Alberto Mínguez

Alberto Mínguez holds the Chair of Algebra and Number Theory at Uni Vienna and gives most of his lectures in the Master of Science program. He was nominated because a lot of students who were lucky enough to attend one of his lectures had only the best to say about them. His ability to create a lecture that every single person can take something away from was particularly highlighted. Prof. Mínguez also has a very good feel for the students and always manages to summarize complex topics at the right times and highlight the most important points.

It was clear that we had to talk to Prof. Mínguez to find out more about his teaching philosophy. So we went up to the 11th floor (probably one of the offices with the best view in our building) and asked him a few questions. The most impressive aspect of his teaching philosophy for us is that Prof. Mínguez always explains each topic on several levels simultaneously. With an intuition or an example for those who just want to get a feel for it, with a proof sketch for those who want to know why the statement is true and an exact proof for those who are really interested in the concrete maths behind the statements.

Prof. Mínguez is from Spain, but studied at an elite French university where each degree program consisted of only a few students, but with a lot of contact across disciplines. The enthusiasm of so many different people for their interests impresses and influences him to this day. At the same university, he was also lucky enough to attend a lecture by the Nobel Prize winner in physics Serge Haroche, who is to this day a big role model for him.

At the end of the interview, we naturally wanted to find out what Prof. Mínguez likes best about teaching: he particularly enjoys teaching students things that he himself is enthusiastic about and, in return, seeing the students’ enthusiasm and willingness to learn, for which he is always willing to take a lot of time.