The Mathematics for the Real World Conference in Odense - Kyiv was Outstanding and Inspiring

I am back from a whirlwind trip. Last week, I took part in my 4th conference of this summer and it was extra special - the Mathematics for the Real World Conference in Odense and Kyiv organized by the International Centre for Mathematics (ICMU) in Ukraine (the host in Kyiv) and the Center for Quantum Mathematics at the University of Southern Denmark (the host in Odense). I flew from Boston Logan to Copenhagen and then took a shuttle to Odense (and also back).

The event had outstanding speakers and even students from Ukraine as participants, now studying at universities in other countries. 

Last Wednesday was what I call a "perfect day" at the conference. It began with the Fields Medalist Maryna Viazovska delivering the plenary talk on "Formal and Informal Mathematics of Sphere Packing," followed by my plenary on "Networks, Supply Chains, and Variational Inequalities," with terrific Q&A. Additional great talks were by Mykola Maksymenko on "Quantum Computations in Practice" and Oleksii Kuchaiev on "Artifical Intelligence in Practice." The panel discussion on Maths-Driven Innovations with Anna Lysyanskaya, Maryna Viazovska, Jørgen Ellegaard Andersen, and me in Odense, and Jean-Pierre Bourguignon, streaming in, plus colleagues in Kyiv taking part, with Khrystyna Gnatenko moderating and with an introduction by Maria Vlasenko was so exciting that it lasted past 6PM.

I am grateful to the organizers: Khrystyna Gnatenko, Alexander Marynych, Volodymyr Minin, and Anna Lysyanskaya, and to Jørgen Ellegaard Andersen, and to Oleksandra Golovkova plus Maria Vlasenko and Maryna Viazovska for their hard work on making this unique conference a big success. Congratulations also to the International Centre for Mathematics in Ukraine - ICMU, which was founded only in 2022, a very tough year for Ukraine and the world, and to the Centre for Quantum Mathematics (QM) on their accomplishments.

And a big shoutout to all the wonderful students from Ukraine who joined us  plus an appreciation to Li Quan, who, at the lunch on Wednesday, when I mentioned chocolate, produced some that he had recently bought in Munich and shared it with all of us at our table. I am sure that new collaborations will come out of this great event.

Information on the conference can be found on the ICMU website: https://icmu.ua/en/events/applied-maths-2026

Those of you who have been following the news, would know about the multiday continuing bombing of Kyiv by Russia. The last two days of the conference our colleagues in Kyiv spent in a bomb shelter but they insisted that the conference continue. Their fortitude, dedication, and courage inspire me.

Thank you, also, to UMass Amherst for this news release: https://www.umass.edu/news/article/anna-nagurney-delivers-keynote-joint-odense-kyiv-conference-mathematics-real-world

I have posted my presentation on the Supernetwork Center website: https://supernet.isenberg.umass.edu/visuals/ICMULecture-Nagurney-2026%201.pdf

Thanks to all my students (present and past) and to all of my co-authors!

Furious that Google Scholar Removed my Most Highly Cited Work - My Book: Network Economics: A Variational Inequality Approach

I have no idea what is up with Google Scholar lately.

It is infuriating that, this past week, Google Scholar removed my most highly cited publication - my book: Network Economics: A Variational Inequality Approach for my Google Scholar page.

Below is a snapshot of the book from its first edition in 1993.

As one can see from the snapshot below, which was taken a while back, my book, which was published in 1993 and then the second edition in 1999, followed by the e-book in 2013 (the latter two by Springer and the first edition by Kluwer Academic Publishers), my book had almost 3,000 citations.

There is no form one can use to complain but I did, based on info I found online, "add it manually" and it appears towards the bottom of my Google Scholar page with 0 citations.

Below I include a link to my book (second edition in 1999) on the Springer website:

https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-1-4757-3005-0

Frankly, this feels like an assault against a female scholar.

If this is something AI is up to then good luck to all of us.

***********************AN UPDATE************************************************

Today, almost a week after I caught that Google Scholar had removed my most highly cited publication, my book above, it looks like Google Scholar has "brought back" my book, with almost 2,500 citations: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=ecFsBp0AAAAJ&hl=en

I had manually enterred the book information and a link to Springer on my Google Scholar page about a week ago, after researching online what one could possibly do (not much, it seems). I also posted my dissatisfaction on social media and wrote the blogpost above.

I am relieved that my book has returned to Google Scholar, along with its citations. This book I worked very hard on and I am proud of it. No idea why it had been removed!

The IFORS Conference in Vienna, Austria Was Amazing

It is hard to believe that, this summer, I spent 3 continuous weeks in Europe, and spoke at 3 conferences. I already blogged about giving a keynote at the Game Theory Conference in Naples, Italy and about the EURO Conference in Linz, Austria. I also wrote about the IFORS initiative of GLOW on this blog and the various associated events at the conference in Vienna.

