Münster Research Fellow: Ho Hai Phung

We welcome Prof. Dr. Ho Hai Phung from the Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology (VAST) as a new Münster Research Fellow at our Cluster. We are delighted to announce that his stay is sponsored by the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation: the renowned specialist in algebra and algebraic geometry was awarded the Humboldt Research Award, one of Germany’s highest honours for leading researchers from abroad. He is the first scientist from Vietnam to receive this distinction.

Ho Hai Phung has made important contributions to several fields of mathematics, including the theory of quantum groups and their Hecke symmetries, Koszul duality for graded superalgebras, Tannakian duality over relative bases and the study of fundamental group schemes in algebraic geometry (finite, stratified, via D-modules), structural results for torsors under flat group schemes, as well as vanishing theorems for higher cohomology and results on the classification and deformation of affine flat group schemes.

During his stay in Münster until the end of November 2026, he will collaborate with Prof. Dr. Christopher Deninger, who nominated him for the Humboldt Research Award. They plan to work on a fundamental open question in p-adic Simpson theory.

About Ho Hai Phung
Ho Hai Phung earned his diploma from Lomonosov Moscow State University at the age of 22, and subsequently completed his PhD at Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich in 1996 under the supervision of algebraist Bodo Pareigis. In 2004, he completed his habilitation at the University of Duisburg-Essen with a thesis on matrix quantum groups. In 2006, the German Research Foundation (DFG) awarded him the von Kaven Award for his work on quantum groups. In 2009, Phung was elected as a Young Affiliate of The World Academy of Sciences (TWAS), a position he held until 2013. He was awarded the title of professor through special recognition in 2012. He served as Director of the Institute of Mathematics under the Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology from 2017 to 2022, and as General Secretary of the Vietnam Mathematical Society. He has also made important contributions to popularising mathematics in Vietnam.

About the Humboldt Research Award
The Humboldt Research Award is granted to up to 100 internationally leading scientists from outside Germany each year, in recognition of their entire research record. Each recipient receives €80,000 to pursue a research project in Germany in collaboration with host scientists.

Link: 
Ho Hai Phung's profile on the webpage of the Humboldt Foundation
Mathematics Münster's programme for "Münster Research Fellows"