Barbara Niethammer facts for kids
Barbara Niethammer is a super smart German mathematician and materials scientist. She is a professor at the Hausdorff Center for Mathematics at the University of Bonn. Her work involves studying how materials behave using special math called partial differential equations. She is especially known for her research on something called Ostwald ripening. This is a process where tiny particles in liquids grow bigger over time.
Her Journey in Science
Barbara Niethammer finished her PhD in 1996 at the University of Bonn. Her main teacher was Hans Wilhelm Alt. Her PhD project was about understanding how models of materials changing over time can be simplified.
After her PhD, she did more research at the Courant Institute. Then, in 2002, she returned to Bonn for her "habilitation." This is like a second, higher degree needed to become a professor in Germany. In 2003, she became a professor at the Humboldt University of Berlin. Later, in 2007, she moved to the University of Oxford in England. She was also a fellow at St Edmund Hall there. In 2012, she came back to the University of Bonn as a professor.
Awards and Honors
Barbara Niethammer has received several important awards for her amazing work. In 2003, she won the Richard von Mises Prize. This award was given by a group called the Gesellschaft für Angewandte Mathematik und Mechanik. She won it for her important research on Ostwald ripening.
In 2011, she also received the Whitehead Prize from the London Mathematical Society. This prize recognized her deep and careful contributions to materials science. Especially, it honored her work on equations like the Lifshitz–Slyozov–Wagner and Becker–Doering equations. These equations help scientists understand how materials change and grow.
Because of her important contributions, she was invited to speak at the International Congress of Mathematicians in 2014. This is a very big honor in the world of mathematics.