DR JOHANNA KNAPP
The University of Melbourne
We talk to Dr Johanna Knapp about her biggest achievement to date and what she hopes students will get out of her Summer School topic, Introduction to String Theory in January.
1. How do you explain your work and its real-world impact to people outside of the mathematical sciences?
Strangely enough, it seems to make people happy when I tell them that I do what Sheldon Cooper of the TV show Big Bang Theory is doing. It’s a highly inaccurate description (I’m nowhere near Sheldon’s brilliance) but it seems to give people some idea of what research in string theory means.
2. What drives your interest in this field?
I am fascinated by the laws of nature and the mathematical structures behind them. In more down-to-earth terms, my work boils down to doing things I usually enjoy, like doing calculations with pen and paper and a bit of computer code, writing scientific text, teaching, working in an international environment.
3. What do you consider your biggest achievement to date?
My biggest achievement may be that I managed to get a job in academia that allows me to follow my scientific interests, mostly driven by curiosity.
4. Deepening field knowledge and providing a networking platform, why are opportunities such as AMSI Summer School so valuable? What do you hope attendees take from your lectures?
I hope my course will provide a basic introduction to string theory to students who do not have the opportunity to take such a course at their home university.
Dr Johanna Knapp will be presenting the topic Introduction to String Theory at the 2021 Summer School at The University of Adelaide in January.
