Mission
Eurandom is a workshop centre, based at the Department of Mathematics and Computer Science, TU/e.
The mission of Eurandom is to foster research in Stochastics and its application areas. This mission is achieved by an extensive workshop and visitor program. These activities are mainly organized around three thematic pillars
- Random Spatial Structures (RSS)
- Queueing & Performance Analysis (QPA)
- Statistical Information Modeling (SIM)
Important assets are the series of workshops for and by young researchers: YESP (Young European Stochastic Professionals), around each of the three above mentioned thematic pillars.
By choosing subjects that are high on the international agenda these workshops give the possibility to gain more in-depth knowledge in recent developments. For further details see the overview of YEP, YEQT and YES.
History
Eurandom is a foundation established in 1997 by NWO and TU/e. The Eurandom Management Board consists of peers from several departments of the TU/e and otherwise Eurandom-affiliated researchers. The Management Board is complemented with a Scientific Advisory Council, advising on matters of scientific policy and strategy. The institute Eurandom is embedded in the Department of Mathematics and Computer Science, TU/e and is located on the campus of TU/e.
The founding fathers of EURANDOM were Mike Keane, Jaap Wessels and Willem van Zwet (also its first scientific director, from 1997 to 2000), while Paul van der Laan played a major role in securing Eindhoven University of Technology as EURANDOM’s home base, see the STAtOR article authored by Wim Senden (the first managing director) for a further account of the early days and the vital contributions by Willem van Zwet. He was succeeded as scientific director by Frank den Hollander (2000-2005), followed by Onno Boxma (2005-2010) and Remco van der Hofstad (2010-2019).
At the start of the institute, the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science (OC&W) awarded Eurandom with a five-year start-up funding, through a special budget for international facilities. This was supplemented with start-up funding by NWO and TU/e. At that time, Eurandom was a postdoc institute. Its main goal was to recruit and train talented young researchers and help them to find their way to tenured positions in academia and industry. Maintaining a workshop and visitor program proved instruments for collaboration and dissemination.
In 2002 TU/e and NWO decided to continue providing the basic funding for Eurandom up to and including 2007.
In 2007, both the TU/e general board and the department of Mathematics and Computer Science, decided to continue supporting the institute after splitting up foundation and institute. The institute was thus able to continue in a new concept: a workshop and visitor centre.
Organization
The daily running of the centre is the responsibility of the scientific director (prof.dr.ir. Sem Borst) and the workshop officer (Marianne de Bruin). Besides the Eurandom Management Board, as described above, the Scientific Advisory Council helps to evaluate topics for workshops and advises on speakers to invite from the various areas in stochastics.
Eurandom Ambassadors
Eurandom also has Network of Ambassadors, who operate in close consultation with the Scientific Advisory Council and the Scientific Director. The ambassadors belong to a select company of prominent early-career researchers in various areas of Stochastics. They will play a vital role in spearheading the organization of future workshops around a wide range of topical subjects and emerging directions.
Eurandom has close connections with STAR, Stochastics- Theoretical and Applied Research, one of the national clusters in The Netherlands.
Eurandom collaborates with CWI (the national NWO research institute in Mathematics and Computer Science) as well as various research schools in The Netherlands.
Eurandom is a UMI (Unité Mixte Internationale, 3022) of CNRS, which means that French scientists can apply for a one or two semester stay.
Visitor Program
Eurandom welcomes visitors engaged in high-profile research in any area of Stochastics. Prospective visitors and/or their host(s) are invited to submit an application for financial support. In order to apply, please send a one-page request to Marianne de Bruin at eurandom.office@tue.nl
– The application should state the name and affiliation of the prospective visitor, her or his host(s) and the intended dates of the visit, and include a description of the scientific activities planned during the visit.
– The application should mention if financial support has been requested from other sources (such as STAR grants or funding at the home institution), or include a brief explanation why no other funding sources are available.
– The application should be submitted at least 10 weeks before the start of the visit.
– In view of budgetary constraints, financial support can only be provided to cover local expenses (not travel cost), and is limited to a maximum of 125 Euro per day and a total of 12 days. Priority is given to visitors who are at an early stage of their careers (received their PhD within the last eight years).
When financial support of 500 Euro or more is granted, the visitor is expected to give a talk in the Eindhoven/Eurandom Stochastics Seminar series and submit a one-page report on the scientific activities conducted during the visit.