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New MSc Coordinator Friday 12 September 2025 15:09
Just before the summer, the role of MSc Coordinator became vacant as Lisette van den Broek became the MSc Coordinator of Robotics. As sad as it is to see Lisette go, we wish her all the best in her new role.
However, we are also very happy to introduce Aleida Braaksma as the new MSc Coordinator of Applied Mathematics! We wish her great success in this new role look forward to working together with her. We leave it to Aleida herself to properly introduce who she is and how you may reach out to her for any questions:
My name is Aleida Braaksma and I am happy that I am now the coordinator of the programme I was once a student of. I have studied Applied Mathematics here at the UT and graduated in 2010. During that time, next to learning a lot from my studies, I have also grown personally and thoroughly enjoyed my student life by being an active member of a student association. My graduation project introduced me to the field of healthcare logistics: organizing healthcare in such a way that patients experience good service (e.g., quick access, short waiting times) while the valuable time of healthcare staff and resources is used optimally. After graduating, I have been a healthcare logistics consultant for one year. Subsequently, I did research for four years and obtained my PhD in healthcare operations research from the UT in 2015. Following that, I have worked as a postdoc in healthcare operations research at MIT (Boston, USA) for two years. Since November 2017, I am back at Applied Mathematics, first as an assistant professor, and now as Master Coordinator and teacher. You may know me from Module 8 (Stochastic Models – Dynamic Programming and the Project) or Markov Decision Theory in the Master.
As Master Coordinator, I am responsible for the organizational aspects of our Master programme. So if you have questions about admission, procedures, missing information, rules and regulations, program/course contents, or if you have complaints, please contact me. You can find me in Zilverling 4013 (not on Wednesdays) or reach me at master-am@utwente.nl.
New Board Monday 8 September 2025 14:40
On Tuesday the 2nd of September, our change GMA took place. The 57th board got discharged, and the 58th board was charged as follows:
Chairman & Officer Internal Affairs: Damaris ter Haar
Secretary: Daan van Kats
Treasurer: Feike Harmsen
General Adjunct: Nathanael Skrepek
We want to thank the 57th board for their hard work of the past year, and we look forward to a great board year! 💛🩵
(FLTR: Nathanael, Daan, Damaris, Feike)
Bouquet from the Education Committee Tuesday 8 July 2025 10:40
As the academic year comes to an end, one final bouquet had to be handed out by the Education Committee. This has, very rightfully so, been received by Anne Zander, who this quartile was involved with both teaching and supervising students (both MSc and BSc).
Students wanted to show their gratitude to Anne, who they highly praised for her patience and understanding. She was spoken of as a good lecturer who takes interest in her students, makes time for them and creates a pleasant atmosphere in her class, where asking questions is welcome and, in fact, actively encouraged. The students she supervises also spoke highly of her gentle ways. the useful tips and direct but never harsh feedback, saying that Anne is a great role model as well as a kind and empathic person with whom they genuinely enjoy working.
With this bouquet of flowers, the Education Committee would like to thank Anne Zander for all of her efforts and hard work.
Bouquet from the Education Committee Wednesday 4 June 2025 11:01
Albeit delayed, the Education Committee has recently awarded a bouquet for quartile 3 to Felix Schwenninger for his continuous commitment to high quality education and for his genuine interest in students' well-being and development across mathematics. Although Felix was not involved in teaching within the programme during quartile 3, students still wanted to showcase their appreciation for him as a follow-up to his nomination for the AMEP (Applied Mathematics Education Prize).
The Education Committee would like to sincerely thank Felix Schwenninger for all of his efforts and hopes that students will continue to appreciate his hard work.
Candidate 58th Board! Wednesday 21 May 2025 16:11
We are excited to announce the Candidate 58th Board of Wiskundig Studiegenootschap Abacus! Their functions are as follows:
Chairman & Officer Internal Affairs - Damaris ter Haar
Secretary - Daan van Kats
Treasurer - Feike Harmsen
Officer Educational Affairs - Tess Frijters
General Adjunct - Nathanael Skrepek
They will hopefully be charged on Tuesday 2nd of September 2025!
Jasper de Jong is a finalist in the Teacher of the Year Award (TOTYA) Friday 2 May 2025 17:52
During the Education Week at the UT, the TOTYA will take place. During this event, one lecturer will be awarded with the title of Teacher of the Year and this year our very own Jasper de Jong has been elected to be one of the finalists! The event will take place on May 22 at 14:00-17:00 in Amphiteather, Vrijhof.
After winning the AMEP, the jury selecting finalists for the TOTYA agreed that Jasper's motivation letter and teaching methods stood out as one of the best.
Come support him during this event as it may help his chances of winning!
Since catering will be offered, we ask that you enrol for this event. You can enrol here: UT Education Week (TOTYA)
Johannes Schmidt-Hieber awarded prestigious Van Dantzig Prize Tuesday 25 March 2025 15:57
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 Monday 24 March 2025 09:16
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 Thursday 6 March 2025 12:55
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.
Abacus Joins GIMPS to Hunt for Mersenne Primes Friday 21 February 2025 14:22
Abacus has joined the Great Internet Mersenne Prime Search (GIMPS), a global project searching for rare Mersenne primes. There is a team named Abacus and anyone interested can join this team. Anyone can contribute by running free software on their computers to help find these primes.
For questions email the coco. What's better than having an Aba-prime!
For information on how to install, see https://www.mersenne.org/
About GIMPS:
GIMPS is a distributed computing project that has discovered many of the largest known prime numbers.
