An AIMS Senegal alumnus, Dr. Ignace Aristide Minlend has been awarded a Humboldt Research Fellowship for Postdoctoral Researchers. Funded by the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, the Cameroonian researcher will be hosted by Prof. Tobias Weth at Goethe-Universität Frankfurt. 

“We are all mathematicians at birth, as we intuitively know how to circumvent obstacles by walking on all fours; thus, we are capable of reasoning logically. This fellowship offers me the opportunity to gain knowledge to contribute to the advancement of science in Africa by developing projects of common interest, which benefit our academic institutions while impacting society.” said Dr. Minlend

Ignace was one of the first two researchers to defend a PhD at AIMS Senegal, conferred by the Université Cheikh Anta Diop (UCAD) in May 2018 under the tutelage of the AIMS Senegal Research Chair in Mathematics and its Applications, Prof. Mouhamed Moustapha Fall, and supported by the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD).  In May 2019, he was awarded the Inaugural Prize of Professor Abbas Bahri at the State University of New Jersey in the USA, subsequently securing the position of Assistant Professor at the University of Douala, Cameroon in December 2019.

His area of research is Differential Geometry and Nonlinear Analysis, with a focus on problems involving energy optimization and nonlocal phase transition modelling. He is also interested in Stochastic Calculus and Control Theory. 

Through the Humboldt Research Fellowship, the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation sponsors researchers with above-average qualifications from across the globe. Fellows benefit from individual support from the Humboldt Foundation, allowing them to conduct research at various stages of their career in collaboration with a host at a German research institution of their choice.