Monique Laurent elected as a member of Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences

KNAW members are prominent scientists who are nominated by fellow researchers within and outside the Academy. On 17 September, the 21 new Academy members will be installed in KNAW's Trippenhuis.

Monique Laurent (1960) uses mathematics to tackle practical and theoretical problems. Using techniques from algebra, geometry and discrete mathematics, she develops mathematical tools and efficient algorithms for optimization problems, with a wide range of applications: from logistics to data analysis and quantum information theory. According to experts, Laurent takes the time to get young researchers and outsiders acquainted with mathematics, thus ensuring a good research climate. She is also praised for her clear and, at the same time, in-depth scientific publications.

Monique Laurent is a Fellow of the international Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics - SIAM, for her contributions to this field, in particular in connecting discrete and polynomial optimization, and for her contributions to the mathematical community. She is much in demand as a speaker at international conferences. For example, in 2014 she spoke at the International Congress of Mathematicians - the most important conference for mathematicians in the world, with thousands of participants. In July 2018, she will hold a plenary lecture at ISMP, the triennial international symposium of the Mathematical Optimization Society, for more than a thousand participants from science and industry.

Monique Laurent: "I am happy and very honored to become a member of the KNAW and hope to be able to use this opportunity to continue my commitment to mathematics and science."

(Source: Centrum Wiskunde & Informatica CWI)