Participant Testimonials
This was one of the best workshops that I have ever participated in. The format of having the day split into half the time lectures, the other half problems sessions made it possible to really absorb the material discussed in the lecture. In a typical workshop that I have participated in, having an opportunity to really understand the material has not necessarily been a given. This past week I have expanded my background of number theory into the realm of the methods to solve Diophantine equations. Any opportunity to broaden the scope of one's field is always valuable, especially in such a well structured workshop. I had the opportunity to meet a number of number theorists at this workshop, for the first time, which was really great.
In my PhD I am specializing in the modular approach to Diophantine equations which was one of the topics taught in the school. This way the summer school was very useful to me to get to know other techniques to solving Diophantine equations and to see how they interact with the modular approach. This was something that was already in my plans but this school allowed me to do it in a fast and systematic way. I also met several people I wouldn't have met otherwise and it is not that I had started a new collaboration during the school but I am sure that some collaboration will happen in the future. Also, I arrived two days earlier in order to meet with another mathematician that was in a BIRS workshop the previous week and stayed late in order for us to collaborate.
The content of the workshop was very relevant to my dissertation research. By participating in problem sessions and talking to the lecturers I got several new ideas to try on a problem I'm thinking about for my thesis. I met several people at the workshop which I'm very glad to have come in contact with, since we work on closely related subjects. I do expect to have future collaborations in research with some of them.
The workshop gave a good overview of the various tools that mathematicians use today to solve Diophantine equations. There were also exercises that helped us become comfortable using these tools. I gained a good perspective on how Diophantine equations can be solved, and I had a really good time.
The workshop was great, with all of the talks being interesting and very helpful. The methods to solve Diophantine equations that were shown were all among the most powerful known today and it was nice to see them explained by some of the people that developed them. I believe the workshop will have a noticeable impact on my future research.
The BIRS Summer School on Contemporary Methods for Solving Diophantine Equations was outstanding. I got more out of attending this summer school than any summer school or conference I have attended so far. The lectures were really interesting and well presented and the problems were challenging and very enjoyable. I learnt a lot by working on the problems in small groups and discussing the finer points of the lectures with other participants. The BIRS is the perfect location for such a summer school. The Banff Centre is very well set up and the surroundings are beautiful. Many thanks to the organisers for doing such a fantastic job and I hope there will be more events like this in the future.
This BIRS summer school on Diophantine equations has been really fruitful for me. I do not work with Diophantine equations, so it was great learning all the modern methods to solve them in one place. The lectures were brilliant and beautifully interrelated. The problem sessions were challenging and it helped in absorbing the lecture materials. I also liked very much the idea of recording the lectures and it will certainly be useful for people who could not attend this summer school. The Banff Centre's hospitality has been awesome and I really thank all the organisers for all their efforts. The experience from Banff will definitely be helpful for my future research.
