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There is a long tradition of cooperation between the schools of mathematics in Hungary and Romania.

In the field of operator theory (an important branch of functional analysis, one of the domain of research considered by our project) the joint work of two great mathematicians comes almost instantly into the mind of professionals working in this field.

Professor Béla Szőkefalvi-Nagy (from Szeged) inaugurated the dilation theory for operators and multi-operators and he was the editor-in-chief of the journals Zentralblatt für Mathematik, Acta Scientiarum Mathematicarum. He was awarded for his outstanding achievements with the well known Lomonosov Medal in 1979.

His collaborator on the other side of the border, Ciprian Foias, obtained in 1995 the Norbert Wiener Prize in Applied Mathematics, which is frequently considered as the mathematical correspondent for the Academy Awards (the so-called Oscar prize). Their joint research, materialized into the famous book “Harmonic Analysis of Operators on Hilbert Space”, is nowadays considered the cornerstone in the dilation theory for Hilbert space contractions. This collaboration has been continued by their Ph.D. students, an important event which usually brought them together under the “International Conference on Operators Theory” organized in Timisoara every two years.

Taking into account these facts, the idea to propose a joint project involving mathematicians working on Functional Analysis from the West University of Timisoara and the University of Szeged came naturally. In order to enlarge the area of applicability the teams were completed by a strong group having as the main topic of their research the theory of Differential Equations. For example, the coordinator of this group from Szeged, Dr. Gergely Röst, is also the manager of the ERC Starting Investigator Grant – the EPIDELAY project, which studies delay differential models and transmission dynamics of infectious diseases. The joint project, entitled “Cross-Border Research on Functional Analysis and Differential Equations” – REFADE, was sent to Budapest for evaluation in March 2011 and it was accepted for financing in the same year, more exactly in December. The team enjoyed the success, while also being aware of the amount of work that was to exert. The 1 January 2012 marked not only the beginning of a new year, but the first day of the implementation period. Throuoght the project a series of didactic and scientific activities, such as training courses for students and young post-graduates, conferences on joint research themes, scientific trips for Ph.D. students, but also short research visits for senior researchers were organised.

The aim of the opening ceremony held in Timisoara was to promote the project objectives and activities, to raise the level of awareness regarding the benefits brought by the project to the target groups, university staff and researchers, master and Ph.D. students, but also to the labor market. One of the main objectives was to ensure an adequate visibility of the project not only through the cross-border area, but also at international level. To this end, bilingual flyers (in both Romanian and Hungarian languages), DVDs containing the project presentations, several ads (in Romanian/Hungarian regional newspapers with large audience), banners and posters were developed together with the website of the project available at www.refade.info.uvt.ro.

The first workshop, organized in the frame of the project in Szeged between 20-22 April 2012, gathered together mainly researchers from the cross-border area. It was a great possibility to meet, to exchange ideas and results, to enlarge the scientific horizons of both young and experienced researchers. The second workshop on Functional Analysis (held in Timisoara on 12-14 October 2012) brought the results of the project in front of an international audience, reuniting specialists from all over the word, including USA, Canada, Japan, France, Italy, Netherland, Finland, Sweden, Argentina, Thailand, Turkey, Serbia etc.

There were about 80 participants, many of them outstanding mathematical personalities, from 16 countries and 4 continents. Members of both teams participated at the “International Conference Operator Theory” (Timisoara, 27-7July 2012), where they had the opportunity to share their knowledge with prestigious mathematicians around the world. Each meeting ended, in a familiar atmosphere, with round tables regarding the implications and the applications of one domain (functional analysis / differential equations) into the other. In this sense one could especially mention the session (organized in (Timisoara, on 14 October 2012) with open (unsolved) problems proposed by several great mathematicians from all over the world.

Training courses were held in Timisoara (on 15 October 2012; by senior lecturers from the University of Szeged) and Szeged (on 23 April 2012; by experienced professors from the West University of Timisoara) for the undergraduate and postgraduate students (in mathematics and computer science) of the two universities.

Meetings, study or research visits organized on both sides of the border strengthened the collaboration between the two universities and allowed them to improve their scientific qualification.

„It was a beautiful and interesting experience, a collaboration that honors us, it was a project carried out with a lot of heart and dedication. Co-operation between the two institutions will carry on in the near future. The first opportunity is the “Sz.-Nagy Centennial Conference” to be organized in Szeged (24-28 June 2013) as a commemoration for the 100th anniversary of Béla Szőkefalvi-Nagy.” – said Mr. Dan Popovici, the manager of the project.