Spotlight on the women in ERCOFTAC
Dr.-Ing. Bich-Diep Nguyen
TU Darmstadt, Institute Simulation of Reactive Thermo-Fluid Systems, Germany
"I can apply my knowledge on fluid mechanics on so many situations in real life and it is always satisfying..."
Thomas Monahan
Winner of the 20th ERCOFTAC Da Vinci Competition 2025
"By far the most enjoyable part of STEM for me has been working with people with completely different skillsets to solve really hard problems"
Spotlight on the women in ERCOFTAC
Prof. Taraneh Sayadi
M2N Laboratory, Conservatoire National des Arts et Metiers, Paris, France
"I believe that women, having faced and overcome significant challenges, bring a unique courage and resilience to their thinking and actions. This spirit is vital for driving science forward."
Christopher Geschwindner
Winner of the 19th ERCOFTAC Da Vinci Competition 2024
"The Da Vinci competition is a fantastic opportunity for PhDs in fluid mechanics and combustion to showcase their work on the European stage."
Matthias Steinhausen
Winner of the 19th ERCOFTAC Da Vinci Competition 2024
"...be also chosen as one of the winners made the experience even more rewarding, reaffirming the significance of my research and the effort I invested in it."
Spotlight on the Women in ERCOFTAC
Prof Daniela Misul
Dipartimento Energia, Politecnico di Torino, Italy
"...my research activities mainly aim at developing breakthrough technologies and innovative solutions to increase efficiency and minimize GHG emissions..."
Read full interview
Oliver Buxton
Winner of the 5th ERCOFTAC Da Vinci Competition 2010
"Winning was a huge confidence boost that I could go on and aspire to an academic career..."
Spotlight on the Women in ERCOFTAC
Prof Simone Sebben
Mechanics & Maritime Sciences, Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden
"I had a good supervisor during my Master thesis and he motivated me to pursue a PhD"
Read full interview
Daniele Massaro
Finalist of 19th Da Vinci Competition 2024
"The excitement of uncovering and understanding even a small piece of the complex puzzle
that is turbulence is truly rewarding"
Spotlight on the Women in ERCOFTAC
Dr Barbara Re
Politecnico di Milano, Polimi, Italy
"Follow your passions and learn to manage the aspects you enjoy least"
Read full interview
Kamila Zdybał
Winner of the 18th ERCOFTAC Da Vinci Competition 2023
"I’m very honoured that I could be the first woman to win the Da Vinci prize.
At the same time, I believe that becoming a finalist is a testament to hard work, tenacity, and passion for research"
Lukas Berger
Winner of the 17th ERCOFTAC Da Vinci Competition 2022
"In my opinion, enjoying the subject matter and identifying yourself with the vision of your project are the key factors for a successful completion of a PhD"
Read full interview
Esther Lagemann - Mäteling
Finalist of 18th Da Vinci Competition 2023
"...in a very early stage of our academic career, it was great to see that fluid dynamics experts appreciate our work as a valuable contribution to our community..."
Niklas Hidman
Finalist of 18th Da Vinci Competition 2023
"I saw the competition as a great opportunity for presenting my thesis to an international jury and discussing the findings with experts from other universities"
Spotlight on the Women in ERCOFTAC
Dr Šárka Nečasová
Department of Evolution Differential Equations, Institute of Mathematics,
Czech Academy of Sciences, Czech Republic
"Fluid mechanics is a gateway to many disciplines - chemistry, biology, plasma physics- and I like this interdisciplinarity"
Read full interview
Spotlight on the Women in ERCOFTAC
Dr Cornelia Grabe
Institute of Aerodynamics and Flow Technology at DLR Göttingen, Germany
"My experience is that women working in STEM are often very inspiring with great and open minds"
Read full interview
Spotlight on the Women in ERCOFTAC
Dr Nina Yurchenko
National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, Kyiv, Ukraine
"Never let overwhelming circumstances take over even if this is the war coming into your house. Analyze your overwhelming circumstances, give them appropriate names, determine what applies to you and what does not, and see that you will find no reason to give up."
Read full interview
Cristian Ricardo Constante-Amores
Winner of the 16th ERCOFTAC Da Vinci Competition 2021
"Be persistent and resilient. Research on fluid mechanics is very challenging and
may involve setbacks. Be prepared to face obstacles, learn from failures..."
Daniel Kintea
Winner of the 11th ERCOFTAC Da Vinci Competition 2016
"Being among the first scientists to study newly discovered phenomena or inventing and developing novel ideas and products inspires me"
Spotlight on the Women in ERCOFTAC
Prof. Francesca Di Mare
Institute of Energy Technology, Ruhr-Universitat Bochum, Germany
"...there was no particular woman inspiring me. I generally don’t get inspired by people, I must admit, rather by the beauty of nature..."
Read full interview
Spotlight on the Women in ERCOFTAC
Prof. Bettina Frohnapfel
Karlsruhe Institut für Technologie (KIT), Germany
"We organize women networking events with role models from academia and industry at KIT for female students, PhD students and post docs"
Read full interview
Spotlight on the women in ERCOFTAC
Prof Ivette Maria Rodriguez Perez
Universitat Politecnica de Catalunya (UPC), Spain
"Science requires dedication and hard work but also gives you the understanding and the means of putting your small sand grain in the knowledge field."
Read Full Interview
Spotlight on the Women in ERCOFTAC
Prof. Marianna Braza
Institut de Mécanique des Fluides de Toulouse, France, Coordinator SIG41
"For the last two decades, I developed the field of bioinspired electroactive morphing"
Read on to find out more
Spotlight on the women in ERCOFTAC
Prof. Paola Cinnella
Sorbonne University, Coordinator SIG54
"I am rather eclectic. CFD is a transversal discipline at the crossroads of applied mathematics, fluid mechanics, computer science, and engineering"
Read full interview
ERCOFTAC is a global association of research, education, and industry groups, supporting joint efforts of Research Institutes and Industries who are active in all aspects of Flow, Turbulence and Combustion.
We exchange technical and scientific information concerning basic and applied research, and the development, validation and maintenance of numerical codes and data bases. We organise and support numerous activities and publications, and welcome new members throughout the year.
ERCOFTAC Knowledge Base Wiki
ERCOFTAC Pilot Centres
Pilot Centres are one of the pillars of the ERCOFTAC Association, representing members in a region or a country
Search for ERCOFTAC Pilot Centres by region or country >
Latest News
18th ERCOFTAC SIG33 Workshop Progress in Flow Instability, Transition and Control - Abstract submission deadline: January 31, 2027
5th November 2026Job Opportunity: Master’s Internship leading to a PhD Computational Study of The Reduction of The Thrombogenicity of Artificial Surfaces
3rd November 2026Job Opportunity: Assistant Professor In Fluids and Flows
1st November 20266th International Workshop on Flow-Induced Blood Damage in Rotating Systems (BDW2026) - Report
29th October 2026Advanced Numerical Methods for Scale-Resolving Simulations - Report
28th October 2026
Special Interest Groups
ERCOFTAC members working together on defined Flow, Turbulence and Combustion topics
Membership
Join ERCOFTAC today, for downloads & information to help you become a member please click here