The Estonian Academy of Sciences elected Professor Rainis Haller as the new academician in the field of mathematics

At the general assembly on 3 December, the Estonian Academy of Sciences elected new academicians across seven fields. In the field of mathematics, the Academy elected Rainis Haller, Professor of Mathematical Analysis at the Institute of Mathematics and Statistics of the University of Tartu.

His research focuses on functional analysis, or studying the properties of infinite-dimensional vector spaces and the relationships between them. Functional analysis is the meeting point of algebra and analysis, where geometry and topology also play significant roles. Its main object of research is the Banach space, the geometry and influence of which Haller has explored most extensively.

According to Rainis Haller, the title of academician does not change his work as a mathematician but obliges him to think more broadly about how science in Estonia as a whole is maintained and developed. “Part of this responsibility, such as supporting young researchers and safeguarding fundamental science, is already at the core of my work today. As an academician, I simply have a greater opportunity—and indeed a duty—to stand for scientific culture and continuity,” Haller said in an interview given to Novaator.

From 2018 to 2022, Haller was the President of the Estonian Mathematical Society. View his profile on ETIS.

A total of seven new academicians were elected, six of them from the University of Tartu and one from the Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre.