MDPI will be attending the 2023 IEEE International Symposium on Information Theory (ISIT 2023) in Taipei, Taiwan, which will take place from 25 to 30 June 2023.

ISIT is the premier international conference series dedicated to the advancement of information theory and related areas. It brings together an international community of researchers and practitioners each year to present and discuss new research results and perspectives on future developments relevant to all areas of information theory, including big data analytics, source and channel coding, communication theory and systems, cryptography and security, detection and estimation, emerging applications, networks, network coding, signal processing, and statistical/machine learning.

The following MDPI journals will be represented:

• Entropy;
• Mathematics;
• Information;
• Axioms;
• Algorithms;
• Symmetry;
• Data;
• JCP;
• Cryptography.

If you are attending this conference, please feel free to stop by our booth. Our delegates look forward to meeting you in person to answer any questions you may have. For more information about the conference, please visit the following link: https://isit2023.org/.

In contrast to the conventional methods of hard computing, which are based on symbolic logical reasoning and numerical modeling, soft computing deals with approximate reasoning and processes that give solutions to complex real-life problems that cannot be modeled or are too difficult to be modeled mathematically. Soft computing is the synthesis of several computing paradigms, mainly including probabilistic reasoning, fuzzy logic, artificial neural networks and genetic algorithms. These paradigms are complementary to each other and can be used simultaneously for solving a given problem. Although soft computing appeared just during the 1980s, its techniques are successfully used nowadays in many domestic, commercial and industrial applications, becoming a major research object in automatic control engineering and demonstrating the potential to expand further in the forthcoming era of the fourth industrial revolution and the advanced Internet of Things. In this webinar, we are going to explore various aspects of soft computing that promote very interesting applications to various scientific fields. We believe the mathematical community will benefit from this meeting.

Date: 12 June 2023 at 12:00 p.m. CEST | 1:00 p.m. EEST

Webinar Chair and Keynote Speakers:

• Prof. Dr. Michael Voskoglou, School of Engineering, University of Peloponnese (Ex Graduate Technological Educational Institute of Western Greece), Greece
• Prof. Dr. Basil Papadopoulos, Department of Civil Engineering, Democritus University of Thrace, Greece
• Prof. Dr. Madhumangal Pal, Department of Applied Mathematics with Oceanology and Computer Programming, India
• Dr. Said Broumi, LTI Laboratory, Faculty of Sciences Ben Msik, University Hassan II, Morocco

Program:

Relevant Special Issues:

1. “Advances and Applications of Soft Computing”
Guest Editor: Prof. Dr. Michael Voskoglou
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 6 June 2024

2.“Soft Computing and Uncertainty Learning with Applications”
Guest Editors: Prof. Dr. Xiaodong Yue, Prof. Dr. Shu Zhao and Prof. Dr. Jie Zhou
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 15 August 2023

3. “Advances in Genetic Programming and Soft Computing”
Guest Editors: Dr. Marko Ðurasević and Prof. Dr. Domagoj Jakobović
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 January 2024

This is a free webinar. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information on how to join the webinar. Registrations with academic institutional email addresses will be prioritized. Certificates of attendance will be delivered to those who attend the live webinar. 

Unable to attend? Register anyway and we will let you know when the recording is available to watch.

The journal Mathematics (ISSN: 2227-7390) is currently recruiting a Section Editor-in-Chief for the Section “Difference and Differential Equations”.

The Section “Difference and Differential Equations” aims to publish original research papers, perspectives, and review papers on all aspects of this topic. Both qualitative and qualitative theories of ordinary and partial differential equations, along with the existence, multiplicity, and stability of difference equations coupled to dynamic systems are especially welcome. 

Further information about the Section may be found via the following link: https://www.mdpi.com/journal/mathematics/sections/difference_differential_equations. 

The Section Editor-in-Chief is responsible for the following:

• Defining the aims and scope of the Section;
• Advising on the strategic development of the Section;
• Ensuring that the published content is of high quality;
• Nominating/inviting Guest Editors and optionally providing them with the authority to make final acceptance decisions about submitted articles;
• Nominating/inviting contributors;
• Nominating and leading the Section Editorial Board;
• Promoting the journal at scientific conferences or through other venues;
• Conducting preliminary checks of submissions and making the final decision as to whether a paper can be accepted for publication following peer review and author revisions (when it suits your schedule).

To apply for this position, please contact the Mathematics Editorial Office (mathematics@mdpi.com) with the following two files attached:

• A full academic CV;
• A short cover letter that details your interest and enthusiasm for the position. 

Mathematics Editorial Office

Mathematics (ISSN: 2227-7390) be attending the 13th AIMS Conference on Dynamical Systems, Differential Equations and Applications, which will occur from May 31 to June 4 2023 at the University of North Carolina Wilmington, Wilmington, NC, USA. The goals of the meeting include a cross-fertilization of ideas from different application areas and increased communication between the mathematicians who develop dynamical systems techniques and the applied scientists who use them.

The following MDPI journals will be represented:

• Mathematics;
• Axioms;
• Symmetry;
• Fractal Fract;
• Dynamics;
• AppliedMath;
• Computation;
• Systems.

Mathematics plays an indispensable role in shaping the world we inhabit, propelling scientific breakthroughs and technological advancements, and fostering social and economic progress. This year's theme, "Mathematics for Everyone", underscores the universal and all-encompassing nature of mathematics, and its potential to positively impact individuals from all walks of life and diverse backgrounds.

We are confident that the prestigious Mathematics subject journals in MDPI, including AppliedMath, Axioms, Computation, Fractal and Fractional, Games, MCA, Stats and Symmetry, will offer ideal communication platforms to enhance scientific collaboration in line with the International Day of Mathematics theme. Let us harness the full potential of these platforms to propel Mathematics to new heights of development and innovation.

MDPI International Day of Mathematics Webinar 2023 14 Mar 2023, 10:00 (CET) Session 1: 10:00 am–12:00 pm CET Session 2: 14:30 pm–16:30 pm CET Free to register for the two Sessions. Recordings will be available on Sciforum shortly afterwards.

As a leading open access publisher, MDPI provides scholars with a high-quality and rich academic exchange platform by continuously expanding into new and exciting research areas.

In December 2022, MDPI launched five new journals, covering multiple subjects such as life sciences, biology, medicine and pharmacology, social sciences and humanities. These new journals are being edited by established scholars across the world.

If you are interested in creating more open access journals with us to publish cutting-edge research, please send your journal proposal application to newjournal-committee@mdpi.com.

MDPI is pleased to announce that we now display the co-authors’ email addresses in addition to the corresponding author’s email address on the webpage of published papers, protected by Captcha. For more information about this change, please visit the journal’s instructions for authors page. 

We believe this change will facilitate academic discussions and advance our cause of open science and research. The corresponding authors are responsible for communicating with their co-authors and indicating in our system (https://susy.mdpi.com/) if co-authors would prefer for their email addresses not to be displayed.

On 9 February 2023, Clarivate, a global leader in providing trusted insights and analytics, added the Preprint Citation Index to the Web of Science platform, streamlining the research process by allowing researchers to locate and link to preprints alongside other trusted content in the database.

The Preprint Citation Index will act as a bridge to connect cutting-edge preprints with peer-reviewed journal articles published within the Web of Science Core Collection. Alerts can be easily set to monitor new research across several repositories and authors will also be able to include preprints on their Web of Science Research Profile to more accurately display their various research outputs.

As of its launch, the Preprint Citation Index will provide nearly two million preprints from various repositories, including MDPI’s own Preprints.org.

MDPI's Preprints Platform – Preprints.org

To advance Open Science and the fast dissemination of research, MDPI offers researchers a free multidisciplinary preprint platform. Preprints.org accepts submissions from all research areas and offers authors high visibility, permanent archiving, article-level Metrics and immediately citable content by assigning a Digital Object Identifier (DOI) to all preprints.

During submission to any MDPI journal, authors have the option to share their research as a preprint. After an initial screening, the manuscript is available online in 48 hours or less. Once online, preprints can be downloaded, shared, commented on, and cited, providing authors maximum visibility.

We invite you to join the ranks of the over 100k researchers using Preprints.org and share your research.

For more information, please visit Preprints.org.

We are pleased to announce the launch of a new initiative—the MDPI Special Issue Mentor Program.

This program will enable early career researchers (who must hold a Ph.D. in a related field) to experience editing a Special Issue in MDPI journals, under the mentorship of our experienced Editorial Board Members or other experienced scientists. The mentor program will provide an excellent opportunity for early career scientists to gain editorial experience, and to cultivate their ability to edit scientific research.

The mentee’s responsibilities include:

• Proposing a Special Issue title and assisting the mentor in preparing a summary (around 200–400 words) and 3–10 keywords describing the background, importance, and goal of the Issue;
• Writing a brief promotion plan for the Special Issue;
• Preparing a list of scholars who may be interested in the Issue and personally e-mailing invitations on behalf of Guest Editors;
• Writing an editorial for the online Special Issue together with the mentor.

The mentor’s responsibilities include:

• Conducting a final check before the Special Issue is published online;
• Performing editorial control of the Special Issue and quality control of the publications, both of which must be carried out in a timely manner;
• Providing suggestions to younger scholars if they have any doubts or concerns regarding submissions;
• Organizing video calls with young scholars and the Editorial Office regularly to discuss problems and improvement suggestions for the Special Issue;
• Making and submitting decisions regarding submissions with the assistance of mentees.

Certificates and awards:
After the Special Issue closes, the Editorial Office will provide official certificates for all the mentors and early career researchers.

If you are interested in this opportunity, please send your Special Issue proposal to the Editorial Office of a journal you choose, and we will discuss the process (i.e., mentor collaboration, Special Issue topic feasibility analysis, etc.) in further detail. The full list of MDPI journals is as follows: https://www.mdpi.com/about/journals.

In addition to the new Special Issue Mentor Program, we will continue to welcome all Special Issue proposals focusing on hot research topics.

