The Neumann Talk

Eamonn O'Brien is a Professor in the Department of Mathematics at the University of Auckland. We spoke to him about the technical issue that interfered with his Neumann talk, what it was like growing up in Ireland and the significance of the number 256 in his PhD thesis. Find out more about Eamonn on his webpage.

Dr Benjamin Wilson the Chief Scientist at Lateral GmbH. We chat with him about what his work in Representation Theory and in Machine Learning have in common, how his mathematical background has influenced how he runs his company and the move that unexpectedly led him into mathematics. Find out more about Ben on his LinkedIn profile.

Vinesha Peiris is a PhD student at the Swinburne University of Technology. In her final moments as a reigning Neumann winner, we talked about what it was like giving her Neumann talk online, how the Sri Lankan education system pushed her into mathematics and how her research interacts with other areas of mathematics. Find out more about Vinesha by visiting her LinkedIn profile.

Xuan Thinh Duong is a Professor in the Department of Mathematics and Statistics at Macquarie University. We talk to him about where problems in pure mathematics come from, what Harmonic Analysis is and how PhD students get their research topics. Find out more about Duong on his webpage.

Marcel Jackson is an Associate Professor at La Trobe University. We spoke to him about the challenges of picking a Neumann winner, how his research relates to computer science in ways we don't usually expect and why climbing is a common hobby amongst mathematicians. Find out more about Marcel on this webpage.

Dr Adrian Dudek is a Derivatives Trader at Optiver. We talk to him about some of the problems in number theory that he worked on, the extent to which a PhD in pure mathematics has helped him as a trader and finding a mathematics-related job in industry. Check out Adrian's webpage.

Dr Adrianne Jenner is a lecturer at the Queensland University of Technology. We chat with her about how she got into mathematical biology, what modelling really is and her experience talking about her research at a music festival. Find out more about her on her website and follow her on Twitter @adrianne_jenner. Also, check out her talk of Ockham's Razor.

Dr Liam Hodgkinson is a Postdoctoral Researcher at the University of California, Berkeley. We chat with him about winning the Neumann Prize when he least expected it, the role of mathematical rigour in machine learning and what probability really is. Find out more about him on his website.

Dr Matthew Tam is a Lecturer at the University of Melbourne. He tells us about what it was like to work with the late Jon Borwein, different perceptions of applied mathematics and what optimisation is all about. Find out more about him on his website.

In this bonus episode, we briefly discuss the typical pathway into a career in academia after finishing a PhD and what academics do.