The IFORS Vienna Conference attracted over 2,200 delegates from 70 countries! This is truly amazing and so impressive.

The first full day was filled with wonderful highlights including the brilliant plenary by former INFORMS President Radhika Kulkarni to a standing room only audience and with an overflow room needed. Her topic of "Smarter Decisions with AI and OR Collaboration: Opportunities and Challenges," led to many continuing discussions throughout the day.

It was great to see the Secretary of IFORS, Gavin Blackett, and Springer Nature Editors, including Christian Rauscher. I was thrilled to see my book, "Labor and Supply Chain Networks," on display and was touched that Erny Rahayu Wijayanti wanted to be photographed with me.

And, of course, every IFORS Conference needs an International Transactions in Operational Research (ITOR) Editorial Board meeting led by its great Editor-in-Chief Celso Ribeiro.

I  am grateful for the opportunity to have presented in the invited IFORS Vienna session: Moments in the History of OR & IFORS organized by Gerhard-Wilhelm Weber with the outstanding M. Grazia Speranza as session chair. I very much enjoyed doing the research behind my presentation on "Highlighting Some Historical Women in OR," with focus on Ailsa Land, Alison Harcourt, Marguerite Frank, Stella Dafermos, and Judith Liebman and highlighting what more can be done, how far we have come, and the great initiative of GLOW - Global Leadership of Women in Operational Research. It is not often that one gives a talk and sees in the audience multiple people that one has mentioned in it, in addition to Gerhard-Wilhelm Weber and M. Grazia Speranza! Thanks to all the speakers in the session and to Janny Leung, Paula Carroll, and Annunziata Esposito Amideo for coming and for their leadership! It was extra special to also have Dmytro Matsypura, my former Isenberg School of Management, UMass Amherst PhD student, and very successful professor at the University of Sydney,  come to our session and all the way from Australia! And Janny Leung carried, amazingly, many GLOW backpacks in neon colors, which I will joyously carry.

It was fabulous to see Mary Magrogan of INFORMS, who has worked there for 45 years, being recognized as a newly elected IFORS Fellow and to have the late Judith Liebman be inducted into the IFORS Hall of Fame, with family members present.

Looking Forward to Giving a Plenary Talk at the Mathematics for the Real World Conference Taking Place in Odense/Denmark and Kyiv, Ukraine

I received the invitation last December and quickly accepted it.

I am thrilled and honored to have been selected to deliver a plenary talk at the "Mathematics for the Real World" conference happening next month simultaneously in Odense, Denmark and Kyiv, Ukraine. 

Many thanks to the organizers: Khrystyna Gnatenko, Alexander Marynych, Volodymyr Minin, and Anna Lysyanskaya, and to the International Centre for Mathematics in Ukraine - ICMU, its Executive Director Masha Vlasenko and the ICMU Scientific Director Maryna Viazovska, and the Centre for Quantum Mathematics (QM) at Syddansk Universitet - University of Southern Denmark for spearheading this exciting conference. 

I'm enjoying preparing my plenary presentation: "Networks, Supply Chains, and Variational Inequalities." 

Maryna Viazovska, the 2nd female Fields Medalist (and it is great that the 3rd female recipient of this prestigious math award, Hong Wang, was announced yesterday), will deliver the plenary talk: "Formal and Informal Mathematics of Sphere Packing." 

I'm also looking forward to being a panelist on the panel: Maths-Driven Innovations, along with Jean-Pierre Bourguignon, Maryna Viazovska, Oleksii Kuchaiev, Mykola Maksymenko, and Tymofiy Mylovanov. 

Additional information about this 5-day conference, including the invited speakers, and full program, can be found here: https://icmu.ua/en/events/applied-maths-2026

Congratulations and Thanks to Professor M. Grazia Speranza on the Publication of Her Book, "Glowing Women: Women in Operations Research!"

This week I am in Vienna, Austria, taking part in my third conference in Europe, in as many weeks.

The conference taking place now in Vienna is the IFORS Conference, which takes place every three years.

The IFORS Conference is extra special because of the inauguration of the initiative known as GLOW.

Plus, congratulations and thanks to Professor M. Grazia Speranza are well-deserved on the publication of the English (expanded) version of her book, "GLOWING WOMEN: WOMEN IN OPERATIONS RESEARCH," which was published just in time for the IFORS Vienna Conference and its extraordinary GLOW - Global Leadership of Women in Operational Research events. Grazia is a former President of IFORS - The International Federation of Operational Research Societies, an INFORMS Fellow, and a recipient of the EURO Gold Medal, The book recognizes and celebrates the journeys of women from multiple countries, interwoven with Grazia's experiences as a scholar, leader, mother, and wife, and offers thoughtful wisdom and guidance. Through beautifully rendered interviews with (in alphabetical order): Shoshana (Shoshi) Anily, Cynthia Barnhart, Paula Carroll, Marielle Christiansen, Rosiane de Freitas-Rodrigues, Elise Del Rosario, Ola Jabali, Kathy Kotiadis, Martine Labbé, Janny Leung, Anna Nagurney (I am so honored to have been included), Dolores Romero Morales, Sunity Shrestha, Rina Schneur, and Karen Smilowitz, the book provides us with inspiration and a vision for a more inclusive future. The book was published by Armando Curcio Editore. 