MDPI has just become the first open access (OA) publisher to reach the milestone of one million articles published. That is one million articles freely available to all, to circulate and build upon! We are proud to share this special moment with the global scientific community.

This landmark has been reached thanks to the immeasurable support of more than 600,000 expert reviewers, 66,000 editorial board members and 6700 hard-working colleagues across MDPI’s global offices.

Within more than 25 years of publishing, our journals received 2.1 million manuscripts and generated 4.6 million peer review reports to get to one million papers published.

Reaching the milestone of one million articles published reinforces our mission to remove any existing barriers and to make scientific research accessible to all. Since its inception, MDPI’s goal has been to create reliable processes to make science open. This is a path towards facilitating the dissemination of novel insights in scientific communities.

Regular feedback from authors and reviewers shows that our service is greatly appreciated and needed. At the same time, the feedback helps us identify areas for further improvement.

As it stands, a significant share of published research findings remain closed access. More than half of the content published with the most well-known legacy publishers stays behind a paywall, and that is not including articles published in hybrid OA journals, or made available months or years after publication.

A new policy announced by the US administration in August 2022 requires that, as of January 2026, all US federally funded research be made freely and immediately available after publication. While the new policy does not mandate articles be published under an open access license, it is aligned with the open access movement in removing all barriers to research. Similarly, some of the most advanced research institutions in the world intend to have all funded research articles published in open access by 2025.

MDPI is proud to be the leading agent of the transition to open access.

"Thanks a Million" to all the contributors!

We are pleased to announce that the website of the MDPI Sustainability Foundation has been revamped! For the past couple of months, our UX UI team and front-end developers have been working hard to launch the website in time for the opening of the Sustainability Awards nominations.

The website is not the only thing that has had a remodeling. Indeed, the format of the Emerging Sustainability Leader Award (ESLA) has been updated. ESLA is now a competition open to individual researchers or start-ups founded by researchers under the age of 35. Nominee applications will go through 2 rounds of selection until the final 3 are decided. The finalists will then be invited to give pitch presentations during the Award Ceremony to win either first place (10,000 USD) or runner-up (2 x 5000 USD).

The World Sustainability Award, on the other hand, remains the same: a total prize money of 100,000 USD is up for grabs by senior individual researchers or groups of researchers from the international research community.

Nominations for both the World Sustainability Award and the Emerging Sustainability Leader award are now open! Check out our new website for more information on how to nominate.

1. “Leveraging Elasticity to Uncover the Role of Rabinowitsch Suspension through a Wavelike Conduit: Consolidated Blood Suspension Application”
by Sara I. Abdelsalam and Abdullah Z. Zaher
Mathematics 2021, 9(16), 2008; https://doi.org/10.3390/math9162008
Full text available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2227-7390/9/16/2008

2. “Bioconvection Reiner-Rivlin Nanofluid Flow between Rotating Circular Plates with Induced Magnetic Effects, Activation Energy and Squeezing Phenomena”
by Muhammad Bilal Arain, Muhammad Mubashir Bhatti, Ahmad Zeeshan and Faris Saeed Alzahrani
Mathematics 2021, 9(17), 2139; https://doi.org/10.3390/math9172139
Full text available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2227-7390/9/17/2139

3. “Double Solutions and Stability Analysis of Micropolar Hybrid Nanofluid with Thermal Radiation Impact on Unsteady Stagnation Point Flow”
by Nur Syazana Anuar and Norfifah Bachok
Mathematics 2021, 9(3), 276; https://doi.org/10.3390/math9030276
Full text available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2227-7390/9/3/276

4. “LMI-Observer-Based Stabilizer for Chaotic Systems in the Existence of a Nonlinear Function and Perturbation”
by Hamede Karami, Saleh Mobayen, Marzieh Lashkari, Farhad Bayat and Arthur Chang
Mathematics 2021, 9(10), 1128; https://doi.org/10.3390/math9101128
Full text available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2227-7390/9/10/1128

5. “Finance for the Environment: A Scientometrics Analysis of Green Finance”
by Rui Cai and Jianluan Guo
Mathematics 2021, 9(13), 1537; https://doi.org/10.3390/math9131537
Full text available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2227-7390/9/13/1537

6. “Hidden Strange Nonchaotic Attractors”
by Marius-F. Danca and Nikolay Kuznetsov
Mathematics 2021, 9(6), 652; https://doi.org/10.3390/math9060652
Full text available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2227-7390/9/6/652

7. “Performance Analysis on the Use of Oscillating Water Column in Barge-Based Floating Offshore Wind Turbines”
by Payam Aboutalebi, Fares M’zoughi, Izaskun Garrido and Aitor J. Garrido
Mathematics 2021, 9(5), 475; https://doi.org/10.3390/math9050475
Full text available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2227-7390/9/5/475

8. “An Optimal Derivative Free Family of Chebyshev–Halley’s Method for Multiple Zeros”
by Ramandeep Behl, Sonia Bhalla, Ángel Alberto Magreñán and Alejandro Moysi
Mathematics 2021, 9(5), 546; https://doi.org/10.3390/math9050546
Full text available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2227-7390/9/5/546

9. “Research on Optimization of Array Honeypot Defense Strategies Based on Evolutionary Game Theory”
by Leyi Shi, Xiran Wang and Huiwen Hou
Mathematics 2021, 9(8), 805; https://doi.org/10.3390/math9080805
Full text available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2227-7390/9/8/805

10. “High-Order Filtered PID Controller Tuning Based on Magnitude Optimum”
by Damir Vrančić and Mikuláš Huba
Mathematics 2021, 9(12), 1340; https://doi.org/10.3390/math9121340
Full text available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2227-7390/9/12/1340

Scientists at Standford have recently published an update of the list of the top 2% most widely cited scientists. The time node of the statistical data of this list is from 1960 to 2022, and it is divided into two lists: "Lifetime Scientific Influence Ranking" and "2022 Annual Scientific Influence Ranking". The "Lifetime Scientific Influence Ranking" counts the comprehensive influence performance of scientists during their careers, and the "2022 Annual Influence Ranking" focuses on highlighting the academic influence of scientists in the previous year. This ranking, considered the most prestigious worldwide, is based on the bibliometric information contained in the Scopus database and includes more than 200,000 researchers from the more than 10 million scientists considered to be active worldwide, with 22 scientific fields and 176 subfields taken into account. 

We are pleased to share that 214 Editorial Board Members from MDPI’s Mathematics (ISSN: 2227-7390) were featured in Stanford University World’s Top 2% Scientists list in 2022.

The latest Stanford rankings reflect the significant influence and research excellence of the scientists, who are committed to furthering their knowledge for the benefit of the world.

We are pleased to announce that Prof. Dr. Adolfo Ballester-Bolinches has been appointed Editor-in-Chief of the Section "Algebra and Geometry" in Mathematics (ISSN: 2227-7390).

Prof. Dr. Adolfo Ballester-Bolinches graduated from the University of Valencia (UV) Summa Cum Laude in Mathematical Sciences (1986), and is currently a university professor in the area of algebra at the Facultat de Matemàtiques de la UV, the university where he has served since 1986. He has taught undergraduate/graduate courses, and doctorate/master's degrees in mathematics.

Prof. Dr. Ballester-Bolinches has participated in research projects financed by national and international public organizations since 1988, and since 2004 he has served as principal investigator/coordinator of coordinated projects. He has published more than 270 scientific articles in prestigious international journals, of which approximately ninety-five percent appear in the "Mathematics" list of the Journal of Citation Reports Science Edition and eighty percent appear in the first and second third of the aforementioned list. Additionally, he has published two books, Classes of finite groups, with L. Ezquerro, Springer (2006), and Products of finite groups, with R. Esteban Romero and M. Asaad, W. De Gruyter (2010), which are basic references in the abstract theory of groups, with the number of citations to date equal to 605 and 378, respectively, using Google Scholar as a source. The number of citations of his publications is, as of today, 4169 with an h-index equal to 29, using Google Scholar as a source. Since 2017, his research work has received 1421 citations and corresponds to an h-index equal to 15 according to the same source. Currently, he is an advisor (referee) of more than 85 scientific journals, member of the editorial committee of 13 journals and reviewer of the Mathematical Reviews and Zentralblatt MATH. 

Prof. Dr. Ballester-Bolinches has made numerous visits to several foreign universities within the framework of collaborative projects, in which he has taught various postgraduate courses and carried out research tasks. He was a plenary speaker in many international conferences on group theory and its applications. Now he serves as an advisor to Spanish and foreign project evaluation agencies and has been an evaluator of postgraduate works and doctoral theses at various universities. To date, he has supervised 14 doctoral theses and 9 master's theses/third-year research papers. 

The following is a short Q&A with Prof. Dr. Adolfo Ballester-Bolinches, who shared his vision for the Section with us as well as his views on the research area:

1.What appealed to you about the journal that made you want to take the role as its Section Editor-in-Chief?
The main feature of this journal is its interdisciplinarity and its efficiency and speed in publishing articles. This directly affects the impact of these articles and contributes to improving the communication of their results.

2. What is your vision for the Section?
We need to attract quality researchers who publish good articles in this Section. We also must demand in the acceptance of the articles through rigorous selection criteria.

3. What does the future of this field of research look like?
Research in the field of algebra and geometry is an extremely important part of science that is essential for the development of mathematics and its applications in different areas. It is impossible to conceive of a good scientific development without good research in algebra and geometry.

4. What do you think of the development of Open Access in the publishing field?
It is one of the best ways to learn about and disseminate the results of scientific research.

5. What aspects do you focus on when reviewing a manuscript?
The novelty of the results and the techniques used in their development. Its potential impact on the corresponding scientific field.

6. Do you have any suggestions for young researchers in this field?
To work hard to contribute to the development of the area. 

We wish Prof. Dr. Ballester-Bolinches every success in his new position, and we look forward to his contributions to the journal.

