ERC advaced grant for Wilhelm Winter
A great distinction for a mathematician from the University of Münster: the European Research Council (ERC) awards an Advanced Grant to Prof. Wilhelm Winter. The grant is one of the most important in Europe awarded for research purposes. “Even for individual funding such as this, the scientific environment is of major importance – and the conditions for basic research in mathematics are ideal here at the university of Münster,” says Wilhelm Winter. “This funding from the ERC is not only a perfect fit for the new ‘Mathematics Münster’ Cluster of Excellence, it also provides a wonderful opportunity to start work on some particularly difficult challenges and long-term projects. The opportunity it gives us to train outstanding junior researchers in close proximity to current research is very attractive.”
“In order to be successful in the pan-European competition for these prestigious ERC grants, researchers must demonstrate top-quality work,” underlines Prof. Johannes Wessels, Rector of Münster University. “The award of such a grant is therefore evidence of excellent research – of which not only the recipients themselves, but also the entire University, can be proud.” In Wilhelm Winter, who has held a professorship in Münster since 2011, the Faculty of Mathematics and Computer Science has attracted an outstanding researcher, Johannes Wessels adds, who complements perfectly the profile which mathematics has at Münster University.
The research project which Wilhelm Winter would like to undertake in the next five years with the support of the EU funding of around 1.6 million euros belongs to the field of theoretical mathematics. The goal of the project is to better understand the structure of certain operator algebras in terms of approximation properties. Operator algebras were originally introduced to provide the mathematical foundation of quantum mechanics; today they have developed into a research area in their own right. The particular emphasis of this ERC project will be on nuclear C*-algebras and connections with amenable group actions.
The Advanced Grants funding line is aimed at established researchers with an outstanding record of results over the last ten years. Further funding lines are the Starting Grants and the Consolidator Grants. There is a total of around 20 researchers at the University of Münster who have received a grant from the EU Commission in the course of their careers.
Wilhelm Winter:
Born in 1968, studied Mathematics and Physics at the Universities of Heidelberg and Münster. After his PhD and habilitation in Münster, he spent several years at the University of Nottingham in England. In 2011 he was appointed to a professorship at the University of Münster
Further information
European Research Council press release
Homepage of Prof. Wilhelm Winter
Work group Functional analysis, operator algebras and non-commutative geometry