Million-euro recognition for Giles

Hay born mathematician Dr Giles Gardham received the Emmy Noether research funding last week.

Some 25 years ago, Giles Gardam’s mathematical abilities were first nurtured at Hay Public School.

Last week, the Hay-born mathematician received Emmy Noether funding of just over one million euros (AU$1.5million) for research.

This will enable Dr Gardam to build up his own research group at the Mathematical Institute in Germany in the coming six years.

Giles has been a postdoc in geometric group theory working in the Topology Group at the University of Münster since 2019.

He contributes to the Cluster of Excellence Mathematics Münster and to the CRC 1442 Geometry: Deformations and Rigidity.

Last year, the 31-year-old caused a great stir in international circles when he succeeded in disproving one of the three so-called Kaplansky conjecture.

These are three mathematical problems – unsolved for some time – relating to group rings of torsion-free group.

It is this topic which Giles wants to research further with his own working group and under the title of ‘satisfiability and group rings’.

“My disproof of the Kaplansky unit conjecture has thrown up new mathematical questions which I would like to explore,” he said.

“My inclusion in the Emmy Noether Programme is a great honour and a great opportunity.

“I’m looking forward to taking up a leadership role in my research group.”

The aim of the Emmy Noether Programme is to offer outstanding junior researchers scientific independence and qualify them for a university professorship.

Giles is the son of Wayne and Lou Gardam and is now based in Münster, Germany.