Date: 25 November 2022
Time: 02:00 p.m. (CET)
Webinar ID: 881 3441 2882
Register here:
https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/2516636012244/WN_UMfiT_RKT5ucq1LZ1dfWJw
Participation fee: None
Language: English
Webinar keywords: fractional calculus; history and more recent applications; fractional differential equations; nonlinear dynamics; stochastic fields; analytical and numerical solutions; fractal geometry 

Related Special Issues:

• “Abstract Fractional Integro-Differential Equations and Fixed Point Theory with Applications”;
• “Stability Analysis of Fractional Systems-II”;
• “Fractional Differential Equations and Control Problems”;
• “Fractional-Order Systems: Control, Modeling and Applications 2022”;
• “Applications of Fractional Calculus in Option Pricing”;
• “Fractional Calculus in Kinetic Theory”;
• “Fractional Calculus and Mathematical Applications”.

Chair:

Speakers:

Peer Review Week began 19 September 2022 under the theme of “Research Integrity: Creating and Supporting Trust in Research”. Through various blog articles, podcast, and webinar, we discussed this crucial subject throughout the week, celebrating the essential role peer review plays in maintaining research quality.

To begin, we held a Webinar on the topic. Professor Peter W. Choate and Dr. Emmanuel Obeng-Gyasi joined Dr. Ioana Craciun, one of MDPI’s scientific officers, for an in-depth discussion.

We invite you to view the event recording:

During the week, the MDPI Blog in a series articles highlighted how good Peer Review safeguards research integrity. The following topics were covered:

• Peer Review Week 2022
• Research Integrity
• What We’ve Learned About Peer Review Reports
• 4 Steps to the Perfect Peer Review Report
• How to Write the Perfect Peer Review Report: An Interview
• Inviting Great Peer Reviewers

In a new edition of Insight Faster, an MDPI podcast, we were delighted to talk to the co-chairs of the Peer Review Week committee, Jayashree Rajagopalan (Senior Manager of Global Community Engagement for CACTUS) and Danielle Padula (Head of Marketing and Community Development at Scholastica) to get their take on this year’s event and its related topics.

You can find the Podcast here.

We hope you enjoy the contents!

MDPI will be attending the Conference on Complex Systems (CCS2022) in Palma de Mallorca, Spain, which will take place from 17 to 21 October 2022. The CCS is the largest and most important annual meeting of the international complex systems community. It comes under the auspices of the Complex Systems Society. This edition, organized by IFISC, takes place after previous events held in Lyon, Singapore, Thessaloniki, and Cancun.

The following MDPI journals will be represented:

• Entropy;
• Fractal and Fractional;
• Symmetry;
• Mathematics;
• Dynamics;
• Algorithms;
• Systems;
• Informatics;
• MAKE;
• Information;
• Future Internet;
• Applied System Innovation;
• Data.

If you are attending this conference, please feel free to stop by our booth. Our delegates look forward to meeting you in person to answer any questions you may have. For more information about the conference, please visit the following link: https://www.ccs2022.org/.

We are pleased to announce that Prof. Dr. Massimiliano Ferrara has been appointed Editor-in-Chief of the Section "Financial Mathematics" in Mathematics (ISSN: 2227-7390).

Prof. Dr. Massimiliano Ferrara is a Research Affiliate at ICRIOS – Invernizzi Center for Research on Innovation, Organization, Strategy and Entrepreneurship, Bocconi University, and a full professor of Mathematical Economics at “Mediterranea” University of Reggio Calabria. He was a Vice Rector of strategic planning, development and general affairs, a member of the Academic Senate, Department Chairman (Dept. of Law, Economics and Human Sciences) and a Ph.D. School Head. Currently, he is the President of the Scientific Committee of MEDAlics Research Centre and Scientific Director of DECISIONS Lab at Unirc. He was on the General Counsel of “Fondazione Banco di Napoli”, Vice Rector at University for foreigners “Dante Alighieri” of Reggio Calabria. He was a visiting professor at Harvard University, Cambridge (USA), Western Michigan University (USA), Morgan State University, Baltimora (USA), Northeastern University di Boston (USA), Center for Dynamics of Dresden University of Technology (Germany), and Politechnica University of Bucharest—UPB —(Romania). He is a member of the Mathematical Association of America, of the Indian Academy of Mathematics and a member of the AMASES Scientific Committee (2017-2022). He is the Editor, Co-Editor, Associate Editor and Referee of reputable international scientific journals of economics, pure and applied mathematics. He is the author and co-author of more than 200 papers in peer-reviewed journals and 15 research monographs. His main research interests are mathematical economics, game theory, optimization theory, dynamical systems, epidemic modeling and COVID-19, patterns of growth and sustainable development, applied economics, portfolio management, artificial intelligence, and machine learning.

The following is a short Q&A with Prof. Dr. Massimiliano Ferrara, who shared his vision for the Section “Financial Mathematics" with us, as well as his views on the research area:

I have previously collaborated with MDPI and joined the Mathematics Editorial Board in 2019. During this time, I was able to observe the increasing quality and the high scientific output of MDPI, focusing on journal metrics and both impactful and reputable performances. I read the Call for Section Editor-in-Chief and I was attracted to this new professional challenge. I was selected, and I wish to thank the MDPI Board for its esteem. I am ready to return this trust with my passion, commitment, and hard and qualified work.

As in every field in which complexity and different kinds of "uncertainty" exist, finance represents a challenge and is a fascinating attractor of arising interests and new frontiers of knowledge. I am sure that in the next two years, we will join a fruitful common path of growth, trying to intercept the new subfield of research born in this specific research context.

The future of this area of research has an excellent scientific basis. New research on the so-called FINTECH, with the strategic role played by artificial intelligence, machine and deep learning in making decisions in a disruptive way compared to the past, gives us the opportunity to explore the field of finance with new approaches and tools, presenting scenarios which were unthinkable until a few years ago.

Open access in research is the future. Innovation and knowledge are increasing, along with tools of pure and applied research, particularly in hard science. Artificial intelligence enabled by machine learning and deep learning are assuming a strategic role on this side. In sustaining this deep process of growth, scientific publishing should adopt open access as natural platform for the exchange of information, data, tools and new findings.

First of all, I try to intercept the scientific message and the real scope of the manuscript after the first reading. This is the basic first step. After this starting point, I study the author’s research profile to try to understand their scientific approach. It is not fundamental where they normally publish—in terms of the journal—but how they publish. During the third step, I begin to technically study the manuscript, following a classic approach.

Young researchers should have a real and deep passion for research, not thinking only of metrics with a maniacal propulsion. It is really important to follow one’s own instincts and curiosity when trying to carry out good research. All researchers need to trust their own capacity and the constant presence of their mentor as a guide, offering messages of trust and human support. The rest, and the most fundamental aspect, always comes down to self-confidence.

We warmly welcome Prof. Dr. Massimiliano Ferrara to his role as Section Editor-in-Chief and look forward to his guidance in leading "Financial Mathematics” to more milestones.

MDPI will be attending the 5th China Intelligent Optimization and Scheduling Conference from 12 to 14 August 2022, in Taiyuan, China.

Themed “Intelligent Optimisation for Scheduling”, the conference will focus on big data, artificial intelligence, simulation optimization, intelligent optimization, scheduling optimization, and other directions through conference presentations, group presentations, wall presentations, enterprise application demonstrations, etc., to carry out cutting-edge theories, methods, technologies, and applications, and will invite famous publishers at home and abroad to introduce journal submissions. The conference will select outstanding academic papers, young scientists, outstanding Ph.D. theses, outstanding M.Sc. theses, innovative application practice projects, etc.

The following MDPI journals will be represented:

• Sensors;
• Systems;
• Mathematics;
• Axioms;
• Smart Cities;
• Future Internet;
• Data;
• Algorithms;
• Automation;
• Signals.

If you are attending this conference, please feel free to start a conversation with us. Our delegates look forward to meeting you in person and answering any questions that you may have.

We are pleased to announce the winner of the Mathematics (ISSN: 2227-7390) 2021 Young Investigator Award, Dr. Marina Murillo-Arcila.

Dr. Marina Murillo-Arcila is currently an associate professor at the Instituto Universitario de Matemática Pura y Aplicada at Universitat Politécnica de Valéncia, Spain. Her research is in the field of the study of abstract evolution equations and linear dynamical systems in infinite dimensions. Contributions to the first line of research on evolution equations emphasize the study of the qualitative properties of linear and nonlinear integrodifferential equations in the context of Banach spaces. Contributions to the research line of linear dynamical systems in infinite dimension focus on the study of properties such as Devaney chaos and other dynamical properties of operators and positive semigroups due to their essential connection with the study of the asymptotic behavior of the solutions of certain partial derivative equations. Additionally, she has been involved in the research collaboration on the application of epidemiological models to describe message dissemination in infrastructure-less and vehicular networks.

Please join us in congratulating Dr. Marina Murillo-Arcila for her outstanding achievements.

We want to thank the award committee for their excellent work in the hard task of selecting a winner from such a large number of excellent candidate profiles and all the nominees from the various fields of study for their participation. We will continue to reward young scientists with the Young Investigator Awards and wish them every success in their careers.

For more information about Mathematics awards, please refer to the following link: https://www.mdpi.com/journal/mathematics/awards.

We are proud to recognize the winners of MDPI’s 2021 Travel Awards in the subject area of “Computer Science & Mathematics” for their outstanding presentations and to present them with the prize.

MDPI journals regularly offer travel awards to encourage talented junior scientists to present their latest research at academic conferences in specific fields, which helps to increase their influence.

The winners mentioned below were carefully selected by the journal editors based on an outline of their research and the work to be presented at an academic conference.

We would like to warmly congratulate the winners of Travel Awards for the year 2021 and wish them the greatest success with their future research endeavors.

MDPI will continue to enhance communication among scientists.

Computers:

• Umberto Michieli, University of Padova, Italy

Journal of Imaging:

• Cameron Kaye, University of Manitoba, Canada
• Alexandra Trujillo, Universidad Nacional del Sur, Argentina

Symmetry:

• José María, Autonomous University of Madrid, Spain
• Naser Ojaroudi Parchin, University of Bradford, UK

In order to acknowledge our reviewers, who so generously dedicate their time to reviewing papers and demonstrate diligence, professionalism, and timeliness when reviewing manuscripts, MDPI journals regularly offer outstanding reviewer awards to scholars who participate in the peer-review process.

