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Home page of Geertje Hek

 Geertje Hek jeugdjournaal

Address

Email @science.uva.nl: ghek
Phone : +41-22-3215144

Research

I am a guest researcher at the KdVI. The main theme of my research is 'Geometric singular perturbation theory and applications'. I perform analysis on various singularly perturbed problems that are related to different application fields: existence and stability issues related to pattern formation in for instance convection experiments, and existence and bifurcation questions in delay differential equations having their background in laser dynamics. Currently we are, in cooperation with ecologists, studying pattern formation in arid landscapes to try to understand how such patterns are related to desert formation. As one can observe from my publication record, I am an applied mathematician in the broadest sense: on the one hand, I perform abstract mathematical analysis (where the original question from an application field only plays a background role); on the other hand, I really enjoy cooperations with people from application fields and/or industry.

  • Publications
  • Slides from a tutorial on geometric singular perturbation theory
  • Summary of research for laymen (in Dutch)
  • Pictures related to pattern formation

    • Education

  • 2008: Analyse 1
  • 2007: Basiswiskunde voor informatica
  • 2007: Modelbouw
  • 2006: Modelbouw
  • 2006: Calculus 2
  • 2005: Modelbouw
  • 2005: Lineaire algebra werkcollege
  • 2004: Analyse III pour ingénieurs IN
  • 2003: Inleiding dynamische systemen
  • 2002: Inleiding dynamische systemen
  • 2001: Mentoraat
  • 2001: Symmetrie werkcollege
  • 2000: Mentoraat

    • Master class

    In 2003 and 2004 we offered the master course 'Dimensie, theorie en experiment' to highschool (VWO) teachers. The material (in Dutch) is available here: dictaat dimensie by Ale Jan Homburg and myself, and Mathematica notebooks dimensie and iterated function systems by Ale Jan Homburg.

    Study Groups with Industry

    Since 1998, Study Groups with Industry have been organised in the Netherlands. The aim of these workshops is to bring together mathematicians and commercial companies to tackle industrial problems. The workshops are supported by ITW (Industrial and Applied Mathematics section of the Wiskundig Genootschap) and STW (Stichting Toegepaste Wiskunde). The most recent Dutch Study Group was held in Eindhoven in February 2006, the next one will be in Utrecht.

    To get a flavour or download proceedings, visit the websites of other recent Dutch Study Groups in Leiden (2003) and Delft (2004). The atmosphere of the 2002 Study Group is perfectly illustrated by a set of pictures. The 42nd Study Group, held in 2002 in Amsterdam, and in particular its `Artis-aquarium-problem' and `euro-diffusion-problem', generated a lot of publicity. For instance, the picture on this page is a frame taken from an item on children's TV (Jeugdjournaal, March 22, 2002), and the euro project drew a lot of attention of Dutch and foreign media. Examples were a TV-item by Omroep Gelderland (February, 2002) and a newspaper article in the New York Times, July 2, 2002.

    The euro-diffusion project which was initiated as an experiment to support one of the problems for the Amsterdam Study Group in 2002, has been run by a new team since February 2003. New EuroMeters and new measures are still welcome at their Eurodiffusie Home page.

    More

  • Currently, I am a teacher of mathematics in the English secondary section of the Intitut International de Lancy.
  • From 2005 to 2009, I was chairman of Stichting Epsilon, a foundation that aims to stimulate the interest in mathematics, mainly by means of publication of low-priced books and journals in the Dutch language. Stichting Epsilon was founded in the summer of 2005.
  • Zebra-reeks, a series of topics in mathematics for high school (VWO) students in the highest grades, who are interested in more than just the standard curriculum. From Febuary 2003 to January 2009 I was editor for this series.
  • Since September 2001 I've been an advisory editor for Nieuw Archief voor Wiskunde, the quarterly of the Royal Dutch mathematical society. I'm responsible for the interviews in In de verdediging (In defence)
  • Koninklijk Wiskundig Genootschap, the Royal Dutch mathematical society. From April 2002 till May 2004 I was member of the board, responsible for all affairs concerning the publications Nieuw Archief voor Wiskunde and Pythagoras.
  • PhD theses are more useful than you may think. See for instance this picture in which my thesis is used at the `Wetenschapsdag' at CWI to prove how strong a folded A4-piece of paper may be.

    Last update of this page : May 11, 2010