"Stairway to Impact Award" for Wil Schilders

The Netherlands Organization for Science Research (NWO) is under the Ministry of Education and is the largest Dutch institution for science promotion. Its Domain Science (ENW) awarded five special science prizes for the third time from November 18 to December 2. According to the jury, the winners are a source of inspiration in terms of their impact on society, team research, excellent scientific work, diversity and communication. On November 30, the "Stairway to Impact" awards were presented. One of them went to IAS Hans Fischer Fellow Prof. Wil Schilders (Eindhoven University of Technology) (host: Prof. Hans-Joachim Bungartz). This honor is for scientists who have taken effective steps to achieve a social impact with the results of their research. Wil Schilders received 50,000 euros "to be used for further steps towards making an impact and utilizing knowledge".
Prof. Wil Schilders connects mathematics with industry so as to tackle challenging industrial problems and, vice versa, to use industrial applications to stimulate new developments in applied mathematics. He has played an important role in the development of computational mathematics, not only with his ground-breaking scientific work but also with his efforts to create and strengthen the connections between research, industry and society. The jury considers Schilders a shining example of an impactful scientist who has followed an alternative, non-traditional career path. He is a role model and inspiration for other scientists.