We are proud to recognize the winners for the year 2021 in the “Computer Science and Mathematics” for their outstanding contributions among extensive competition by presenting them with an Outstanding Reviewer Award.

We would like to take this opportunity to congratulate all of the winners on their achievement.

MDPI will continue to provide support and recognition to the academic community.

Algorithms:

• Maxim A. Dulebenets, SA Florida A&M University-Florida State University, USA
• Artur Jez, University of Wrocław, Poland
• Dmitry Lukyanenko, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Russia

Forecasting:

• Juan Ramón Trapero Arenas, Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha, Spain

Future Internet:

• Pedro Pablo Garrido Abenza, Universidad Miguel Hernández de Elche, Spain
• Roberto Saia, University of Cagliari, Italy
• Marek Bolanowski, Rzeszow University of Technology, Poland

Journal of Imaging:

• Jung Sun Yoo, Hong Kong Polytechnic University, China
• Josemaria Martinezo, University of the Basque Country, Spain

Mathematics:

• Maria Alessandra Ragusa, Università di Catania, Italy; DN University, Russia
• Endre Kovács, University of Miskolc, Hungary
• Roman Vavrek, VŠB-Technical University of Ostrava, Czech Republic
• Giacomo Ascione, Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II, Italy
• Giorgio Sonnino, University in the City of Brussels, Belgium

Signals:

• Nina Golyandina, St. Petersburg State University, Russia
• Cataldo Guaragnella, Politecnico di Bari, Italy

Symmetry:

• Stefan Groote, University of Tartu, Estonia
• José Antonio Oller, Universidad de Murcia, Spain
• Kazuharu Bamba, Fukushima University, Japan

MDPI’s Young Investigator Awards recognize promising junior researchers, acknowledge their contributions, and enhance communication among scientists. We are proud to present the winners for the year 2021 in the “Computer Science & Mathematics”, who were selected by the journals’ editors.

We warmly congratulate the awarded Young Investigators for their outstanding contributions.

MDPI will continue to provide support and recognition to the academic community.

Mathematics:

• Marina Murillo Arcila, Universitat Politècnica de València, Spain

Symmetry:

• Tanmoy Paul, University of Burdwan, India

The purpose of our best paper awards is to promote and recognize the most impactful contributions published within MDPI journals.

The editors of each journal carefully selected reviews and research papers through a rigorous judging process based on the criteria such as scientific merit, overall impact, and quality of the presentation of the papers published in the journal.

We are honored to present the winners in the “Computer Science & Mathematics”, who were selected amongst extensive competition, and congratulate the authors for their outstanding scientific publications.

MDPI will continue to provide support and recognition to the academic community.

Axioms:

• A New gH-Difference for Multi-Dimensional Convex Sets and Convex Fuzzy Sets
  By Luciano Stefanini and Barnabas Bede
  Axioms 2019, 8(2), 48; doi:10.3390/axioms8020048

• Initial Value Problem for Nonlinear Fractional Differential Equations with ψ-Caputo Derivative via Monotone Iterative Technique
  By Choukri Derbazi, Zidane Baitiche, Mouffak Benchohra and Alberto Cabada
  Axioms 2020, 9(2), 57; doi:10.3390/axioms9020057

Future Internet:

• A review of Machine Learning and IoT in Smart Transportation
  By Fotios Zantalis, Grigorios Koulouras, Sotiris Karabetsos and Dionisis Kandris
  Future Internet 2019, 11(4), 94; doi:10.3390/fi11040094

Signals:

• Recognition of Blinks Activity Patterns during Stress Conditions Using CNN and Markovian Analysis
  By Alexandra I. Korda, Giorgos Giannakakis, Errikos Ventouras, Pantelis A. Asvestas, Nikolaos Smyrnis, Kostas Marias and George K. Matsopoulos
  Signals 2021, 2(1), 55–71; doi:10.3390/signals2010006

• An Educational Guide through the FMP Notebooks for Teaching and Learning Fundamentals of Music Processing
  By Meinard Müller
  Signals 2021, 2(2), 245–285; doi:10.3390/signals2020018

Symmetry:

• Hadronic and Hadron-Like Physics of Dark Matter
  By Vitaly Beylin, Maxim Yu. Khlopov, Vladimir Kuksa and Nikolay Volchanskiy
  Symmetry 2019, 11(4), 587; doi:10.3390/sym11040587

• Role of Asymmetric Autocatalysis in the Elucidation of Origins of Homochirality of Organic Compounds
  By Kenso Soai, Tsuneomi Kawasaki and Arimasa Matsumoto
  Symmetry 2019, 11(5), 694; doi:10.3390/sym11050694

• Convenient Asymmetric Synthesis of Fmoc-(S)-6,6,6-Trifluoro-Norleucine
  By Haibo Mei, Zizhen Yin, Toshio Miwa, Hiroki Moriwaki, Hidenori Abe, Jianlin Han and Vadim A. Soloshonok
  Symmetry 2019, 11(4), 578; doi:10.3390/sym11040578

• CMB Tensions with Low-Redshift H₀ and S₈ Measurements: Impact of a Redshift-Dependent Type-Ia Supernovae Intrinsic Luminosity
  By Matteo Martinelli and Isaac Tutusaus
  Symmetry 2019, 11(8), 986; doi:10.3390/sym11080986

The 2021 citation metrics have been released in the Journal Citation Reports (JCR), and we’re pleased to announce the following results for MDPI journals:

For more information on Impact Factors and what it means to index academic journals, please visit our related blog posts.

* Journals given their first Impact Factor in 2022

Source: 2021 Journal Impact Factors, Journal Citation Reports ^TM (Clarivate, 2022)

We are pleased to report that the CiteScore of Mathematics (ISSN: 2227-7390) has increased to 2.9 (from 2.2). It now ranks 53/391 (Q1) in "General Mathematics", 34/90 (Q2) in "Computer Science", and 45/115 (Q2) in "Engineering". For full details of the current CiteScore release, please refer to the journal’s Source profile at: https://www.scopus.com/sourceid/21100830702.

We would like to extend our sincerest gratitude to all the authors, editors, and reviewers for their great contributions. We are grateful for their excellent work that has helped us to achieve this milestone for Mathematics!

Read more and submit at https://www.mdpi.com/journal/mathematics.

The 2021 citation metrics have been officially released in Scopus!

We are pleased to announce that 182 MDPI journals are included, of which:

● 21 journals received their first CiteScore.
● 85% of journals increased their CiteScore from 2020.
● 155 journals (85%) ranked above average, in at least one category.

The following 65 MDPI journals (36%) ranked among the top 25% of journals, in at least one category:

Source: 2021 CiteScores™ (Elsevier)

The journal Mathematics (ISSN: 2227-7390) is currently recruiting a Section Editor-in-Chief for the Section “Financial Mathematics”.

The Section “Financial Mathematics” aims to publish original contributions focused on the development and application of novel mathematical methods and solutions for financial problems. It is also dedicated to providing a platform and forum for mathematical scientists who are interested in the mathematical aspects of finance, as well as financial economists who are interested in rigorous treatments of scientific computational problems related to practice.

Further information about the Section may be found via the following link: https://www.mdpi.com/journal/mathematics/sections/financial_mathematics.

The Section Editor-in-Chief is responsible for the following:

• Defining the aims and scope of the Section;
• Advising on the strategic development of the Section;
• Ensuring that the published content is of high quality;
• Nominating/inviting Guest Editors and optionally providing them with the authority to make final acceptance decisions about submitted articles;
• Nominating/inviting contributors;
• Nominating and leading the Section Editorial Board;
• Promoting the journal at scientific conferences or through other venues;
• Conducting preliminary checks of submissions and making the final decision as to whether a paper can be accepted for publication following peer review and author revisions (when it suits your schedule).

To apply for this position, please contact the Mathematics Editorial Office (mathematics@mdpi.com) with the following two files attached:

• A full academic CV;
• A short cover letter that details your interest and enthusiasm for the position.

“A New Fuzzy MARCOS Method for Road Traffic Risk Analysis”
Miomir Stanković et al.
Mathematics 2020, 8(3), 457; https://doi.org/10.3390/math8030457

“Numerical Investigation on the Swimming of Gyrotactic Microorganisms in Nanofluids through Porous Medium over a Stretched Surface”
Anwar Shahid et al.
Mathematics 2020, 8(3), 380; https://doi.org/10.3390/math8030380

“A Regularity Criterion in Weak Spaces to Boussinesq Equations”
Ravi P. Agarwal et al.
Mathematics 2020, 8(6), 920; https://doi.org/10.3390/math8060920

“Predicting Hard Rock Pillar Stability Using GBDT, XGBoost, and LightGBM Algorithms”
Weizhang Liang et al.
Mathematics 2020, 8(5), 765; https://doi.org/10.3390/math8050765

“Deep Hybrid Model Based on EMD with Classification by Frequency Characteristics for Long-Term Air Quality Prediction”
Xue-Bo Jin et al.
Mathematics 2020, 8(2), 214; https://doi.org/10.3390/math8020214

“New General Variants of Chebyshev Type Inequalities via Generalized Fractional Integral Operators”
Ahmet Ocak Akdemir et al.
Mathematics 2021, 9(2), 122; https://doi.org/10.3390/math9020122

“A Compromised Decision-Making Approach to Third-Party Logistics Selection in Sustainable Supply Chain Using Fuzzy AHP and Fuzzy VIKOR Methods”
Chia-Nan Wang et al.
Mathematics 2021, 9(8), 886; https://doi.org/10.3390/math9080886

“General Fractional Integrals and Derivatives with the Sonine Kernels”
Yuri Luchko
Mathematics 2021, 9(6), 594; https://doi.org/10.3390/math9060594

“Design of Constrained Robust Controller for Active Suspension of In-Wheel-Drive Electric Vehicles”
Xianjian Jin et al.
Mathematics 2021, 9(3), 249; https://doi.org/10.3390/math9030249

“Models for COVID-19 Daily Confirmed Cases in Different Countries”
Hamdy M. Ahmed et al.
Mathematics 2021, 9(6), 659; https://doi.org/10.3390/math9060659

We are pleased to announce that Prof. Dr. Paolo Mercorelli has been appointed Editor-in-Chief of the Section “Engineering Mathematics” in Mathematics (ISSN: 2227-7390).

