My experience of teaching math in Africa
In the past few years, I have been involved in several projects concerning mathematical education in Africa.
I was advised that a good place to start, if I wanted to explore the African mathematical landscape, was AIMS. That’s the African Institute for Mathematical Sciences, or the African Institute for Minimising Sleep, as the students I met liked to call it when they were overwhelmed by assignments.
Making interdisciplinary connections
One of the major challenges NETWORKS is facing concerns bridging the gap between our mathematical results and their use in the world around us.
Random encounters with Ramsey numbers
It is was the second time yesterday in a one week time and the fourth in a one month time that I came across Ramsey numbers. In the beginning I thought it was just a coincidence.
Sir Roger Penrose - looking into black holes
On October 6th 2020 Sir Roger Penrose was awarded, jointly with Reinhard Genzel and Andrea Ghez, the nobel prize for physics for their groundbreaking discoveries concerning black holes.
Academic life in a lockdown
I did a thought experiment: what would have happened to the world if corona would have hit us in 1990? Or in 2000? So my thoughts went back to my early years as an academic, wondering how we would have coped with the pandemic a few decades ago.
Shreds of memories of Paul Erdős
In mathematics it is almost impossible not to encounter the name of Paul Erdős. Much of his work centered around discrete mathematics, cracking many previously unsolved problems in the field.
Interview with Birgit Sollie
Birgit Sollie is a PhD student at the VU Amsterdam, where she does research in stochastic processes and mathematical biology. In this interview she talks about her research and her motivation for doing mathematics.
José van Dijck: "I draw inspiration from the relationship between technology, user and ideas"
José van Dijck is a University Professor of Media and Digital Society at Utrecht University. Her research concerns media, social media and media technologies.
"A digital app can help reconstruct the virus transmission contact network"
Directly or indirectly networks played a crucial role during the Corona health crisis. During this online event the speakers shed light on the relevance of networks in combating the epidemic, each one from a different point of view, namely from that of the exact sciences, medicine, communication and social sciences respectively.
Verbonden tegen Covid-19 – Structure, contacts, emotions and behavior
On Tuesday 31st of May the KNAW organized the webinar "Verbonden tegen Covid-19 - Hoe netwerken pandemieën verspreiden en bestrijden" (Connected against Covid-19 - How networks spread and combat pandemics).