On the occasion of the 10th Anniversary of the School of Mathematical Sciences, Tianjin University, the Beiyang Mathematics Lecture once again welcomed a world-leading scholar. On the morning of April 14, 2026, Professor Yihong Du, Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science, visited Tianjin University and delivered a lecture titled Mathematics for Propagation and Spreading of Species, guiding the faculty and students present to explore the mathematical principles underlying species propagation and spreading. The event was hosted by Dr. Hao Kang from the Center for Applied Mathematics.
At the beginning of the lecture, Professor Yihong Du pointed out that propagation is a widespread phenomenon in the real world, manifesting as the territorial expansion of invasive alien species in ecological invasions, as well as the spread of epidemics in new regions. As an important research tool, partial differential equation models have been successfully applied to reveal the key characteristics of propagation processes. In the first part of the lecture, he systematically reviewed the development and applications of classical models; in the second part, he analyzed the limitations of classical models and introduced several recent advances in mathematical modeling for propagation problems; finally, he provided intuitive illustrations of the relevant mathematical results combined with numerical simulations.
The lecture received an enthusiastic response, with active discussions among the faculty and students. The audience gained a profound appreciation for the exquisite and profound mathematical mechanisms behind the propagation and spreading of ecological species, and a clearer understanding of the solid scientific foundation and broad application prospects of partial differential equations as a powerful modeling tool in simulating practical problems such as the front propagation of ecological invasions and multi-point outbreaks of epidemics.
Professor Yihong Du is a Professor in the School of Mathematics and Statistics at the University of New England, Australia. He was elected a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science in 2021 and received the Australian Laureate Fellowship from the Australian Research Council in 2024. A world-renowned expert in nonlinear functional analysis, partial differential equations and their applications, Professor Du is a pioneer and leader in modeling diffusion phenomena using nonlinear free boundary problems. He has solved long-standing problems concerning sharp constants, boundary blow-up, bifurcation, and the number of multiple solutions.