Prof. Dr. Paolo Mercorelli received an M.S. (Laurea) in electronic engineering from the University of Florence, Florence, Italy, in 1992 and a Ph.D. in systems engineering from the Alma Mater Studiorum University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy, in 1998. In 1997, he spent one year as a Visiting Researcher in the Department of Mechanical and Environmental Engineering, University of California, Santa Barbara, USA. He participated in the Marie Curie Actions research fellowship program sponsored by the European Commission in 1998, during which he spent his time at ABB (Asea Brown Boveri) Corporate Research, Heidelberg. Thanks to this scholarship, from 1998 to 2001, he was a Postdoctoral Researcher with ABB (Asea Brown Boveri) Corporate Research, Heidelberg, Germany. From 2002 to 2005, he was a Senior Researcher with the Institute of Automation and Informatics, Wernigerode, Germany, where he was the Leader of the Control Group. From 2005 to 2011, he was an Associate Professor of process informatics at the Ostfalia University of Applied Sciences, Wolfsburg, Germany. In 2011, he was a Visiting Professor at Villanova University, Philadelphia, USA.

He has been a Distinguished Full Professor (Chair) of Control and Drive Systems at the Institute of Product and Process Innovation, Leuphana University of Lueneburg, Lueneburg, Germany, since 2012. His current research interests include mechatronics, signal processing, wavelets, model predictive control, sliding mode control, sensorless control, Kalman filters, knock control, lambda control, and robotics.

In the winter semester of the 2017/2018 academic year, he worked at the Institute of Automatic Control of Lodz University of Technology (Poland) under a Distinguished International Visiting Professor Fellowship. In 2018, he was a Visiting Scientist Fellowship at the Czech Academy of Science of Prague (Czech Republic) with the Institute of Information Theory and Automation (UTIA). As of 2019, he has been working as a lecturer and Visiting Professor at the Ph.D. Schools of the University of Miskolc (Hungary) and University of Craiova (Romania). During the summer semester of 2020, he began working as a lecturer for USAC (University Studies Abroad Consortium), giving online lectures for different American Universities each semester: Nevada University Reno and Las Vegas, Arkansas University and Wright State University. Prof. Dr. Paolo Mercorelli is within the top 2% of scientists in Control Systems in accordance with Elsevier Search Data for the years 2019, 2020, and 2021.

The following is a short Q&A with Prof. Dr. Paolo Mercorelli, who shared his vision for the journal with us as well as his views on the research area:

1. What appealed to you about the journal that made you want to take the role as its Section Editor-in-Chief?

It is my honor and pleasure to accept this task with its important mission for different reasons. I think that the field of engineering mathematics has an important purpose in our society—not only in terms of developing new and more human technologies but also in terms of education. As a professor, first of all, I am an educator, and, thus, as Editor-in-Chief of the “Engineering Mathematics” Section of this journal, I would like to emphasize possible future applications that are strongly rooted in mathematical background. This approach will benefit students more directly. It is my wish to emphasize the submission of papers that include a background on their topics, even if brief. The idea is to attract readers, students, and lecturers who can profit from the content of our articles.

More than the aforementioned, I would like to clarify and apply some ethical aspects, as I did in other fields of my life and other occasions throughout my life. I spent ten years living in the Christian community of Opera Madonnina del Grappa in Florence, Italy, sharing this period of my studies assisting children. I also spent one year of my life driving a lorry throughout Albania helping Mother Teresa. It is important for me in this mission as Editor-in-Chief to provide the message of peace in a different way than I have in the past but with the same significance. Under my direction, we will only review papers in which the corresponding authors declare that their results have not come from military applications. If the paper is accepted for publication, the authors must acknowledge that they wish, as I do, that the readers do not apply this knowledge to any form of military application: either military offense or defense. Peace depends on the contributions of each of us. Each war originates from injustices that are carried out by guilty people. In the same way, it is also true that none of us are innocent if we do not contribute to the creation of peace in some way. In some sense, all of us are guilty people because we are not able to leave the categories of war in order to assume the categories of peace. Each war tells us about ourselves. In fact, almost all technological advancements of our era come from war-like technologies, including the internet, for instance. This particular historical period is pressed by oppression, where violence is mixed with our mediocrity, and our response must not be to be scared but to care. Additionally, we must trust in our intelligence to turn the science and, in particular, our intellectual energy of engineering mathematics from potentially bellicose perspectives into serving peace:

Si vis pacem, para pacem! (“If you want peace, prepare for peace!”)

2. What is your vision for the Section?

I see an interesting future for this field and an extremely important mission for this Section. In fact, engineering mathematics develops a mathematical structure in which not strictly mathematical subjects can be examined. Engineering mathematics encompasses a wide range of mathematical methods and shows the practical application of mathematical theories.

Mathematical methods are becoming increasingly important for solving engineering problems. Anyone who studies engineering mathematics today learns how mathematical methods can be used to further develop technology. Algorithms, which can be used to simulate technical processes, play an important role here. Simulation is an essential tool for the development of new products. With its diverse sub-areas, from analysis to optimization, mathematics creates the basis for the further development of numerical methods. In my vision, the “Engineering Mathematics” Section should make space for the techniques and connections that belong to this fascinating science, which will result in new findings that will influence our everyday lives again and again. With this Section, I intend to create an important worldwide platform for research, development, and application in the fields of mathematically oriented sciences—from the development of new algorithms and their implementation on a computer, to prove their functionality. By combining mathematical training with the knowledge of application problems from engineering, a potential reader of our Section can find inspiration to solve current problems and then work with engineering teams to develop the technologies of tomorrow. Our society has set the goal of developing itself into the most dynamic knowledge-based economy, with more and higher qualified jobs and a larger need for social justice. Engineering mathematics can make significant contributions to this goal, and although the role of mathematicians is widely recognized, there is still much room for improvement in the research. In particular, more attention should be paid to mathematical modeling, simulation, optimization, and scientific computing. This applies to both industry and life sciences. In the life sciences, for example, mathematics is used to plan operations and to better understand biological, physiological, social, and more complex systemic processes.

3. What does the future of this field of research look like?

In this sense, this field of research offers tremendous potential in the context of algorithms. The insights mentioned above are needed to optimize the algorithms that are the basis of all artificial intelligence and the direct product of our field. The quality of these algorithms determines an organization's leadership and develops the trust of users. We have to trust computers and robots. I think that better results do not necessarily come from better intellect, nor do they necessarily come from better computing power—they might just as well come from a better process with human finalities. Additionally, for this, people and machines should interact with as much trust as possible. The society of the future is condemned to trust, so we have to trust algorithms.

I would like to summarise with the mantra: “Think mathematically, act algorithmically!”

Moreover, in this controversial historical period, heavy with injustice and oppression, the field of engineering mathematics and its Section in this journal can provide an important contribution in terms of trust and in terms of believing.

In fact, as I introduced above, this is connected, never more so than it is today, with a higher and more important level of trust and belief in the form of a rational integral humanism in which engineering mathematics contributes to peace: Si vis pacem, para pacem!

We warmly welcome Prof. Dr. Paolo Mercorelli to his role as Section Editor-in-Chief and look forward to his guidance in leading “Engineering Mathematics” to more milestones.

The journal Mathematics (ISSN: 2227-7390) is currently recruiting a Section Editor-in-Chief for the Section “Financial Mathematics”.

The Section “Financial Mathematics” aims to publish original contributions focused on the development and application of novel mathematical methods and solutions for financial problems. It is also dedicated to providing a platform and forum for mathematical scientists who are interested in the mathematical aspects of finance, as well as financial economists who are interested in rigorous treatments of scientific computational problems related to practice. Further information about the Section may be found via the following link: https://www.mdpi.com/journal/mathematics/sections/financial_mathematics.

The Section Editor-in-Chief is responsible for the following:

• Defining the aims and scope of the Section;
• Advising on the strategic development of the Section;
• Ensuring that the published content is of high quality;
• Nominating/inviting Guest Editors and optionally providing them with the authority to make final acceptance decisions about submitted articles;
• Nominating/inviting contributors;
• Nominating and leading the Section Editorial Board;
• Promoting the journal at scientific conferences or through other venues;
• Conducting preliminary checks of submissions and making the final decision as to whether a paper can be accepted for publication following peer review and author revisions (when it suits your schedule).

To apply for this position, please contact the Mathematics Editorial Office (mathematics@mdpi.com) with the following two files attached:

• A full academic CV;
• A short cover letter that details your interest and enthusiasm for the position.

Mathematics Editorial Office

We are currently recruiting Topical Advisory Panel Members. The main responsibility of the Topical Advisory Panel is to provide regular support to Guest Editors and Section Board Members. Each year the members’ performance is evaluated, and outstanding members will be promoted to the Editorial Board by the journal's Editor-in-Chief. You can check the detailed Topical Advisory Panel responsibilities at the following link: https://www.mdpi.com/editors#Supporting_Editor_Responsibilities.

Mathematics (ISSN 2227-7390) is a peer-reviewed and open access journal that provides an advanced forum for studies related to mathematics, and is published semimonthly online by MDPI. The European Society for Fuzzy Logic and Technology (EUSFLAT) and International Society for the Study of Information (IS4SI) are affiliated with Mathematics. The aims and scope of the journal can be found at the following link: https://www.mdpi.com/journal/mathematics/about.

