We are pleased to announce a workshop on Fractional Partial Differential Equations and Related Topics, jointly organized by the Ghent Analysis & PDE Center and the FracDiff Research Group at Sultan Qaboos University.
The workshop aims to bring together researchers and practitioners to discuss recent developments, theoretical advances, and applications in fractional PDEs and related areas.
Workshop Chair: Dr. Sebti Kerbal, Leader of the FracDiff Research Group, Department of Mathematics, Sultan Qaboos University
Date: February 10, 2026
Venue: Department Resource Room 0135, Department of Mathematics, Sultan Qaboos University
Speakers
Professor Michael Ruzhansky (Ghent University, Belgium)
Professor Erkinjon Karimov (Ghent University, Belgium)
Dr. Nasser Al-Salti (National University of Science and Technology, Oman)
Dr. Nasir Hanifa (Sultan Qaboos University, Oman)
Dr. Mariam Al-Maskari (Sultan Qaboos University, Oman)
Schedule
14:00 – 15:00 | Professor Michael Ruzhansky “Title to be announced”
15:00 – 15:30 | Professor Erkinjon Karimov “Green’s Function and Solution Representation for a Boundary Value Problem Involving the Prabhakar Fractional Derivative”
15:30 – 16:00 | Dr. Nasser Al-Salti “Title to be announced”
16:00 – 16:30 | Coffee Break
16:30 – 17:00 | Dr. Haniffa Mohamed Nasir. “A(0) and A(\pi/2) stabilities of fractional LMMs for fractional IVPs and applications“
17:00 – 17:30 | Dr. Mariam Al-Maskari. “Title to be announced“
Over the past years, our research centre has maintained strong and sustained collaborations with mathematicians and academic institutions across Africa. These activities reflect our collective commitment to supporting mathematical research, advanced training, and international cooperation, particularly in regions where access to high-quality supervision remains limited.
Our engagement began several years ago with visits to the African Institute of Mathematical Sciences (AIMS) Ghana, where members of our centre contributed to graduate-level teaching through lecture courses for MSc and PhD students. Further activities included intensive lecture courses in Burkina Faso, supported by the Volkswagen Stiftung (Germany), carried out under challenging circumstances. Despite such difficulties, our group has continued to visit and collaborate with multiple African countries, focusing on capacity building and student support.
Some of these early activities are documented in a research volume edited by members of our group together with international collaborators:
In Ghana, our centre has developed lasting connections with the University of Ghana and the University of Cape Coast. Members of our group have visited both institutions multiple times, delivering advanced lectures and supporting MSc-level training.
Through a Carnegie Corporation of New York (CCNY) grant, Linda Botchway began her PhD at the University of Ghana in 2020. She had previously completed her MSc at AIMS Ghana under supervision linked to our centre, and her PhD work has been supervised within our research network:
After a delay due to maternity leave, her PhD thesis has now been submitted, and the defence is expected to take place soon.
Our collaboration with the University of Addis Ababa has also included PhD supervision and mentoring, sometimes outside formal joint PhD agreements. One such collaboration involved Atile Nega, whose PhD thesis was ready for submission when the COVID-19 pandemic began. Tragically, he passed away shortly before his public defence could be held online.
Many of the students mentioned above were supervised without formal joint-degree frameworks. These activities represent a sustained investment of time and effort by our centre, driven by the recognition that many exceptionally talented students in developing countries face structural barriers to adequate supervision. In several instances, students travelled for days to attend advanced mathematics lectures delivered by members of our group.
In addition to research supervision and teaching, Prof Michael Ruzhansky, for several years, served on the jury of the IBNI Prize for Africa, together with colleagues from France, contributing to the recognition of outstanding mathematical research on the African continent: https://www.idpoisson.fr/prix-ibni/
Overall, these activities demonstrate our centre’s long-standing commitment to fostering mathematical excellence, international collaboration, and equitable access to advanced mathematical training in Africa.
