There is no linear path in research, says Karen Uhlenbeck.
Luck, well-seized opportunities, and presence in academic spaces where research is a pleasurable task are some of the highlights of American Karen Uhlenbeck's own trajectory. She was the first woman to receive the Abel Prize in 2019, in recognition of her work in geometric analysis and gauge theory that transformed the landscape of mathematics.
In an interview broadcast during the virtual edition of the Heidelberg Laureate Forum , Karen shared personal experiences, difficulties faced, and a significant dose of scientific enthusiasm with Jaqueline Mesquita, a professor at the University of Brasília (UnB), and Janelle C. Mason, a doctoral candidate in Computer Science at North Carolina State Agricultural and Technical University (USA), even during the unpredictability brought about by the coronavirus.
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“Uncertainties have always been along the way. Stoic philosophers in Rome, two thousand years ago, faced problems like the ones we face today. And it’s comforting to know that people have felt this way before,” she pointed out. Fifty years after earning her PhD in mathematics, Karen can observe significant differences in the academic landscape. “There are many other women scientists, and I’m not at all isolated in that sense. When I started working, academia was very disconnected from real life.”
Inspired by figures like the British writer Virginia Woolf, the 2019 Abel Prize winner discovered the role of women intellectuals during her childhood and youth. “They also faced difficulties, but I was able to read and connect with those challenges. I knew it wouldn't be easy for me either. In mathematics, things became even more complicated when I actually got a job. When I got to university, there were few female professors, and they were often in positions inferior to men. I thought becoming a professor would be practically impossible. I had no role models to inspire me, and I thought it would be very difficult to ever become a role model for others.”
The professor emerita at the University of Texas at Austin and senior visiting researcher at Princeton University and the Institute for Advanced Study (IAS) sees the moment of choosing mathematical problems as a crucial step. “It’s probably the most important part of doing mathematics. All the good problems I’ve ever worked on resulted from contact with people.”
And to solve them, there is no magic formula or linear path to follow. "The process of finding answers is more like opening a path in the jungle," Karen observed. "Attending some seminars, but not all available ones, as it's not possible to absorb so much information, and keeping an open mind" are also some of the strategies the researcher pointed out, in addition to occasional walks to develop the best possible solutions.
As a constant source of personal inspiration and encouragement to other researchers, Karen likes to recall the African-American writer, educator, and community leader Howard Thurman: “ Don’t ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you feel alive and go for it. Because what the world needs is people who make a living.”
Check out the full interview!