To qualify as a Topical Advisory Panel Member, applicants are required to:

• Have expertise and experience in a field related to the journal;
• Be within approximately 10 years of receiving a Ph.D.;
• Have at least six published papers in the last 5 years as a first author or corresponding author;
• Currently hold an independent research position in academia or at a government institute.

If you are interested in this position, please apply here, or send an email to mathematics@mdpi.com with your academic CV.

We look forward to hearing from you.

Mathematics Editorial Office

The editorial team of Mathematics (ISSN: 2227-7390) is pleased to announce the winners of the 2021 Outstanding Reviewer Award:

We are pleased to announce that Prof. Dr. Francisco Chiclana has been appointed Editor-in-Chief of Mathematics (ISSN 2227-7390).

Prof. Dr. Francisco Chiclana received his B.Sc. in mathematics from the University of Granada (UoG, Spain) in June 1989. He was awarded a young researcher scholarship to work in the Department of Statistics and Operational Research at the UoG for the academic year 1989–1990. In July 1990, he took the Spanish public examination to become part of the government civil service as a secondary school teacher. He worked full time as a Mathematics secondary school teacher from September 1990 until July 2003. In 1996, he enrolled as a part-time student in the Doctoral Training Program of the Department of Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence (UoG) and, on 24th March 2000, he was awarded a Ph.D. in Mathematics (Distinction Cum Laude), which the UoG recognized, on 27th November 2002, with the Outstanding Award for a Ph.D. in Mathematics for the academic year 1999/2000.

Prof. Dr. Francisco Chiclana joined De Montfort University (DMU, UK) in August 2003 as a Senior Lecturer. In August 2006, he became a Principal Lecturer, and in October 2007 he was awarded the title of Reader in Computational Intelligence. On 29th May 2012, he has conferred the title of Professor of Computational Intelligence and Decision Making at DMU. During the period 2015–2018, Prof. Dr. Chiclana was an Honorary Professor in the Department of Mathematics at the University of Leicester (UoL, UK), and since 2018, he has been a Visiting Scholar at the Department of Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence (UoG).

Prof. Dr. Francisco Chiclana has been recognized by Clarivate Analytics as a Highly Cited Researcher in Computer Sciences (2018, 2019, 2020, 2021).

The following is a short Q&A with Prof. Dr. Francisco Chiclana who shared his vision for the journal with us as well as his views on the research area:

1. What appealed to you about the journal that made you want to take the role as its Editor-in-Chief?

This was a role I still have not had had the full experience. Therefore, it appealed to me because it would mean that I would be able to complete the research journey from the starting point of the inception of research ideas, their scientific development and presentation in the form of a research manuscript, to its final submission and publication for my research peers to share/use in their own research through the different stage roles managing research: research student, research author, research reviewer, research journal Editorial Board Member/associate editor/section Editor-in-Chief/Editor-in-Chief.

2. What is your vision for the journal?

My vision of the journal Mathematics is to maintain high standards of publication to attract the dissemination of quality research findings on the field of mathematics and close related fields of research that continuously influence and impact mathematicians and scientists in developing new products and services that ultimately enhance society, environment, and quality of life.

3. What does the future of this field of research look like?

Mathematics pervades all aspects of life, with many research fields depending heavily on it. Thus, the future of this field of research has no end in sight and the days will come when current science fiction ideas will be realized in one way or other thanks to advances based on mathematics.

4. What do you think of the development of Open Access in the publishing field?

The rapid development of the Internet has made possible the development of Open Access in the publishing field as we know it now. Open Access format of publishing research is here to stay, with many countries currently requesting their funded research to be disseminated in this form. Obviously, new future ways of communication could impact how Open Access develops. I only hope that the future development of Open Access provides equal opportunities to all researchers to disseminate their research findings and to help them achieve their full potential as researchers.

We warmly welcome Prof. Dr. Francisco Chiclana in taking up his role as Editor-in-Chief and look forward to his leadership which will help Mathematics to achieve many milestones.

It is our pleasure to welcome the following 13 recognized researchers, who recently joined the Editorial Board of Mathematics (ISSN: 2227-7390).

Name: Dr. Jesús Martín Vaquero
Affiliation: Department of Applied Mathematics, Institute of Fundamental Physics and Mathematics, Universidad de Salamanca, 37008 Salamanca, Spain
Interests: the development of Runge–Kutta methods for solving nonlinear PDEs; approximation theory and mathematical education based on projects and competencies

Name: Prof. Dr. Lixin Shen
Affiliation: Department of Mathematics, Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY 13244, USA
Interests: applied and computational harmonic analysis; optimization; mathematical imaging processing

Name: Prof. Dr. Maria Isabel Berenguer
Affiliation: Department of Applied Mathematics, University of Granada, 18071 Granada, Spain
Interests: applied mathematics; numerical analysis; fixed point theory; inverse problems; functional analysis

Name: Prof. Dr. Alberto Lastra
Affiliation: Departamento de Física y Matemáticas, Universidad de Alcalá, Ctra. Madrid-Barcelona, Km. 33,600, Facultad de Ciencias, 28805 Alcalá de Henares, Madrid, Spain
Interests: partial differential equations; q-differential equations; formal solutions; summability

Name: Prof. Dr. Florin Leon
Affiliation: Faculty of Automatic Control and Computer Engineering, "Gheorghe Asachi" Technical University of Iași,700050 Iași, Romania
Interests: artificial intelligence; machine learning; multiagent systems; software design

Name: Prof. Dr. Max-Olivier Hongler
Affiliation: School of Engineering (STI), Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), CH-1015 Lausanne, Switzerland
Interests: stochastic processes; applied probability; queueing systems; multi-agents systems; mean field games

Name: Prof. Dr. Rade Vignjevic
Affiliation: Structural Integrity Theme/Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Brunel University London, Kingston Lane, Uxbridge UB8 3PH, UK
Interests: finite element and meshless methods; material models for metals and composites; impact mechanics; applied mathematics 

Name: Prof. Dr. Emmanuel Lorin
Affiliation: School of Mathematics and Statistics, Carleton University, Ottawa, ON K1S 5B6, Canada
Interests: numerical analysis; scientific computing; mathematical modeling in quantum physics and chemistry; laser physics; partial differential equations

Name: Prof. Dr. Nikolaos Samaras
Affiliation: Department of Applied Informatics, School of Information Sciences, University of Macedonia, 156 Egnatia Str., 54636 Thessaloniki, Greece
Interests: complexity of algorithm analysis; algorithmic operations research; constraint programming; scientific computing; machine learning; data mining

Name: Dr. André Nicolet
Affiliation: Institut Fresnel, Aix-Marseille Université, 13013 Marseille, France
Interests: mathematical methods for electromagnetic theory; numerical methods for partial differential equations; computational electromagnetics and photonics

Name: Prof. Dr. Francesca Rapetti
Affiliation: Department of Mathematics, Côte d´Azur University, F-06108 Nice, France
Interests: scientific computing; numerical analysis; finite element analysis

Name: Prof. Dr. Vissarion Papadopoulos
Affiliation: Engineering Simulations Lab, Institute of Structural Analysis and Antiseismic research, National Technical University of Athens, 15780 Zografou, Greece
Interests: computational mechanics; nonlinear finite elements; stochastic finite elements; high performance computing; data driven methods

Name: Prof. Dr. Efstratios Tzirtzilakis
Affiliation: Fluid Mechanics Laboratory, Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of the Peloponnese, 1 M. Aleksandrou Str, Koukouli, 263 34 Patras, Greece
Interests: computational fluid mechanics; biomagnetic fluid dynamics; applied mathematics; ferrohydrodynamics; magnetohydrodynamics 

We look forward to their contributions to the journal.

We are pleased to announce that Mathematics (ISSN: 2227-7390) is now inviting nominations for the Mathematics 2021 Young Investigator Award. This prize will be given to one young investigator in recognition of their excellence in the field of mathematics. All nominations will be assessed by an Award Committee of Mathematics.

Prizes for Winners:

• CHF 2000 (Swiss Francs);
• Option to publish one paper free of charge in Mathematics after peer review before the end of 2022;
• An engraved plaque.

Nomination Deadline:

• 30 April 2022

Candidates Are Required to:

• Hold a Ph.D. degree and be below 35 years of age prior to 31 December 2020;
• Have ground-breaking research and a significant contribution to the advancement of mathematics;
• Be nominated by senior researchers, research directors, or department heads.

List of Documents for Nomination:

• Detailed Curriculum Vitae including an updated publication list and a list of the researcher’s own research grants;
• Birth certificate or other proof of age;
• Scanned copy of doctorate certificate;
• Signed nomination letters from two established senior scientists.

If you or anyone you know are qualified for the Award, do not miss the chance to apply.

Find more details and apply for the Award at:

https://www.mdpi.com/journal/mathematics/awards.

It is our great honor to congratulate the Editorial Board Members and Editors in MDPI's journals who have been distinguished as 2021 Highly Cited Researchers by Clarivate, according to Web of Science data. We herewith express our gratitude for the immense impact the named researchers continue to make on scientific progress and on our journals' development.

Clarivate's annual list of Highly Cited Researchers^TM identifies the most highly cited scientists for the past decade. Their impactful papers are among the top 1 per cent in the citation distribution of one or more of 22 fields analyzed in the "Essential Science Indicators", distinguishing them as hugely influential among their peers.

The full list of 2021 Highly Cited Researchers  can be accessed at the following webpage in the Web of Science^TM https://recognition.webofscience.com/awards/highly-cited/2021/.

--- Highly Cited Researchers (HCR) is a Clarivate product.

Academic editors play a crucial role in leading our journals and ensuring that each article undergoes a robust and timely peer-review. With the launch of Topics this year and addition of Topic Editors to our family of academic editors, we decided it would be a good time to restructure our academic boards, thus providing more clarity and support for each role. MDPI is pleased to announce the launch of a new position—Topical Advisory Panel Member, that will replace the previous position of Topics Board Member. The Topical Advisory Panel will be comprised of early career researchers eager to gain experience in editorial work.

