Meet EMS Press: André Gaul
Markus Juvonen
Meet André Gaul, CEO of EMS Press, and learn about his path from mathematical research to academic publishing, his work at the Press and his interests beyond publishing.
André Gaul is the CEO of EMS Press. Since 2019 he has been setting the direction of the publishing house and ensuring its smooth operation. His work spans a broad range of responsibilities, from high-level strategic and financial planning to hands-on operational tasks in technology, business development, editorial matters, team leadership, hiring, legal matters, and customer support.
André studied mathematics with a minor in computer science at the University of Bonn and FAU Erlangen-Nürnberg before completing his PhD in applied mathematics at TU Berlin in 2014 with a thesis on Recycling Krylov subspace methods for sequences of linear systems.
Driven by a desire to make academic communication more open and efficient, he co-founded the startup PaperHive, a platform where researchers and students can discuss research articles or books. Working closely with academic publishers gave him insight into the publishing industry and plenty of ideas about how it could be improved. In 2019, he joined EMS Press to lead the development and transformation of the European Mathematical Society’s publishing house.
What André enjoys most is being surrounded by smart people who are passionate about their work and want to move things forward together. This includes his colleagues at EMS Press, as well as researchers, librarians and others working in academic publishing.
One thing that might surprise people about EMS Press is that everyone on the team is a perfectionist. In publishing, this is mostly a blessing, although it can occasionally lead down rabbit holes of optimisation until someone has to call a halt so that things actually get published. Still, André thinks it’s a good “problem” for a CEO to have.
Among the projects André is most proud of is the development and launch of accessible publications with the production and technology teams. Making research accessible to people with disabilities fully aligns with his values – and those of the European Mathematical Society. Another major achievement is the Launch to Open model, which he developed intensively with Laura Simonite, Director of Strategy and Growth. The model enables EMS Press to move journals from commercial publishers to society publishing.
André sees the rapid advancement and adoption of artificial intelligence in mathematics as both the biggest challenge and biggest opportunity for EMS Press and mathematics as a whole. Its effects reach into every part of the publishing house, and André is working closely with his colleagues and mathematicians to shape the future of mathematics publishing in the age of AI.
Beyond EMS Press, André serves on the Publishing Board of the Royal Society, where he occasionally wanders past portraits of Fellows from Isaac Newton to David Attenborough on his way to board meetings. Every now and then he still gets his hands dirty with an interesting mathematical problem, often with other researchers. He does it mainly for the fun of it, and sometimes as an advisor to startups – most recently on automated market makers and blockchain network theory.
When he is not working, André enjoys cycling through the countryside with his wife and son – ideally with a stop for a strong Italian espresso along the way. He also loves cooking and is a keen amateur pizzaiolo. These days André spends the odd evening at the Berlin hackerspace xHain, soldering devices that make his bike smart and trackable, so he can get it back next time it gets stolen.