The journey is more important than the destination
A group is discussing the latest mathematical findings at the blackboard, doctoral researchers are exchanging views on the progress of their theses around a table, and the coffee machine is humming. Yet the background noise in the “Common Room”, the central meeting place of the Cluster of Excellence Mathematics Münster, does not seem to disturb Prof. Dr. Ho Hai Phung and Prof. Dr. Christopher Deninger. Chalk in hand, they stand at the blackboard, completely absorbed in a detail of p-adic Simpson theory, a research topic at the interface of algebraic and arithmetic geometry.
This is precisely the kind of deep, intensive exchange that has brought Ho Hai Phung from the Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology (VAST) in Hanoi to Münster. His two-month research stay is linked to the Humboldt Research Award which he was recently awarded by the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation – making him the first scientist from Vietnam to receive the distinction. “I want to broaden my knowledge, learn about new theories and techniques, and thereby discover even more of the beauty of mathematics,” he says, describing his motivation.
Together with his host Christopher Deninger, whom he invited two years ago to a research stay at the VAST in Hanoi, he will work until the end of November on a long-standing open question in p-adic Simpson theory. Put simply, the theory is concerned with how geometric objects can be described in different mathematical ways and how these descriptions are related to one another.
The two researchers are not worried that an AI model developed by one of the major tech companies might beat them to the answer. “In mathematics, it is not really so much about solving the problem, but rather about all the insights and new ideas you gain along the way,” says Ho Hai Phung. “Understanding mathematics will remain a human endeavour,” adds Christopher Deninger.
This is not Ho Hai Phung’s first stay in Germany: he spent ten years of his career here. After studying in Moscow, he completed his PhD in Munich in 1996 and subsequently obtained his habilitation at the University of Duisburg-Essen. After returning to Vietnam, he became a professor at VAST in 2012 and headed the Academy’s Institute of Mathematics as director from 2017 to 2022. This is only his second visit to Münster. “It is so quiet and peaceful here – the perfect research environment,” he says.
Alongside his research, Ho Hai Phung is very committed to inspiring the younger generation to take an interest in mathematics. He is therefore involved in the editorial team of the monthly magazine “Tạp chí Pi”. The magazine is aimed at school pupils, students, teachers and other people interested in mathematics, and offers a mix of mathematical puzzles and problems, historical topics, articles about mathematics in everyday life, and current developments in research. “The standing of mathematics is generally very high in Vietnam,” he says, pointing to the country’s historic close ties with the Soviet Union, where mathematics also held a prominent position. Through the magazine, open days and playful competitions for children, he and his team want to show the public “that mathematics is not only important, but also beautiful.”
Author: Victoria Liesche
This article is from the university newspaper “wissen|leben" No 7, 11 November 2026.