The main responsibility of the new members of the Topical Advisory Panel is to regularly provide support to Guest Editors, Topic Editors, and Section Board Members. The responsibilities of the Topical Advisory Panel are available here: https://www.mdpi.com/editors.

Each year, the members’ performances are evaluated, and outstanding members are promoted to the Editorial Board by the Editor-in-Chief.

To qualify as a Topical Advisory Panel Member, applicants must:

• Have expertise and experience in the field related to the journal;
• Have received a Ph.D. in the last 10 years, approximately;
• Have at least 6-8 published papers in the last 5 years as first author or corresponding author;
• Currently hold an independent research position in academia or a government institute.

If you are interested in this role, please contact the editorial office by email.

We look forward to hearing from you soon.

Founded in 1996, MDPI was one of the first fully Open Access publisher. Over 25 years MDPI has grown to become the largest Open Access publisher globally, publishing over 160,000 articles across more than 350 journals in 2020. At the core, MDPI was founded in response to a pressing need of fast publication and inclusion. The scholar was set at the centre of the publication process for the first time. Acting as a service provider, rather than a product provider, MDPI exists to help scientists achive their objective to disseminate research results. At MDPI, we believe scientists deserve a better service from the publishing world.

The International Open Access Week (Open Access Week), founded by the SPARC (the Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition) Alliance and student partners in 2008, has been successfully running for 13 years. As an advocate and pioneer of open access publishing, MDPI actively responds to the call of International Open Access Week. This year’s theme of “It Matters How We Open Knowledge: Building Structural Equity” highlights the Recommendation’s call for equitable participation from all authors and readers.

For the last 25 years, MDPI has been committed to disseminating open research. Here is a video showing MDPI’s Commitment to Equity, Inclusion and Diversity for More than 25 Years.

International Open Access Week is an important opportunity to catalyze new conversations, create connections across and between communities that can facilitate this co-design, and advance progress in the building of more equitable foundations for opening knowledge—discussions and actions that need to be continued, year in and year out. MDPI has always aimed to provide professional and efficient publishing services to scholars around the world.

Our mission is to make scientific research accessible to everyone; this year, we interview and hold discussions with open science ambassadors on how to build an equal and inclusive environment for open science. Academic editors help us collaborate with more institutions to advocate for open access ideas.

Read our anniversary blog post: "Sharing 'Collective Human Knowledge': The Benefits of Open Access Publication"

Besides this, our scientific community is a key driver of our success and MDPI’s remarkable growth. Despite the pandemic, we have prepared online conferences and workshops to gather scholars from different communities.

The Basel Sustainable Publishing online forum provides an equal opportunity for stakeholders and researchers from multi-cultural environments to exchange ideas and eliminate barriers to participation.

Conference date: 25 October 2021, online
Conference website: https://bspf2021.sciforum.net/
Main topics: MDPI discusses the current dilemma of open access science from various perspectives such as governments, libraries, and publishers, and related measures on how to change the status quo of discrimination from a global perspective.

We aim to support equality, inclusion, diversity, and accessibility in scholarly communications. We collaborate with universities and key laboratories and have scholarly communications with researchers, teachers, and students on open access workshops.

• 25 October 2021
  Energies journal and Institute of Mechanics, Chinese Academy of Sciences

• 28 October 2021
  Machines journal and State Key Laboratory of Traction Power, Southwest Jiaotong University

• 29 October 2021
  Processes journal and Beijing Institute of Technology

• 29 October 2021
  Coatings journal and Wuhan University of Technology

MDPI is committed to providing open access and high-quality publishing services for scholars and promoting rapid dissemination of academic achievements. We hope to promote the practices and policies of open access publishing and diversify the dissemination of academic achievements.

The Nobel Prize in Physics 2021 was awarded to Syukuro Manabe, Klaus Hasselmann and Giorgio Parisi. One half of the prize was awarded jointly to Professor Manabe and Professor Hasselmann for the physical modelling of Earth’s climate, quantifying variability and reliably predicting global warming, according to the Nobel Prize committee, while the other half of the prize went to Professor Parisi for the discovery of the interplay of disorder and fluctuations in physical systems from atomic to planetary scales. The three physicists contributed to the understanding of chaotic and apparently random phenomena.

 Manabe, Hasselmann, Parisi (from left to right) © Nobel Media

"The discoveries being recognised this year demonstrate that our knowledge about the climate rests on a solid scientific foundation, based on a rigorous analysis of observations. This year’s Laureates have all contributed to us gaining deeper insight into the properties and evolution of complex physical systems", said Thors Hans Hansson, chair of the Nobel Committee for Physics.

Manabe and Hasselman laid the foundations for the climate models used by scientists today. They were among the first to distinguish between climate phenomena on the one hand and random occurrences of the weather on the other hand, and to assess the impact of human activities on the climate from the beginning of the 20th century.

Parisi's novel studies involved identifying hidden patterns in disordered complex materials called spin glasses, a special type of metal alloy in which iron atoms, for example, are randomly mixed into a grid of copper atoms. He constructed a mathematical description of the apparently random behavior of spins. His findings not only impacted physics, but also mathematics, biology, neuroscience and machine learning, because these felds include problems which are related to so-called geometrical frustration.

We send our congratulations to the Nobel Laureates, especially to Giorgio Parisi, who was a one-time author in Entropy (with Juan J. Ruiz-Lorenzo et al.): “Spin Glasses in a Field Show a Phase Transition Varying the Distance among Real Replicas (and How to Exploit It to Find the Critical Line in a Field)”.

Rigorous peer-review is the cornerstone of high-quality academic publishing. Over 369,916 scholars served as reviewers for MDPI journals in 2020. We are extremely appreciative of all those who made a contribution to the editorial process in this capacity. At the beginning of every year, journal editorial offices publish a list of all reviewers’ names to express our gratitude. In addition, this year, the MDPI Top Reviewer Award was announced, to recognize the very best reviewers for their expertise and dedication, and their high-quality, and timely review reports. We are pleased to announce the following winners of the 2020 MDPI Top Reviewer Award:

• Adriana Burlea-Schiopoiu;
• Alban Kuriqi;
• Álvaro González-Vila;
• Alessandro Alaimo;
• Alexey Beskopylny;
• Alexander Yu Churyumov;
• Alberto Fernández-Isabel;
• Andrea Mastinu;
• Antonios N. Papadopoulos;
• Anton Rassõlkin;
• Antonio Humberto Hamad Minervino;
• Arkadiusz Matwijczuk;
• Artur Słomka;
• Baojie He;
• Bartłomiej Potaniec;
• Bojan Đurin;
• Camilo Arturo Rodriguez Diaz;
• Carmelo Maria Musarella;
• Chiachung Chen;
• Chiman Kwan;
• Cristian Busu;
• Danil Pimenov;
• Dan-Cristian Dabija;
• Delfín Ortega-Sánchez;
• Demetrio Antonio Zema;
• Denis Butusov;
• Elena Lucchi;
• Gaurab Dutta;
• Livia Anastasiu;
• M. R. Safaei.

For more information about how to become a reviewer of MDPI journals, please see: www.mdpi.com/reviewers.

UN's 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are the blueprint to achieve a better and more sustainable future for all. In 2020 the SDG Publishers Compact was launched, aimed to inspire publishers and accelerate progress to achieve the 17 goals by 2030. Members of the programme are committed to support the publication of materials that will promote and inspire actions towards SDGs.

MDPI is an eager advocate of SDGs and has already been supporting the programme by creating Special Issues and publishing a series of books on SDGs prior to joining the Compact in 2021. MDPI's Sustainability Foundation initiated the World Sustainability Awards in 2016. We fully support UN's goals to promote sustainable actions that make the world a better place for all and, as part of its commitment, we will focus our actions on SDG10: Reduced Inequalities whilst promoting all 17 SDGs. For more details, please visit the programme’s website: https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/sdg-publishers-compact/.

Joining this initiative was a unanimous decision. MDPI has in its core values the dissemination of science for all, breaking the wall between research access and under-represented members of the scientific community and the general population. To support this initiative further and continue to support under-represented scientists, MDPI will take a series of actions that will be announced once ready.

The first action MDPI takes is to nominate Dr. Liliane Auwerter as the coordinator of the programme. Dr. Auwerter studied Environmental Process Technology (UTFPR, Brazil), obtained her MSc degree in Water and Environmental Engineering (University of Surrey, UK) and in 2020 completed her PhD in self-healing low-friction materials for water transport (Imperial College London, UK), always focusing on diverse scientific projects that would potentially bring sustainability to industrial processes. As a student in Brazil, she engaged in volunteering activities focused on environmental education and took part in the Millennial Development Goals meetings held at the university.

For more information, please contact:
Dr. Liliane Auwerter
Scientific Officer
liliane.auwerter@mdpi.com

Second order partial differential equations (PDEs) with nonnegative characteristic form appear to be ubiquitous in mathematics, e.g., in differential geometry, stochastic theory, and in many applications of mathematics, e.g., kinetic theory and finance. Important special cases of such operators are those satisfying Hormander's condition. They enjoy regularity properties related to the suitable geometric structure of the underlying space. The more we know about geometric structures, the better for regularity results, bounds, and asymptotic estimates. The goal of the webinar is to show recent results and advances in the field of PDEs. We believe that the mathematical community will benefit from the webinar.

Date: 20 October 2021
Time: 9:30 am CEST | 3:30 am EDT | 3:30 pm CST Asia
Webinar ID: 897 5522 0962
Webinar website: https://mathematics-1.sciforum.net/
Register for free here:

Program

Chair

Invited Speakers

For any questions about the webinar, please send an email to: mathematics.webinar@mdpi.com.

This serves to announce to our valued authors based in Japan that value-added tax, or consumption tax will now be imposed on article processing fees and other service fees for all papers submitted, or resubmitted (assigned new paper IDs), effective from 15 August 2021. The change is in accordance with the Japanese "Act for Partial Revision of the Income Tax Act and Other Acts" (Act No. 9 of 2015), which includes a revision of consumption taxation on cross-border supplies of services such as digital content distribution.

