wikipedia page

    Interview with Richard Thomas

    0:00​ teaser

    0:30​ non-linear way in math

    3:14​ the mystery of mathematicians

    6:55​ kids' attitude to math problems

    11:40​ boys vs girls math approach

    16:26​ me being triggered (clickbait!)

    21:32​ what made Richard a mathematician

    26:40​ insights vs dull proofs

    29:06​ math is subjective 

    30:08​ process of doing math research

    35:16​ obstructions to enjoying research

    37:53​ what students should know

    43:53​ hardest part of research

    47:36​ insecurities of mathematicians

    51:19​ psychology of doing math

    54:55​ minorities in math

    1:01:14​ math during an earthquake

  • This video is dedicated to my teacher of mathematics in the middle school, Andrey Yurjevich Alexeev. Time for stories about my first encounter with "abstract math" and my first math talk!

    My school: https://610.ru/en/​

    Photo of A. Yu. Alexeev: from Vasily Baev's private collection

  • Marc Levine is a professor at Duisburg-Essen University, working in algebraic geometry and motivic homotopy theory, and my PhD advisor! In this interview, Marc contemplates how to look for research problems, learn new research areas and move from USA to Germany with your family.

    Marc's webpage: https://www.esaga.uni-due.de/marc.levine/

    Photo: Marc's private photo collection

    0:00​ teaser

    0:48​ becoming a mathematician

    2:51​ family’s reaction

    4:48​ moving from USA to Germany

    6:55​ bilingualism and jokes

    10:40​ skills for doing research

    14:15​ encouraging to stay in academia

    17:06​ PhD advising 

    18:55​ what is work

    20:20​ mysterious time-management

    23:00​ not being judgmental

    25:08​ geometric intuition

    27:55​ thinking too fast

    29:03​ challenge of moving forward

    32:24​ finding math problems

    35:26​ independence after graduation

    38:21​ serious research mistakes

    43:09​ how to learn motivic homotopy theory

    45:45​ learning math backwards

    47:28​ changes in the math community

    51:31​ mathematical inspiration

    53:21​ funny conference encounter

    55:12​ my gratitude and R. Kipling

    59:13​ advice to young mathematicians

  • Dustin Clausen is an associate professor in Copenhagen university, working in algebraic K-theory, homotopy theory and number theory. In this interview, Dustin shares controversial opinions on publishing and grant system, tells about his view on leaving academia, and reproduces very vividly a Tarantino style plot of an interrogation in Moscow, for stealing cookies! P.S. Dustin would like to assure the viewers that he did not steal any cookies. 

    Dustin's homepage: https://www.math.ku.dk/english/staff/faculty/?pure=en%2Fpersons%2F467008

    Photo: from Copenhagen University webpage

    0:00​ teasing teaser

    0:40​ French high school shock

    5:04​ being grandson of John Tate

    8:00​ doubts about academic career

    9:38​ alternative career options

    11:01​ opinions too negative to share

    13:41​ disappointments of grad school

    15:01​ giving a satisfying math talk is impossible

    17:01​ decision to stay in academia

    19:56​ publishing is a rotten enterprise

    23:51​ struggles of refereeing 

    26:27​ mistakes in talks and papers

    31:10​ my first impression of Dustin

    33:17​ numbers and homotopies

    36:25​ Mike Hopkins is the best

    40:40​ Jacob Lurie as PhD advisor

    44:11​ not understanding is great

    47:44​ reading and writing math papers

    51:17​ “Math in Moscow”: thrilling story

    57:00​ doing math when you have babies

    59:04​ distributing grants equally

    01:01:02​ how to not be afraid of job market

    01:03:18​ funny reaction to saying you’re doing math

    01:05:23​ kind words for those who feel demotivated

  • In this episode I’m telling about my reasons for making interviews with mathematicians and about the process of doing it. Please leave your feedback for the project in the comments on the Youtube channel! I really appreciate it :)

    My personal webpage: https://www.muramatik.com​

    0:00​ Comments and feedback are welcome!

    0:40​ How to help the channel?

    01:09​ Why I am making the interviews?

    02:50​ Was I afraid to start the channel?

    05:18​ Did I have experience with interviews before?

    06:17​ How do I choose interviewees?

    08:20​ What are the main rules of interviewing?

    10:16​ How I prepare questions?

    13:33​ How I prepare interviewees?

    14:58​ How I am trying to show that interviewees are relateable?

    15:48​ What goes wrong during an interview?

    18:03​ What are the happiest moments?

    18:53​ What's the hardest about making interviews? 

    19:44​ What are my main tools?

  • Olga Paris-Romaskevich is a CNRS researcher at Marseille Institute of Mathematics, working in dynamical systems. In this interview Olga talks about the joy of popularizing mathematics and shares a truly inspiring story of how she (almost) quit math!

    Olga's webpage: https://romaskevich.carrd.co​

    https://marielhuissier.carrd.co​ (Marie Lhuissier, mathematical storyteller)

    https://www.mathematiquesvagabondes.fr​ (French association Mathématiques Vagabondes created by Olga Paris-Romaskevich and Marie Lhuissier, to foster exchange between arts and mathematics)

    https://matematika.mathematiquesvagab...​ (site of the MАТЕМАТИКА project — exchanging with women in mathematics in Russia)

    http://ciel.mmi-lyon.fr/​ Exhibition Mathematics of the sky

    0:00​ teaser

    00:30​ unexpected interview outcome

    01:16​ when math research became a choice

    04:45​ why you choose math

    8:44​ what being a mathematician means 

    10:43​ how math changed you

    12:50​ which skills math research gives you

    17:16​ desired changes in the math community

    21:21​ what’s included in “inclusivity”

    25:48​ young mathematicians feeling included

    28:14​ math as an instrument in life

    32:28​ why popularize math

    36:15​ traveling through Russia to collect math stories

    38:28​ how Olya inspired me to start “Math-life balance”

    39:19​ the importance of dreaming

    40:10​ how Olya quit academia (not clickbait:) )

    44:28​ what happens when you decide to stop doing math

    47:30​ don’t change how you are, change the world around

    49:57​ not working when you don’t have motivation

    51:38​ how to learn a TED talk

    53:24​ cool metaphor of math research

    56:12​ advice to those who feel lost these days