About Eurandom

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.

Collaboration

NETWORKS is a 10-year research program funded by the Dutch Ministry of Education, Culture and Science through the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research.

Eurandom plays a key role in the organization of workshops, funded by NETWORKS. Close ties between the different institutions and the involved researchers have been established. This paves the way for high-standard workshops.

NETWORKS is hosted by four research institutions:
University of Amsterdam (UvA)
Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e)
Leiden University (UL)
Center for Mathematics and Computer Science (CWI)

The program started in 2014 and covers a broad range of topics dealing with stochastic and algorithmic aspects of networks. The aim of the program is to address the pressing challenges posed by large-scale networks with the help of stochastics and algorithmics. The focus is on modelling, understanding, controlling and optimizing networks that are complex and highly volatile.

Eurandom is part of STAR, Stochastics- Theoretical and Applied Research, the Cluster in Stochastics.

Eurandom collaborates with CWI (the national NWO research institute in mathematics and computer science) and with various national research schools in The Netherlands.

Eurandom is a UMI (Unité Mixte Internationale, 3022) of CNRS. This means that French scientists can apply for a one or two semester stay at the institute.

Eurandom is member of ERCOM (European Research Centres On Mathematics) which was founded in 1997, and academic institutional member of the European Mathematical Society. Ercom is a committee of EMS; ERCOM consists of European research centres in mathematical sciences (there are around 20 to 25 members).
Directors and administrators of the member institutes meet once a year to discuss scientific and administrative issues, to coordinate scientific actions, and to exchange ideas and information.

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.

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