Robert Burklund receives memorial scholarship

Previous scholarship recipients include 2022 Nobel Laureate in Chemistry Morten Meldal, climate scientist Merete Bilde, astrophysicist Anja C. Andersen, ice core researcher Dorthe Dahl-Jensen and 1975 Nobel Laureate Aage Bohr.

The ceremony took place at a Kirstine Meyer evening in the Round Tower (Rundetaarn), where you could see the exhibition "From Scientist to People", which has a special Kirstine Meyer section. You could also hear a lecture by Denmark's newest Nobel Laureate, Morten Meldal, and attend the presentation of the H.C. Ørsted Medal in bronze to one of the main forces behind the exhibition, director, PhD Gregers Mogensen.

Homotopy theory

Associate Professor Robert Burklund talked about his research in geometry under the headline "How many high-dimensional spaces are there?".

Burklund is researching homotopy theory, i.e. how to understand algebraic and geometric objects by examining how they behave under deformation. Any system that appears in the sciences, which can be described by equations, can be seen as a geometric object where many properties are found to be unchanged under deformation. Homotopy theory thus provides a method for classifying a wide range of systems that allows a mathematical description, whether the system itself comes from chemistry, biology, economics, or something else entirely. Robert Burklund is a young star in this field, writes SNU in their press release.

Burklund received his PhD from MIT in 2022, and after two years as a National Science Foundation postdoc in Copenhagen, he was appointed associate professor in 2024. He has already produced several major research breakthroughs that have appeared in top mathematics journals such as Annals of Mathematics and Acta Mathematica.