DG: Very active. I participated in a camp in Oxford called the European Summer Program on Rationality (ESPR), which wasn’t hosted by Oxford. It was a competitive camp with about 30 participants from different backgrounds. The goal wasn’t structured educationally, but more about bringing interesting people together, sharing ideas, and maybe coming up with some projects. It was a free camp, covering travel costs to the UK as well.
DG: I’ve been involved for quite a long time. My first math Olympiad was when I was in the second grade at a linguistic school in Russia. By the time I finished school in Germany, it was about a 10-year journey with Olympiads. What I love most about them is that they’re not competitive in the traditional sense. It’s not like one-on-one sports where you want your opponent to perform poorly.
In Olympiads, it’s common to play cards before or after the contest with your direct opponents or discuss problems together afterward. The atmosphere is very friendly, and nobody brags about getting better scores. One of my favorite memories was walking with the Israeli team in Norway after the results were announced. We jumped into the ocean at midnight and stayed up all night.
DG: I think the most important mindset is perseverance. Many people give up when they can’t solve a problem right away, but in Olympiads, you have to love the struggle of working on a difficult problem for hours, or even days, without giving up. This persistence is key. People who focus on results alone tend to fail because it requires consistent hard work over long periods. Loving the process of problem-solving is essential.
GTF: How has your focus shifted in math now that you’ve stopped participating in math olympiads?
DG: Since then, I’ve moved into more advanced mathematics, such as taking topology classes at my university in Germany. The university has a rich history, with mathematicians like Gauss and Gödel having worked there. Studying topics like topology is quite different from Olympiad math, as it goes much deeper and takes more time to understand.
I really enjoy category theory. It’s a relatively recent field, starting in the second half of the 20th century, and it’s very abstract but also incredibly useful as a language for different areas of math. Category theory allows you to develop a new kind of intuition, which I find fascinating because it’s so different from the math typically taught at the Olympiad level.
GTF: When did you first realize you wanted to study math?
DG: I’ve known for a long time that I wanted to study math—probably about 10 years ago. My father and grandfather also studied math, so it felt like a natural path. I started thinking more seriously about research after my International Mathematical Olympiad challenge, realizing that I wanted to continue exploring new mathematical areas beyond competition.
I enjoy exploring new mathematical worlds, both abstract and not. It’s like walking through a forest you’ve never been in before—every time you explore, you find something new. Some parts of the forest become familiar, but there’s always a new path you haven’t taken. That sense of discovery is what I love about math.
GTF: Are you excited to start at Cambridge this fall?
DG: I’m very excited. I was fortunate to get a scholarship, which made it possible for me to attend without taking on significant student loans. Cambridge has a strong culture of societies, and I’m looking forward to joining clubs and engaging with people from different fields. In terms of math, I’m excited to tackle higher-level problems that require 10 or more lectures just to understand the problem. I want to see if I can solve those kinds of challenges.
GTF: What do you enjoy outside of math?
DG: I’m a very social person, but I prefer deep connections with a few close people rather than going to big parties. I also enjoy sports like frisbee, reading books, and solving 3D puzzles. Relationships and meaningful conversations are really important to me.
GTF: Do you have any future plans outside of pure mathematics?
DG: Yes, I really care about making an impact. I don’t see myself going into pure research as a full-time career. While I love solving puzzles and exploring new areas, I’d prefer to work in something with a more visible impact, possibly starting my own startup or working in one. I’m not as interested in working for a large corporation—I want to do something more meaningful to me.
