During my final year at MU, Professor Yuri Latushkin asked if I were interested in being part of an Internet seminar experience called TUKLA. TUKLA is an acronym for the functional analysis group of three German universities—Tubingen, Ulm and Karlsruhe. It also refers to the Tulka cave in the novel Rulaman by David Friedrich Weinland (1829–1915).
Each year TUKLA organizes an international seminar on different topics in functional analysis. In 1998–99,the topic was "Evolution Semigroups." There were three stages to this program. In the first stage we had weekly readings. Our group—Milena Stalislanova, Atanas Stefanov, Bill Layton and me—had to post homework solutions every few weeks.
In the second stage, we paired up with students from other universities to work on understanding a specific,well-defined and studied subject of our choice. The third and best part of the whole experience was when all the students from different universities and countries met for the workshop at Heinrech-Fabri Institut in Blauabeurau, Germany.
At first, the seminar felt like studying for a reading course. The only difference was that reading courses are usually for a small number of students. We were part of a much larger group of about 50 people from around the world.
When we finally met in Germany, I could put faces and names together. I remembered those who posted clever solutions, thoughtful discussions and funny comments. I was especially impressed that many of the participants were undergraduate students. I also was quite impressed with the organization of the seminar.
It's noteworthy that the location of the seminar is very beautiful—mathematically romantic, if you wish. So for a good week, people arose early in the morning to jog and have breakfast. In fact, the 7 a.m. jog was part of the daily schedule! Some Moroccan students were unbelievably fit, so fit that Yuri and I unconsciously decided not to participate in the jogging ritual.
After breakfast, there was a lecture by a faculty member followed by many half-hour talks for the rest of the day. All of the talks were precise, and one talk prepared you for the next. Most of all we learned from and interacted with each other, socially and mathematically. That was the whole point.
Editor's Note: Rhouma is a postdoctoral fellow at the Center for Dynamical Systems and Nonlinear Studies, Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta.