Ana Patrícia Carvalho Gonçalves is a Portuguese mathematician who works as a professor of mathematics at the

Instituto Superior Técnico The Instituto Superior Técnico (IST, also known as Técnico, and stylized TÉCNICO LISBOA; English: ) is the school of engineering and technology of the University of Lisbon. It was founded as an autonomous school in 1911, and was integrated in ...

of the

University of Lisbon The University of Lisbon (ULisboa; ) is a public university, public research university in Lisbon, and Portugal's largest university. It was founded in 1911, but the university's present structure dates to the 2013 merger of the former Universit ...

. Her research concerns

probability theory Probability theory or probability calculus is the branch of mathematics concerned with probability. Although there are several different probability interpretations, probability theory treats the concept in a rigorous mathematical manner by expre ...

, and particularly the macroscopic properties of

stochastic process In probability theory and related fields, a stochastic () or random process is a mathematical object usually defined as a family of random variables in a probability space, where the index of the family often has the interpretation of time. Sto ...

es involving

particle system A particle system is a technique in game physics, motion graphics, and computer graphics that uses many minute sprites, 3D models, or other graphic objects to simulate certain kinds of "fuzzy" phenomena, which are otherwise very hard to rep ...

Early life, education, and career

Gonçalves is originally from

Esposende Esposende () is a city and a municipality in Braga District in Portugal. The population in 2011 was 34,254, in an area of 95.41 km2. The city itself (the parish Esposende, Marinhas e Gandra) had a population of 9,197 in 2001. It gained city ...

, in Portugal. Her father owned a shoe company and her mother was a teacher. Her father died when she was young, of primary

amyloidosis Amyloidosis is a group of diseases in which abnormal proteins, known as amyloid fibrils, build up in tissue. There are several non-specific and vague signs and symptoms associated with amyloidosis. These include fatigue, peripheral edema, weigh ...

, leading her to aim for a career in medicine. However, this disruption in her life caused her schoolwork to suffer, and her scores were not high enough for medical school. Instead she went into mathematics at the

University of Porto The University of Porto (''Universidade do Porto'') is a Portuguese public research university located in Porto, and founded on 22 March 1911. It is the second largest Portuguese university by number of enrolled students, after the University ...

, inspired by one of her high school teachers. After taking a summer course in

measure theory In mathematics, the concept of a measure is a generalization and formalization of geometrical measures (length, area, volume) and other common notions, such as magnitude (mathematics), magnitude, mass, and probability of events. These seemingl ...

from Cláudio Landim at the

Instituto Nacional de Matemática Pura e Aplicada The ''Instituto Nacional de Matemática Pura e Aplicada'' (National Institute for Pure and Applied Mathematics) is considered to be the foremost research and educational institution of Brazil in the area of mathematics. It is located in the cit ...

(IMPA) in

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro, or simply Rio, is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (state), state of Rio de Janeiro. It is the List of cities in Brazil by population, second-most-populous city in Brazil (after São Paulo) and the Largest cities in the America ...

, Brazil, she went to IMPA for her doctoral studies. She completed her PhD there in 2007. Her dissertation, supervised by Landim, was ''Central Limit Theorem for a Tagged Particle in Asymmetric Simple Exclusion''. She became a postdoctoral researcher at the

University of São Paulo The Universidade de São Paulo (, USP) is a public research university in the Brazilian state of São Paulo, and the largest public university in Brazil. The university was founded on 25 January 1934, regrouping already existing schools in ...

in Brazil and the

University of Minho The University of Minho (''Universidade do Minho'') is a public university in Minho Province, Portugal. It is divided into the following campuses: * Largo do Paço (rectorate), in Braga * Campus of Gualtar, in Braga * Convento dos Congregados, i ...

in Portugal, and taught at the

Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro The Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro (; PUC-Rio) is a Jesuit, Catholic, pontifical university in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It is the joint responsibility of the Catholic Archdiocese of São Sebastião do Rio de Janeiro and the So ...

before returning to Portugal and taking her present position at the Instituto Superior Técnico. Gonçalves is the editor-in-chief of ''Electronic Communications in Probability'' for 2024–2026.

Recognition

She was an invited speaker at the 2022 (virtual)

International Congress of Mathematicians The International Congress of Mathematicians (ICM) is the largest conference for the topic of mathematics. It meets once every four years, hosted by the International Mathematical Union (IMU). The Fields Medals, the IMU Abacus Medal (known before ...

, and is the 2024 Schramm Lecturer of the

Institute of Mathematical Statistics The Institute of Mathematical Statistics is an international professional and scholarly society devoted to the development, dissemination, and application of statistics and probability. The Institute currently has about 4,000 members in all parts ...

and the

Bernoulli Society The Bernoulli Society is a professional association that aims to further the progress of probability and mathematical statistics, founded as part of the International Statistical Institute in 1975. It is named after the Bernoulli family The Berno ...

at the 11th World Congress in Probability and Statistics.

References

External links

Home page
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Goncalves, Patricia Year of birth missing (living people) Living people People from Esposende Portuguese mathematicians 21st-century Portuguese women scientists Brazilian women mathematicians Probability theorists University of Porto alumni Instituto Nacional de Matemática Pura e Aplicada alumni Academic staff of the Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro Academic staff of the University of Lisbon