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On 6-10 May Stephan Klaus, Professor at University of Mainz and Scientific Administrator at Oberwolfach Research Institute for Mathematics, gave a week-long crash course of algebraic topology at ICMU. In this conversation with Masha Vlasenko, Managing Director of ICMU, professor Klaus speaks about his experience.
MV: Stephan, how did you decide to teach mathematics in a country under ongoing military attacks?
SK: When we spoke in March about a possible visit at ICMU in Kyiv, first I also felt anxious about this point. Then I heard that the probability to be killed by a rocket in Kyiv is smaller than the everyday probability to be killed by a car accident.
Prior to the visit, I had a phone call with the ADAC (German automobile club) if my health and emergency back transport insurance is also valid in Ukraine. They asked me, where in Ukraine I want to go, and when I said Kyiv, there was no problem because Kyiv is not classified as a direct war zone by the ADAC.
I can confirm that I felt safe in Kyiv, for example also going through the streets in the evening - I have never experienced a problem concerning criminality.
Personally I like east European countries and their culture and this was also a big plus for Kyiv. For example, I was curious to visit the golden gate in Kyiv and the beautiful old orthodox churches. Kyiv is a very nice and wonderful city, with a lot of things to visit and with good restaurants.
Last but not least, I felt the duty to help Ukraine, to let the people in Ukraine not alone and as a mathematician to support the new center ICMU!
MV: The airspace of Ukraine is closed for civil aviation and the only way to enter it is by land. Was it difficult for you to travel to Kyiv? How long did your trip last?
SK: I took the airplane from Frankfurt to Warsaw (about 2 hours) and then the Polish train to the border city Chelm (about 3 hours) with a break of 2 hours there. Then there was a night train from Chelm to Kyiv of about 12 hours. In total, I started in Oberwolfach on Saturday morning and arrived in Kyiv on Sunday lunch time.
The customs control was in the train and I recommend to have copies of your passport in your luggage because the customs officer takes all passports with him in order to check them until the morning. For
short-time visits from Germany to Ukraine, there is no need for a visa.
All trains, busses and tramways in Poland and Ukraine were totally on time and this was a pleasure for me as it is very different from the German train system. Booking the train tickets in Poland was no problem, and for Ukraine I got help from ICMU.
MV: During your stay there were several air raid alerts. What were you doing then, and how did you feel about it?
SK: There was an alert every second day on average (thus I experienced about four of them), and most of them happened during day-time when I gave my lectures at ICMU. As the early warning distance is about 15 minutes, we had enough time to go to the shelter in the cellar of ICMU where there is even a prepared lecture room to continue with the lecture.
These alerts were typically finished after 30-60 minutes when it turned out that it was either a false alarm or if the air raid defenses were successfull.
I had only one alert in my Hotel on Tuesday night and then I had to go for 3 hours to the shelter of the hotel which was not so nice, but also there, everything was well prepared. I have never heard explosions and I have always felt safe enough.
If an alert should happen when you are in the street, you can go to the metro or to public shelters, but I have never experienced this. I was told that more than 99% of the alerts are harmless in the end (also because the air raid defenses for Kyiv are very effective).
MV: At last, could you please tell us what was positive in your experience? Will you visit ICMU again?
SK: It was very nice to meet all the colleagues and students in Ukraine. There was a big feeling of hospitality, and a strong interest and dedication among the participants to learn new mathematical topics. I had a lot of enjoyable and fruitful discussions.
I will definitely visit ICMU again!
The International Centre for Mathematics in Ukraine is grateful to Dr. Tatjana Ruf, Scientific Assistant at the Oberwolfach Research Institute for Mathematics, for organising the video record of this conversation.
Picture: Stephan Klaus lecturing in a bomb shelter in Kyiv during one of air raid alerts.
Videorecord