We are delighted to congratulate Dr. Vishvesh Kumar on his new position at Department of Mathematical Sciences at IIT BHU Varanasi as an Assistant Professor. This is a wonderful milestone in his academic career, and a moment of pride for all of us at the Ghent Analysis & PDE Center.
Since joining our group as a postdoctoral researcher at Ghent University, Dr. Kumar has been an active and inspiring member of our community. Working within the Department of Mathematics: Analysis, Logic and Discrete Mathematics and the Ghent Analysis & PDE Center headed by Prof. Michael Ruzhansky, he has contributed significantly to our core areas of research.
Research contributions in our group
Dr. Kumar’s research lies at the intersection of abstract harmonic analysis, pseudo-differential operators, geometric analysis, and partial differential equations on Lie groups.
During his time in Ghent, he has:
Co-authored numerous papers on nonlocal and subelliptic problems on stratified Lie groups, including work on Brezis–Nirenberg type problems, critical equations, and fractional Sobolev-type inequalities.
Made substantial contributions to the theory of damped and fractional wave equations on graded and stratified Lie groups, including results for higher order hypoelliptic equations with data in negative order Sobolev spaces.
Advanced functional inequalities and harmonic analysis on symmetric spaces and hypergroups, with applications to Fourier multipliers, Strichartz estimates, and related analytic inequalities.
His work has appeared, or is forthcoming, in several respected international journals such as Journal of Evolution Equations, Mathematische Annalen, Journal of Geometric Analysis, Israel Journal of Mathematics, and others, reflecting both the depth and breadth of his contribution to our field.
A valued colleague
On a personal level, Vishvesh has been a generous collaborator and a supportive colleague. His willingness to discuss ideas, share expertise, and encourage younger researchers and visitors has left a strong and positive impression in our group. Many of us have benefited from his clarity of thought, his calm problem-solving approach, and his enthusiasm for mathematics.
Looking ahead
While we will miss having him at the Ghent Analysis & PDE Center, we are equally excited to see him take this next step as an Assistant Professor at IIT BHU Varanasi. We are confident that he will continue to build a vibrant research program, inspire students, and develop new collaborations that will further strengthen the links between our institutions.
We are delighted to celebrate the successful PhD defense of Junqing Huang, who presented his dissertation on the topic::
“Variational Modeling and (Semi)-sparsity Generalizations for Image Analysis and Processing: Theory, Optimization and Applications“
Academic Achievement
Throughout these years, Junqing has shown exceptional commitment to his research, combining deep scientific curiosity with remarkable perseverance.
On a Personal Note
Beyond his academic excellence, Junqing has always brought warmth and positivity to our group. He is genuinely one of the kindest people you will meet — always smiling, always supportive.
Thanks to him, we now have beautiful group logos in multiple versions, and every new member’s photo appears in our cap thanks to his creativity and careful work.
Congratulations once again, Junqing! We are grateful for everything you contributed to our group and wish you the very best in the next chapter of your career.
At the 15th ISAAC Congress in Astana, Prof. Michael Ruzhansky delivered a public lecture titled:
Analysis on Groups and Related Topics Collaboration with Kazakhstan.
Prof. Ruzhansky shared the story of a remarkable 15-year journey (2010–2025) of academic collaboration with Kazakhstan. Starting from his first lectures at KazNU in 2010, this partnership has grown to include joint research, PhD supervision, and postdoctoral mentorship for many young Kazakhstani scholars.
The collaborations have produced significant results in:
Many of these works have been published in leading journals and collected in influential monographs, including Hardy Inequalities on Homogeneous Groups and Spectral Geometry of Partial Differential Operators.
This talk was more than a technical presentation — it was a celebration of friendship, mentorship, and the belief that mathematics knows no borders. The audience left inspired, reminded that sustained collaboration can transform both research landscapes and individual careers.
Here’s to the next 15 years of discovery and cooperation!
Since 2017, the Federal Government allocates funds, through the office of VLIR-UOS, to the Global Minds Fund (GMF) of Ghent University. GMF operates as driver of change for sustainable development, by producing and valorising relevant knowledge and expertise through mutually beneficial partnerships.
