Our -series gives international Germany alumni the opportunity to report on the impact of their funding and stay in Germany on their personal development and professional career. Next up in our series is Glen Wheeler. His research stays in Berlin and Magdeburg enabled the qualified mathematician to dive deeper into the subject matter. This has had a considerable impact on his career.

Glen Wheeler is a mathematician and lives in Australia. However, a decisive stepping stone towards his career was laid in Germany, when he first stayed in Berlin and later in Magdeburg with . “It was a logical choice for me, as Germany is famous for some of the best work in my field, which is geometric analysis,” the reports.

He initiated his first contact with Germany through a contact of his mentor at Freie Universität Berlin (FU), back in 2008. “I wrote to him and asked if he had room for me for a three-month scholarship for young researchers,” Glen Wheeler says. After receiving green light from Berlin, Glen Wheeler visited the DAAD office in Sydney and he soon got a letter confirming his scholarship. The FU found accommodation for him in Germany’s capital city, which made for a much easier start.

Germany: world-class mathematical research

“In Berlin I got in touch with some world-class talents in my field. This made me grow so much, I didn’t want to leave again,” the mathematician recalls. When his visa expired after three months, the Australian returned to Sydney, where he completed his . However, at the same time he also searched for a way to return to Germany for another research stay. In 2010 he applied for a research fellowship with the help of the contacts he had established in Berlin. This application was also successful, and Glen Wheeler was able to spend two years at the Otto von Guericke University in Magdeburg.

“This was a great time that I am very grateful for,” says the DAAD alumni and Humboldtian looking back on his scholarships. “I learned from acclaimed experts, and attended conferences where I was able to network and present my work. It was a wonderful springboard that launched my career.” He is sure that it would have been much harder for him to establish himself professionally without these opportunities. “Maybe I would even have given up on mathematics.”

A scholarship with Christmas cheer

Glen Wheeler enjoyed Germany, also beyond mathematics: “I found the people to be incredibly friendly and open-minded.” He has particularly fond memories of the : “I loved the way in which entire city districts are turned into Christmas markets with little stalls that sell delicious food.” When it then started snowing, too, he felt as though he had stepped into a Christmas movie, he recalls.

A network that supports an entire career

Glen Wheeler is now a Senior Lecturer at the University of Wollongong in Australia. His time in Germany has had a lasting impact on his career. He collaborates with colleagues in Germany, attends conferences in Germany and is involved in organising joint events. To this end, he stays up to date on the latest developments in his research area in his former host country. “I have to, because Germany is still at the cutting edge,” he says.

After taking classes at the , his was good enough for “a decent conversation,” Glen Wheeler says, adding that he had since become rather rusty. His advice is this: “Keep it up and continue to use your language skills, even after leaving Germany. I certainly wish I had.”