August 3, 2022 -- September brings a special crackle of energy to the University of Toronto. The Fields building, which sits at the southwest corner of campus, pulls from the centrifugal force that swirls around the St. George strip, as students flock to the nearby bookstore, student centre and classrooms.

It’s a wonderful time to experience Toronto, particularly if you’re here for your own academic pursuits. Gael Yomgne Diebou will be greeted by this whirlwind when he arrives in the city on September 1 to begin his fellowship as the 2022 Fields-AIMS-Perimeter postdoc. Dr. Diebou will spend the year at the Fields Institute, with opportunity to split his time at the Perimeter Institute in Waterloo.

The collegial feel of campus life and the promise of new collaborations are just two of the reasons Dr. Diebou, a Cameroon native, was drawn to apply for the postdoc opportunity, which awards a jointly funded, one-year fellowship to two African nationals who have recently completed their PhD in mathematics or theoretical physics.

Dr. Diebou, who recently wrapped up his doctoral studies at the University of Bonn, hopes to make inroads on his research in partial differential equations, harmonic analysis and function spaces theory at Fields. However, with the wealth of mathematicians he will soon have access to in Toronto, the 29-year-old is open to wherever his mathematical adventures lead him.

“For me, the journey depends on how and when the [research] opportunities arrive. I want to work hard, meet people and find some common topics to work on, then build connections with others,” he says on the line from his office in Bonn. “You can only talk about research if you have a place to do it.”

A sense of place is an important thread in this young mathematician’s story. His love of the subject began in primary school, where his teacher encouraged students to think of creative ways to solve basic math problems. “We weren’t allowed to just count objects,” he recalls. “From that point on, I developed a love for approaching problems this way.”

Part of the motivation, he admits, came from the opportunity to compete in math competitions with students from other primary schools  . “When we went to the competitions, we had a great time sharing ideas and learning new ways of doing things. I picked up so many things there and kept going back.” 

The perpetual encouragement of his math teachers to go for scientific subjects, and mathematics in particular, carried him through high school, then all the way through his master’s degree from the University of Dschang. A stint at AIMS in Rwanda would follow.

The familiar patterns of collaboration that propelled him through the first stages of graduate work would require some fine-tuning once he arrived in Germany to begin his PhD. “The philosophy was totally different,” he says. “For the first few months, I had to learn just how to talk to my advisor. I had to go through a lot of reading.”

As it had in his past, working with others became a beacon. “I am grateful to my advisor and a few colleagues who were kind enough to help me settle down as quick as possible and learn the culture. This was essential.”

With a future wide open, the 2022 Fields-AIMS-Perimeter postdoc is eager to squeeze as much as he can out of his time in Canada. We look forward to welcoming him to a newly re-opened building where the momentum of a return to in-person events will only amplify the energy levels emitted by a city back to life.

Interested in applying for the Fields-AIMS-Perimeter fellowship? Learn more here.