Bruno Benedetti,
BMS Phase II student,
MSc University of Genoa

A challenge can push one to strive for excellence toward things thought unobtainable in ways never before imagined. The Berlin Mathematical School is composed of such challenges: born in the heart of old Europe, this institution strives to compete with the elite American universities, which will, no doubt, benefit by this competition greatly. This goal of excellence is pursued in all aspects at BMS. For example, a team of collaborators has helped me to efficiently navigate through all of the university's bureaucratic red-tape, and solved such real-life problems like finding an apartment, a doctor, and a language course. The environment here is highly cosmopolitan, and I had no problem whatsoever in feeling integrated, and at home.

The research was stimulating from the very beginning. When I arrived here as Ph.D. student in the Combinatorics and Discrete Geometry group, which collaborates with analogous high-level research teams all over the world, the group's enthusiasm for its research and its challenges were overwhelming. I love that there's no "nerd" within the group, just lively, friendly and motivating professionals. Combinatorics or discrete geometry are not very popular topics in my country (Italy), and woefully so, no such research team exists in Italy. This is one of the main reasons for my presence at BMS together with the never-ending charm of Berlin: a "poor, but sexy" city, to quote the Mayor, a place where many challenges can be accomplished.

published in April 2008

Update 2015: Bruno is an assistant professor at the University of Miami, in Coral Gables, Florida. In 2014 he was a research visitor and part-time lecturer at Northeastern University, Boston. Before moving to the US he was a postdoc at FU Berlin in 2013 and at KTH Stockholm from 2011 to 2012.