More information can be found on the publisher's website: https://lnkd.in/dPviXqUn

Below are photos, the first of which was taken at the ITOR Editorial Board Meeting, run by its outstanding Editor-in-Chief, Professor Celso Ribeiro.

Outstanding EUROPT Conference in Linz, Austria

I am writing this blogpost from Vienna, Austria, where I will soon be registering for the IFORS Conference.

This summer, as is my tradition, I enjoy speaking at conferences, and especially those in Europe.

The travel began on June 26, 2026, when I flew to Naples via Amsterdam to take part in the SING 21 Game Theory Conference, where I delivered the opening keynote on the following Monday morning. The conference was a joy, despite the heat, and I blogged about it: http://annanagurney.blogspot.com/2026/07/i-enjoyed-giving-keynote-at-game-theory.html

Then, last week, I spoke at the EUROPT Conference in Linz, Austria. Linz is the third biggest city in Austria, and it is quite industrial. It was my first time there. Below is a photo of the view from our hotel, which overlooked a nice courtyard.

The EUROPT Conference took place at the Johannes Kepler University, which has a beautiful, green campus, complete with a pond, that reminded me a bit of the UMass Amherst pond.

Many thanks to the organizers of the EUROPT 2026 Conference in Linz, Austria. It was an excellent conference, with great scientific presentations and discussions. Information on the conference can be found here: https://www.jku.at/en/institute-of-business-analytics-and-technology-transformation/conference-europt-2026/. It was wonderful to see Professors: Steven Gabriel of the US, Mauro Passacantando of Italy, Tamás Terlaky of the US, Gerhard-Wilhelm Weber of Poland, Bissan Ghaddar of Canada, Miguel Lejeune of the US, Oleg Prokopyev (now of Switzerland), Immanuel Bomze of Austria, and many others and to make new friends from Georgia (the country), Sweden, Brazil, Canada, and Hong Kong. The link to the slidedeck of my presentation on Ad Valorem Tariffs in Global Supply Chain Networks and Impacts on Labor, based on a recently co-authored published paper with my Isenberg School of Management, UMass Amherst PhD student Samira Samadi:  https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/01605682.2025.2592758 is here: https://supernet.isenberg.umass.edu/visuals/EUROPT-2026.pdf

The 4 hour conference banquet in a beer hall in an indoor courtyard with a heavenly dessert of warm chocolate cake, cherries, and sorbet, we will all remember!

And, at the Linz train station yesterday, we saw Professor Tamas Terlaky, who was also heading to the IFORS Conference - https://www.ifors2026.at/home/

I Enjoyed Giving a Keynote at the Game Theory Conference in Naples, Italy

Last week the game theory SING21 Conference took place at the University of Naples Federico II in Naples, Italy. I was deeply honored to give the opening keynote talk on the first day of the conference. The title of my talk was: "Game Theory, Supply Chains, Labor, and Tariffs: Insights from Variational Inequalities." It was very warm in Naples but the hospitality was even warmer. Many thanks to Professor Annamaria Barbagallo for inviting me, with gratitude also to all the local organizers. It was a delight to see Professor Suresh Sethi of UT Dallas,  whose talk I very much enjoyed, and also Professors Frieda Granot and Daniel Granot from the University of British Columbia as well as Professor Yigal Gerchak from Telaviv University. There were delegates from numerous countries at this game theory conference, in addition to the US and Canada and European countries, including: Thailand, Japan, South Korea, HK, Brazil, Chile, Paraguay, and Israel. The slidedeck of my keynote presentation can be downloaded from the Supernetwork Center website: https://supernet.isenberg.umass.edu/visuals/SING-Naples-Nagurney-2026.pdf

I also very much enjoyed the keynote talks by Professors Francis Bloch and Hans Peters and many other presentations. The full program is available on the conference website: https://sites.google.com/view/sing-21

The conference banquet on the Mediterranean with a view of Mt. Vesuvius was fabulous with multiple courses and a delicious chocolate almond cake for dessert. Below are some photos. Professor Annamaria Barbagallo presented me with a lovely gift of a plaque of Mt. Vesuvius!

I am grateful to all those who devote so much time and energy to organizing outstanding scientific conferences in locations that are truly special. Thank you!