Serena Dipierro facts for kids
Serena Dipierro is an Italian mathematician who studies special types of math problems called partial differential equations. These equations help us understand how things change and interact in the world. Her work also looks at how these equations behave, how they change from one state to another, and problems where the boundaries of a shape are not fixed.
Serena's research helps in many areas, like understanding how populations grow and shrink (population dynamics), how tiny particles behave (quantum mechanics), the structure of crystals (crystallography), and even how money markets work (mathematical finance). She is a professor at the University of Western Australia, where she leads the department of mathematics and statistics.
Education and Early Career
Serena Dipierro started her journey in mathematics in Italy. She earned her first degree, a laurea, from the University of Bari in 2006. She continued her studies at the same university and received a master's degree in 2008.
After that, she went on to earn her Ph.D. in mathematics in 2012 from the International School for Advanced Studies in Trieste, Italy. Her Ph.D. research focused on complex math problems related to how things concentrate or change in very small ways.
After finishing her Ph.D., Serena worked as a researcher in different countries. She was a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Chile and the University of Edinburgh. She also received a special scholarship called a Humboldt Fellow. Before joining the University of Western Australia in 2018, she was a faculty member at the University of Melbourne in Australia and the University of Milan in Italy.
Published Work
Serena Dipierro has also written a book about advanced math topics. She co-authored a book called Fractional Elliptic Problems with Critical Growth in the Whole of 
with María Medina de la Torre and Enrico Valdinoci. This book was published in 2017 and is used by other mathematicians studying similar problems.
Awards and Achievements
Serena Dipierro has received important awards for her contributions to mathematics:
- In 2021, she was awarded the Australian Mathematical Society Medal. This award recognizes outstanding research in mathematics by Australian mathematicians.
- In 2024, she received the Christopher Heyde Medal from the Australian Academy of Science. This medal is given to scientists who have made significant contributions to mathematics.
