German SIAM and GAMM Student Chapters Meet in Potsdam for Lively Scientific Exchange

The biennial Meeting of the European SIAM and GAMM Student Chapters (MESIGA) brings together students in applied mathematics for a convivial gathering where they can share their work, learn from peers and established scientists, and explore a diverse array of topics. After a short hiatus, the University of Trier SIAM Student Chapter revived the long-standing tradition in 2023, then passed the torch to the University of Potsdam SIAM and GAMM Student Chapter and the Berlin Area SIAM Student Chapter to host MESIGA25. The student-organized conference took place at the University of Potsdam from March 10-13, 2025, with a focus on numerical methods in applied mathematics.

The meeting attracted approximately 60 SIAM student chapter members and other participants from the master to postdoctoral level. The festivities kicked off on the evening of March 10 with a welcome event that featured an industry talk by Peter Schlicht of CARIAD, who discussed the development of safe artificial intelligence systems for autonomous driving. The event took place at a popular local bar in Potsdam, which allowed for lively conversation in a relaxed atmosphere.

The first full day of the conference began with an energetic icebreaker activity. Next, SIAM President Carol Woodward of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and GAMM treasurer Andrea Walter of the Humboldt University of Berlin presented the opening remarks. Throughout the week, Woodward also engaged directly with the student chapters during several sessions.

In addition to networking, the mathematical contributions of early-career scientists were a major focus of the conference. The program included 17 contributed talks and a student poster session with roughly 10 posters, which allowed for the further exchange of ideas. These presentations were complemented by four insightful plenary talks that encompassed a variety of different fields. Martin Stoll of the Chemnitz University of Technology used the graph Laplacian to introduce audience members to the world of data science, and Anne Wald of the University of Göttingen overviewed her research in the field of inverse problems. Later in the week, Julia Grübel of the University of Technology Nürnberg spoke about equilibrium problems and energy market design, while Carmen Gräßle of the Technical University of Braunschweig familiarized attendees with data assimilation in materials science.

After the second day of lectures, participants embarked on a guided tour of the beautiful Sanssouci Park — one of Potsdam’s main attractions. Following this afternoon social outing, everyone split into four dinner groups to explore Potsdam’s local restaurant scene before reuniting at another pub.

The last day of the conference was dedicated to the remaining contributed talks, further interactions among SIAM and GAMM student chapter members, and a lighthearted soft skills workshop. This latter session aimed to foster presentation capabilities and provide attendees with a toolkit of stylistic devices to captivate an audience. The workshop instructors were members of the popular Berlin poetry slam ensemble Kiezpoeten, and they prepared three interesting topics to help early-career scientists improve their speaking abilities; participants could choose between “Storytelling for Presentation Structure,” “Humor for Engaging Your Audience,” or “Stage Presence and Confidence.”

After a final coffee break, conference attendees parted ways with fresh insights, new friends and connections, and ideas for subsequent individual and student chapter projects. With the second post-COVID-19 MESIGA in the books, we look forward to future meetings and are confident that another chapter will volunteer to organize the 2027 iteration. We have all grown fond of the tradition of MESIGA as a conference “for students by students” that provides junior researchers with the opportunity to present their work in a friendly, curious environment and meet dedicated, like-minded peers.

We are grateful for financial support from the Institute of Mathematics at the University of Potsdam, SFB 1294, SFB Transregio 154, GAMM, and the Berlin Mathematics Research Center MATH+. Finally, we would like to thank SIAM and GAMM for inspiring this event through their promotion of networking and collaboration among early-career researchers and young academics.