Stories of the 2024 ICTP Diploma Graduates

ICTP Diploma student Anis Bousclet from Algeria has a lifelong passion for mathematics. When the time came to choose what to study at university, however, he chose engineering. “I thought this was the best thing to do to access prestigious engineering schools in France, which are some of the best for mathematics, but I realized very soon that this was a mistake,” he explains.

Due to the bureaucratic complications and administrative obstacles related to moving to a different course of studies, he did not change. “I studied control engineering, which has a lot to do with certain aspects of mathematics such as functional analysis and control theory, so I started studying those topics more in detail by myself.” That his interest in mathematics was never encouraged nor fully appreciated, motivated him to move to France, to do a master’s in geometrical mechanics. “This was again a very applied subject and we did not go deeply into the mathematical aspects. That meant that it was very difficult for me to find a PhD in mathematics afterwards, and the situation was becoming both frustrating and depressing for me”. Then, he heard about the ICTP Postgraduate Diploma Programme.

The programme offered by ICTP was exactly what I needed to become a competitive applicant to any postgraduate programme in mathematics.

The solution to Bousclet’s struggles came from an old friend of his. “Like me, he had started in engineering, but very quickly realized that it was mathematics that he really liked. Unlike me, he went back to high-school, in order to study the subjects that would allow him to take up mathematics in his bachelor’s degree, and then attended the ICTP Diploma Programme,” he recounts, explaining, “The programme offered by ICTP covers a broad range of topics, from basic to very advanced, and it was exactly what I needed to become a competitive applicant to any postgraduate programme in mathematics.”

At ICTP, Bousclet found a community of professors that helped him move towards his dreams. “In the past, I often felt that my interest in mathematics wasn’t valued and that people around me didn’t care about what I wanted to do. Here at ICTP things are different. I feel valued, and I feel that I belong. In addition to being very good researchers, the professors in the Diploma Programme really care about us, they are there to answer our questions and are supportive of our plans for the future. The level of the courses is very high, also thanks to the tutors, who give us very interesting exercises to do,” he explains.

In Trieste, Bousclet and his fellow Diploma classmates have become close friends, sharing the joys and pains of an intense one-year advanced programme. “Most of the friends I have made this year are from the Programme. We know each other very well, and we organize events both inside and outside ICTP. For example, we took the initiative to organize seminars every week on various topics. We also organize small parties, to celebrate each other’s birthdays,” he recounts, adding “I also enjoyed living in Trieste, which is just the perfect size: small enough to be quiet and safe, but large enough to welcome great science institutes, such as ICTP, SISSA and the University of Trieste.”

Here at ICTP I feel valued, and I feel that I belong.

Next year, Bousclet will continue exploring some of the topological aspects of quantum field theory and string theory that he started studying in his final project. “For me, this is a logic continuation of the strong interest that I had in topological methods in general relativity. It will require advanced algebraic topology and K theory, which involve more algebra than what I was exposed to before,” he says, adding, “Before coming to ICTP I was specializing in some analytic aspects of differential geometry, this year I was able to see an introduction to the topological arguments, next year I will focus more on the algebraic and topological methods”.

Now that he has found his tribe among mathematicians, Bousclet can look back at his tortuous academic path with satisfaction. “From a psychological point of view, it was difficult to go against all the obstacles I found along the way in order to get to where I wanted. But I am at ICTP now, and that compensates for it all!” he concludes.