Interview with Tomer Schlank

Tomer Schlank is a professor at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, working in homotopy theory and arithmetic geometry. In this interview, Tomer shares his experience of advising a big group of students, speaks about the importance of embracing the struggle, and explains how to get unstuck in a math problem.

Tomer's homepage: https://mathematics.huji.ac.il/people/tomer-schlank

Photo: from Tomer's homepage

0:00 teaser
0:31 astronaut’s dreams
4:06 enjoying the struggle
8:27 top-down thinking
11:35 seminar with physicists
14:52 math dream with Vesna Stojanoska
19:24 taking breaks in projects
22:32 advising 11 students
26:47 doing math & drinking arak
31:14 being stuck is good for you
34:49 how to get unstuck
38:08 don’t worry about talent
42:33 why people hate math
45:36 run towards the problem
48:25 don’t look down on other parts of math
51:43 final advice