The idea is to cooperate with several key figures of Brazilian mathematicians on a project leading to educational advancement in Brazil. This project will be valuable to pass to younger generations a significant perspective in the field of partial differential equations and control theory through the leading Brazilian partners of the project.
The project is promoted by Prof. Dr. Michael Ruzhansky (PI) and co-promoted by our FWO Postdoctoral Researchers (Co-PIs) Dr. Duvan Cardona and Dr. Marianna Chatzakou. As part of our strategic alliances we will cooperate with ICMAM Latin America (International Community of Mathematicians from Latin America) in the organisation of several virtual conferences related to this project.
About the Project
Project Title:Global Minds in PDE and Control Theory
Value of the grant: €10,000
Promotor: Prof. Dr. Michael Ruzhansky (PI), Ghent University. Co-promotors: Dr. Duvan Cardona (Co-PI), Ghent University Dr. Marianna Chatzakou (Co-PI), Ghent University
Global South partners:
Prof. Dr. Jaqueline Godoy Mesquita (Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Brazil) Prof. Dr. Paulo L. Dattori da Silva (Universidade de São Paulo, Brazil) Prof. Dr. Alexandre Kirilov (Universidade Federal do Paraná, Brazil) Prof. Dr. Marcelo R. Ebert (Universidade de São Paulo, Brazil) ICMAM Latin America(International Community of Mathematicians from Latin America)
Tentative plan of activities:
Virtual Activities (in Brazil and in El Salvador):
The goal of these conferences is the integration of Brazilian Mathematicians with the Central American Mathematical Community with the scientific cooperation of the Ghent Analysis and PDE Center, the International Society for Analysis, its Applications and Computation (ISAAC) and ICMAM Latin America (International Community of Mathematicians from Latin America). The organisation of these conferences will be supervised by the co-promotor Dr. Duván Cardona.
Editorial Project: These two conferences will receive scientific contributions from outstanding participants and speakers collected in the book:
Analysis and PDE in Latin America 2025, Global Minds – ICMAM 2025,
and will be submitted to the Book Series of the Ghent Analysis and PDE Center: Research Perspectives Ghent Analysis and PDE Center, Springer-Birkhäuser.
In-person Workshop. From April 27th to 30th 2026 (tentative schedule), the workshop:
Global Minds in Partial Differential Equations and Control Theory
will take place in person at Ghent University at the facilities of the Ghent Analysis and PDE Center.
Congratulations to Dr. Marianna Chatzakou on being awarded the prestigious
Senior Postdoctoral Fellowship
by FWO that aims to provide young researchers with optimal opportunities to build an independent international research career, either within an academic context or beyond.
It is our pleasure to announce the next Ghent Methusalem Microlocal Day # 13, which will take place on Monday, 19 May 2025.
The Microlocal Day is an event featuring a brief and intensive series of lectures on various aspects of microlocal analysis and related topics. The program consists of both research presentations and survey lectures intended for researchers and PhD students interested in the field. Everyone is welcome to attend.
Title: Mixed normed estimates for the Cesaro means associated with the Dunkl-Hermite expansions
This Microlocal Day continues the tradition of Microlocal Days that we have been organising at Imperial College London, then continued at Ghent University. So, this Microlocal Day can be viewed as Microlocal Day #13.
Day 1: Leslokaal 3.1, S8, Campus Sterre, Ghent University
Day 2: Leslokaal 2.1, S8, Campus Sterre, Ghent University
Day 3 Morning: Leslokaal 3.1, S8, Campus Sterre, Ghent University
Day 3 Afternoon (Forum of Women in Mathematics): Leslokaal 1.4, S8, Campus Sterre, Ghent University
🔹 Registration: Free but mandatory – Please register your attendance via the following link: 👉 Registration & Program Updates (This information helps us prepare the official report for the Research Department at Ghent University.)
🔹 Workshop Opening: By Prof. Dr. Michael Ruzhansky, Head of the Ghent Analysis and PDE Center.
Ghent Analysis & PDE Center 