For additional information from the National Tax Agency please see here ("Cross-border supplies of electronic services").

Contact: Setsuko Nishihara, MDPI Tokyo

The 2020 citation metrics have been officially released in the Journal Citation Reports (JCR)!

We are pleased to announce that 85 MDPI journals are included, of which:

• 10 journals received their first impact factor
• 96% of journals increased their impact factor from 2019
• 32 journals (38%) ranked among the top 25% of journals, in at least one category

* Journals given their first Impact Factor in 2021

Source: 2020 Journal Impact Factors, Journal Citation Reports ® (Clarivate, 2021)

We are pleased to report that the CiteScore of Mathematics has increased to 2.2 (from 1.4). It now ranks: 75/378 (Q1) in "General Mathematics", 28/69 (Q2) in "Computer Science", and 33/77 (Q2) in "Engineering". For full details of the current CiteScore release, please refer to the Source page (https://www.scopus.com/sourceid/21100830702). 

We would like to extend our sincerest gratitude to all the authors, editors, and reviewers for their great contributions. We are grateful for their excellent work that has helped us to obtain this achievement for Mathematics! 

Read more and submit at https://www.mdpi.com/journal/mathematics.

We are pleased to announce that, as of 13th January 2021, Prof. Dr. Daniele Mortari has been appointed as the Editorial-in-Chief for the new Section “Functional Interpolation” of Mathematics.

Dr. Daniele Mortari is a Professor of Aerospace Engineering at Texas A&M University. In addition, he has taught at the School of Aerospace Engineering of Rome’s University and at Electronic Engineering of Perugia’s University, both in Italy. He received his doctorate degree in Nuclear Engineering from University of Rome “La Sapienza”, in 1982. He has published more than 350 papers, holds a U.S. patent, and has been widely recognized for his work, including receiving the Best Paper Award from AAS/AIAA, three NASA Awards, the 2003 Spacecraft Technology Center Award, the 2007 IEEE Judith A. Resnik Award, and the 2016 AAS Dirk Brouwer Award. He is a Member of the International Academy of Astronautics, IEEE and AAS Fellow, an AIAA Associate Fellow, an Honorary Member of the IEEE-AESS Space System Technical Panel, and a former IEEE Distinguish Speaker.

We warmly welcome Prof. Dr. Daniele Mortari in taking up his role as Section Editor-in-Chief, and we look forward to him leading Mathematics to achieving many more milestones.

Name: Dr. Daniele Mortari E-mail: mortari@tamu.edu Affiliation: Aerospace Engineering, Texas A&M University Research Interest: spacecraft attitude and position estimation; satellite constellation design; sensor data processing; various topics in linear algebra and numerical algorithms Homepage: https://mortari.tamu.edu/ Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniele_Mortari

MDPI Books recently released Book Builder, a new online tool to conveniently arrange, design and produce an eBook from any content published in MDPI journals. Book Builder offers two functions: on the one hand (1) Selections, available to every registered user of MDPI; on the other hand (2) Special Issue Reprints, which can be used exclusively by Guest Editors of Special Issues.

Selections

In just a matter of a few clicks, all users are now able to assemble books from MDPI articles and receive instantaneous feedback in the form of a fully produced and compiled book (PDF), which can be downloaded or ordered as print copy. Selections can include any paper published with MDPI, picking and combining content from different journals and special issues.

This way, the user may for example choose to compile an ebook focusing around a particular topic, or assemble articles from a group of others.

We invite you to make yourself familiar with the new tool! The Book Builder can be found here: https://www.mdpi.com/books/book_builder.

Special Issue Reprints

The Book Builder allows Guest Editors of MDPI journals to create a reprint from a successfully completed Special Issue or Topical Collection in book format. If you are a Guest Editor for an MDPI journal, you can use the new tool  to create an PDF document which includes all articles published in the Special Issue as well as a book cover and table of contents.

For Special Issues containing a minimum of 5 articles, the Guest Editor can request its publication on the MDPI Book platform. Published reprints are assigned an ISBN and DOI.

In addition to the PDF copy of the Reprint Book, as a token of our gratitude, MDPI offers every Guest Editor one (1) complimentary print copy (via print-on-demand). All contributors benefit from a discount on orders of any additional print copies, to share with colleagues or libraries or others.

Why choose MDPI Books?

In line with our organization's values, MDPI Books publishes all content in open access, promoting the exchange of ideas and knowledge in a globalized world. MDPI Books encompasses all the benefits of open access—high availability and visibility, as well as wide and rapid dissemination. MDPI Books are distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution License, meaning as an author you retain the copyright for your work. In addition, with MDPI Books you can complement the digital version of your work with a high-quality printed counterpart.

If you are interested in editing a book volume or series, or have a monograph manuscript to be considered for publication, please submit your proposal online and look at our Information for Authors.

Contact: Laura Wagner, MDPI Books Manager (email)

In June of this year, MDPI will celebrate the 25th anniversary of its foundation. To mark this significant milestone, we have created a 25th Anniversary page on our website that evokes the development of our company over the past quarter-century.

MDPI has been a pioneer of Open Access publishing ever since the concept was first created.

In a wide-ranging interview, our CEO Delia Mihaila reflects on the company’s 25th anniversary and its contribution to the world of scientific publishing.

Delia considers how MDPI has evolved since starting life in 1996 as a visionary ‘project’ run out of an apartment in Basel, Switzerland, by Dr. Shu-Kun Lin. A chemist who was passionate about the long-term preservation of rare chemical sample, Dr. Lin was determined to help scholars publish their findings as quickly as possible and make their research results available to as wide a readership as possible worldwide. That determination remains unchanged 25 years later.

Today, MDPI is an international organization with over 4,000 employees based on three continents and in ten countries, and ranks among the world's top four academic publishers.

MDPI's mission is to accelerate access to new scientific research, delivering insight faster for researchers worldwide. Read more here about the company's remarkable success story and what the Open Access publishing model can offer the global scientific community.

At MDPI, we strive to make your online publication process seamless and efficient. To achieve this, our team is continuously developing tools and features to make the user experience useful and convenient.

As the number of academic papers continues to grow, so does the need to analyze and work with them on a large scale. This prompted us to design a new feature aimed at helping researchers find journals that are relevant to their publication by matching their abstract topic. In this regard, we designed a similarity model that automatically identifies the most suitable academic journals for your paper.

We are pleased to introduce Journal Selector, a new feature that measures similarity in academic contexts. By simply entering the title and/or abstract into our Journal Selector, the author will see a list of the most related scientific journals published by MDPI. This method helps authors select the correct journals for their papers, highlighting the time of publication and citability.

The methodology is known as representation learning, where words are represented as vectors in hyperspace. Representation helps us differentiate between different concepts within articles, and in turn, helps us identify similarities between them.

We used an advanced machine learning model to better capture the semantic meanings of words. This helps the algorithm make better predictions by leveraging scientific text representation. In turn, this ensures high precision, helping authors decide which journal they should submit their paper to.

The goal is to support authors to publish their work in the most suitable journal for their research, as fast as possible, accelerating their career progress.

Contact: Andrea Perlato, Head of Data Analytics, MDPI (email)

We are pleased to announce that Mathematics will become a semimonthly publication on 1 January, 2021. Semimonthly publication allows papers to be indexed in Web of Science and other indexing databases on a semimonthly basis, rather than on a one month period, and so they become searchable and are citable earlier. We would also like to acknowledge the many valuable publications from our authors and the important contributions of our dedicated reviewers.

MDPI is proud to adopt the principles of the Coalition for Diversity & Inclusion in Scholarly Communications (C4DISC) to support building equity, inclusion, diversity, and accessibility in scholarly communications.

The C4DISC represents organizations and individuals working in scholarly communications and is focused on addressing issues of diversity and inclusion within the publishing industry.

MDPI’s Managing Editors encourage the Editors-in-Chief and Associate Editors to appoint diverse expert Editorial Boards. This is also reflective in our multi-national and inclusive workplace. We are proud to create equal opportunities without regard to gender, ethnicity, geographic location, sexual orientation, age, disability, political beliefs, religion, or socio-economic status. There is no place for discrimination in our workplace and editors of MDPI journals are to uphold these principles in high regard.

Representatives from C4DISC meet monthly, and have started to implement initiatives to shed light and improve on the lack of diversity in scholarly communications. Some of the initiatives include developing a joint statement of principles; conducting market research; providing training resources, best practices, toolkits, and documentation for our collective memberships; and establishing outreach programs, curricula, events, and publications.

The Coalition is committed to:

• eliminating barriers to participation, extending equitable opportunities across all stakeholders, and ensuring that our practices and policies promote equitable treatment and do not allow, condone, or result in discrimination;
• creating and maintaining an environment that respects diverse traditions, heritages, and experiences;
• promoting diversity in all staff, volunteers, and audiences, including full participation in programs, policy formulation, and decision-making;
• raising awareness about career opportunities in our industries to groups who are currently underrepresented in the workforce;
• supporting our members in achieving diversity and inclusion within their organizations.

At MDPI we have slightly revised the layout for articles to be published in the 2021 Volume, starting at the end of December 2020. As of today, the article templates available for download on ‘Instructions for Authors’ pages have been updated.

The most noticeable change can be found on the first page of the article, where a left-hand column has been created to include the following front matter elements: (i) the recommended citation style for the article, (ii) the publishing history, (iii) as well as the Creative Commons Attribution license used (iv) a standard note regarding affiliations. At the same time, the extra spacing on the left means the authors’ affiliations are now more clearly set apart than before. Other front matter key elements such as journal logo, article type, article title, authors, abstract and keywords remain unchanged.

The blank column on the left runs through all pages in an article; as a result, the main text is slightly more condensed, which improve reader friendliness for smaller screens. Small figures/tables are aligned on the left with standard indenture, while large figures/tables are centered and covering the full width of the page. The revised layout was applied in the article pictured below, to serve as an example:

1) Information is displayed in the left information bar.

2) In the main text, there is a blank column on the left.