The following pages contain the second biennial report of the
Thomas Stieltjes Institute for Mathematics. It provides a complete
overview of our activities during 1995-1996. As in the first report,
we have included a few brief accounts of some of the work carried
out by the researchers of the Stieltjes Institute.
In 1995 the Technical University of Eindhoven joined the
participants of the Stieltjes Institute. It is represented by a
research group in probability, statistics and operations research.
During the past two years we have continued to build on the
foundations laid out during the first two years of our existence.
In particular we have
- made sure that all research of the Stieltjes Institute continues
to meet international quality standards;
- increased the collaboration of research groups at different
locations;
- improved the quality of this collaboration by organizing
interuniversity workshops and summerschools;
- improved our programme for graduate study.
Important new initiatives include establishing
- the annual Stieltjes award for the best PhD thesis;
- the Stieltjes visiting professorship.
In the next few years we intend to improve the focus of our
research programme even further. As part of this effort, we plan to
increase collaboration with other research school in mathematics, to
wit MRI and EIDMA.
Discussions about such a collaboration have
already begun. In 1999 the Stieltjes Institute will again apply for
formal recognition by the Royal Netherlands Academy of Sciences
as a research school. We look forward to this procedure with
confidence.
W.R. van Zwet
Scientific Director