Peter Smillie

Peter Smillie is a Research Group Leader (W2-Junior Professor) at the Max Planck Institute for Mathematics in the Sciences, Leipzig, with a research focus on differential geometry, harmonic maps, and Teichmüller theory. He previously held positions at the University of Heidelberg and Caltech.

Education:

• Ph.D. in Mathematics, Harvard University (2018), advised by Shing-Tung Yau
• B.S. in Mathematics, Stanford University (2011)

Smillie's research explores moduli spaces of geometric structures, particularly their intrinsic geometric properties. His work bridges pure mathematics and applications to general relativity and physics, with projects like Organic Materials by Geometrical Design at HITS. He also investigates minimal surfaces in symmetric and hyperbolic spaces, and their connections to integrable systems.

Recent publications highlight trends in minimal surface theory, harmonic maps, and fullerene graph enumeration, often appearing in journals like Duke Mathematical Journal and Commentarii Mathematici Helvetici.

Scientific Awards:

• NSF Graduate Research Fellowship (2011-2014)

Smillie has advised students such as Dominique Ostermayer (joint Ph.D. with HITS) and Julia Piazolo (bachelor’s thesis on minimal surface index). His teaching spans Differential Geometry at Heidelberg and Harmonic Maps at Caltech.

He is affiliated with the Heidelberg Experimental Geometry Lab (HEGL) and has presented at conferences including the Geometric Structures (re)United workshop and Higher Teichmüller Theory conference.