WIAS PhD Group
Apes together strong.
To the website of the group of PhD students at the Weierstrass-Institute for Applied Analysis and Stochastics!
Coffee ☕️ & [Countably many] Cookies 🍪. A new dynamic in our PhD seminar will be introduced by setting aside time for informal discussion and caffeine, or tea, consumption with cookies. You are very welcome to join at any time, or drop by to take a break from the office.
Marwa Zainelabdeen has been elected to join the team of PhD representatives, congrats! 🥳
With this transition, Willem van Oosterhout steps down from his position and we thank him for his efforts during this time.
| Date | Contribution |
|---|---|
| 17.03.2025 | Felix Sauer (RG 8) Generalized Nash Equilibrium Problems Constrained by PDEs on Networks Abstract: To prepare for my (first-ever) conference talk at GAMM in April, I would like to present my work at a very accessible level so that everyone, regardless of their research group or experience level, can follow along. In this talk, I will introduce my current research problem, which is inspired by a market model of competing firms on a gas network. In 30 minutes, I will: -Give a brief introduction to generalized Nash equilibrium problems. - Discuss PDEs defined on networks. - Explain how I set up a multi-agent market problem on a network, where several firms compete by producing and selling a commodity. This problem is formulated as a generalized Nash equilibrium problem constrained by a PDE on a network and includes both state and control constraints. -Present some numerical results (pretty pictures). I want everyone to be able to follow along and to feel free to ask questions whenever something is unclear. I believe we sometimes forget how difficult our problems can be when they are the sole focus of our work for months. Concepts that seem trivial to us now may be far from obvious to someone new to the topic. |
| 07.04.2025 | Marcel Śliwiński (RG 4) tba Abstract: tba |
The PhD lunch is still alive and happening regularly! 🌮
Every Tuesday at 12:30, you are happily invited to join us for lunch! We meet in front of the entry to the main building! 🥪
As a result of the employee survey (Mitarbeiterbefragung MAB), a committee was set in place to develop appropriate measures for improving the working conditions at the institute.
One outgrowth of that was to institute a buddy group of volunteers who meet up monthly to offer a platform for discussing challenges and filling general gaps for newcomers to the WIAS.
See also:
the MAB committee's webpage (only reachable from within the WIAS via e.g. VPN)
You may have heard through the grapevine that the infamous WissZeitVG is currently in the process of being reformed.
While some suggestions seem to actually constitute an improvement - such as the plan to mandate (within limits) three-year contracts for newly hired PhDs - other parts of it have caused quite a stir in the German academic world. Most notably, the plan is to limit the maximum post-doc employment period under fixed-term contracts to only 3 years.
This has been met with severe criticism by labor unions, some research organizations and even professors who regard this development as significant in impacting the working conditions in academia in a negative fashion.
If you are interested in reading more about the general background and recent developments, especially from an English-speaking point of view, check out the following links:
Leibniz PostDoc Network: a network of postdoc scientists within the Leibniz Association engaging in information gathering, communcation, and advocacy.
#ProfsFürHanna: an alliance of professors who have co-signed an open letter calling for the revision of the proposed amendments to the WissZeitVG.
GEW [German]: Educators' and Scientists' Labor Union providing some details on the proposed amendments and reactions to them in German.
NGA - Network for Decent Labor in Academia [mostly German]: a network of mid-level academics in Germany engaged in information-gathering and advocacy for better working conditions in academia.
For German sources, we warmly recommend running bits of text through the DeepL Translator.
