Leibniz Senate confirms excellence of MFO
According to the Leibniz Senate, the MFO is an internationally highly appreciated Institute for Advanced Studies and makes an outstanding contribution for the interconnection of the mathematical community. The institute with its excellent library creates perfect working conditions for events with scientists from all over the world. Particular praise is given to overcoming the challenges of the pandemic years, in which the institute quickly implemented innovative, hybrid event formats.
The MFO's scientific activities are organized into three program lines, all of which are rated as excellent: weeklong Workshops and Mini-Workshops, longer-term research stays and weeklong training activities for early career and established researchers. The high value of scientific exchange and collaboration for national and international mathematical research is particularly emphasized.
“We are very pleased about this extremely positive assessment of our work,” says the director of the MFO, Prof. Dr. Gerhard Huisken. “In its evaluation report, the expert committee values the finely coordinated structures and processes in the interaction between the committees working on an honorary basis and the scientific administration of the institute, which lead to the organization of conferences of high scientific relevance and quality, year after year, and highlights the important contribution of our approx. 35 employees to this success. We will continue our efforts to gather the best minds from the various mathematical disciplines in Oberwolfach and to support them as much as we can in significantly advancing mathematical research. In doing so, we will benefit from hints and recommendations from the evaluation."
The complete statement of the Leibniz-Senate and the evaluation report of the expert committee are available online (PDF, partly in German): https://www.leibniz-gemeinschaft.de/fileadmin/user_upload/Bilder_und_Downloads/%C3%9Cber_uns/Evaluierung/Senatsstellungnahmen/MFO_-_Senatsstellungnahme__19-03-2024__mit_Anlagen.pdf
As a member of the Leibniz Association, the MFO is evaluated by an independent external committee at least every seven years. The committee takes a close look at how the institute has developed in the intervening years and to what extent the plans for the future are convincing. Based on the experts' evaluation report, the Senate of the Leibniz Association prepares a statement with a funding recommendation for the federal and state governments. They, in turn, decide in the Joint Science Conference (Gemeinsame Wissenschaftskonferenz - GWK) on the future funding of the institute. Since 2005, when the MFO has joined the Leibniz Association, the institute has been succesfully evaluated three times (2009, 2016, 2023) and has always been rated as excellent.