In this special episode, we return to the topics of learning and teaching mathematics. We are joined by Brendan Kelly, Director of Introductory Mathematics at Harvard University, to discuss the opportunities that active learning has to offer.

Throughout the discussion, we get to know Brendan, exploring his journey into mathematics and what led him to focus on education. Both lecturers and students will find many useful tips and tricks scattered through the recording, and we are sure you will feel Brendan's infectious energy and passion for both subjects!

Links for the episode:

• Brendan Kelly's webpage

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Produced by Marcello Seri and Anna de Bruijn

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Illustrations by Henrieke Krijgsheld

The podcast soundtrack is derived from the royalty free track Starving by OctoSound and used in agreement with pixabay license https://pixabay.com/music/funk-starving-170377

We are grateful to the Faculty of Science and Engineering of the University of Groningen for allowing us to use their equipment for this recording.

This is the first episode of another small spinoff of It's Not Just Numbers, were we discuss with researchers working on mathematical topics in different disciplines and departments.

In this episode, we talk to Jorge Perez (Computer Science department) and Davide Grossi (Artificial Intelligence department). As you will hear, both of them use a lot of mathematics in their research and work on topics that also have very theoretical angles.

Throughout the episode, we discuss intedisciplinary collaborations, reaching outside one’s own line of research and the key role ofof asking questions to facilitate the exchange. We also explore if and how common stereotypes on academics change in Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence from a societal point of view.

Links for the episode:

• Davide Grossi's website
• ⁠Jorge Perez' website
• ⁠Video: Fundamental computing: Mathematics and logic for software we can all rely on
• Video: Fundamental Computing: The Many Sides of Logic

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Produced by Marcello Seri and Anna de Bruijn

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Illustrations by Henrieke Krijgsheld

The podcast soundtrack is derived from the royalty free track Starving by OctoSound and used in agreement with pixabay license https://pixabay.com/music/funk-starving-170377

We are grateful to the Faculty of Science and Engineering of the University of Groningen for allowing us to use their equipment for this recording.

What is a proof? And what is a proof assistant? Isn't writing proofs what mathematicians are supposed to do themselves? In this episode, Sander Dahmen and Jim Portegies, will help us explore these questions and introduce us to the fascinating world of fomralizing mathematics. Of course, after taking our time to get to know them better.

<> Wouldn't you agree? Listen to this episode to find out where this quote came from and let us know yuor first experiences with proofs.

Links for the episode:

• Sander Dahmen's website
• Jim Portegies' website
• ⁠Links to Lean, the mathlib library and the mathematics in lean book
• Link to the ⁠natural number game⁠ and more
• Link to waterproof, Jim's constrained natural language proof assistant
• Link to rocq and the math-comp library
• Terence Tao's talk on machine assisted proofs at Simons Fundation on February 19, 2025

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Produced by Marcello Seri and Anna de Bruijn

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Illustrations by Henrieke Krijgsheld

The podcast soundtrack is derived from the royalty free track Starving by OctoSound and used in agreement with pixabay license https://pixabay.com/music/funk-starving-170377

We are grateful to the Faculty of Science and Engineering of the University of Groningen for allowing us to use their equipment for this recording.

You have studied mathematics... now what? In this episode we talk to Sven Bootsma, Max Lein and Oscar Koster about the possibilities for mathematicians that don't pursue a career in academia.

After getting to know them, with their motivations to study math and their hobbies (mainly sports!), we focus on theie career in industry after having studied mathematics . In this long episode we span across many themes and discuss how a mathematician can find a job in industry, what the differences are with working in academia and how students could go about choosing a career after their studies.

This episode is packed with insights and interesting suggestions but only scratches the surface of this interesting discussion, leaving many additional question unanswered waiting for a future afterMath2 episode!

So let us invite you to join us in a future recording: if you are a mathematician and you are not working as an academic, especially if your job is different from the ones that we heard about in this episode, please send us a mail!

And if there is anything that you would like to discuss in the next episodes, let us know in the comments (or sending us a message).

Links for the episode:

• Max Lein's website

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Produced by Marcello Seri and Anna de Bruijn

= = = { 0 } = = =

Illustrations by Henrieke Krijgsheld

The podcast soundtrack is derived from the royalty free track Starving by OctoSound and used in agreement with pixabay license https://pixabay.com/music/funk-starving-170377

We are grateful to the Faculty of Science and Engineering of the University of Groningen for allowing us to use their equipment for this recording.

What does it mean to do research? What does a researcher in mathematics do, effectively, to research? In this episode, we pick up a common question from our listeners, and try to give some partial answer with the help of Pinar Kilicer and Hildeberto Jardón Kojakhmetov. After taking the chance to know them better, we look back at their career and what were the most important moments to grow into research, putting this all in the perspective of the students thanks to the help of Anna.

Episode links:

• Pinar's website
• Hildeberto's website
• Terence Tao talking about his paper rejections on mastodon

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Produced by Marcello Seri and Anna de Bruijn

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Illustrations by Henrieke Krijgsheld

The podcast soundtrack is derived from the royalty free track Starving by OctoSound and used in agreement with pixabay license https://pixabay.com/music/funk-starving-170377

We are grateful to the Faculty of Science and Engineering of the University of Groningen for allowing us to use their equipment for this recording.

In this episode we are joined by Ekin Özman and Bart Besselink to discuss what are the work days of a mathematician at a univerisity like. With their help we get a little panoramic on what a career in mathematics looks like and what are the expectations, the priorities and sometimes the compromises that it requires.

As usual, the episode touches upon a great variety of topics, don't miss it!

Episode links:

• ​Website of Ekin Özman
• ​Website of Bart Besselink

If you liked this episode, please spread the voice sharing it with your friends or on your social media.

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Produced by Marcello Seri and Anna de Bruijn

= = = { 0 } = = =

Illustrations by Henrieke Krijgsheld

The podcast soundtrack is derived from the royalty free track Starving by OctoSound and used in agreement with pixabay license https://pixabay.com/music/funk-starving-170377

We are grateful to the Faculty of Science and Engineering of the University of Groningen for allowing us to use their equipment for this recording.

We are back with an episode on what makes mathematical problems interesting. In the studio with us, for this impossible topic, are Serte Donderwinkel and Steffen Müller: together we explore what we find interesting in mathematical problems, how beauty affects our taste, and how the way we present the problems influences the interest around them.

As usual, the episode touches upon a great variety of themes, don't miss it!

Episode links:

• Serte Donderwinkel's ⁠homepage⁠
• Steffen Müller's ⁠homepage⁠
• We met Anna in Season 1 Episode 8
• We met Jaap Top in ⁠Season 1 Episode 5⁠
• The Joy of Why - What makes for good mathematics?
• Freeman Dyson - Birds and Frogs

This was probably the episode with the largest amount of preliminary reading in the history of this podcast. The theme has been widely discussed and it is very interesting to see the various different points of views, with their differences and commonalities. We leave our reading list here for posterity:

• Terence Tao - What is good mathematics?
• John Baez - Why mathematics is boring
• Tim Gowers - The two cultures of mathematics
• Jeremy Avigad - Varieties of Mathematical Understanding
• Eugene Wigner - The unreasonable effectiveness of mathematics in the natural sciences, see also the corresponding Wikipedia page
• Gizem Karaali - Doing Math in Jest: Reflections on Useless Math, the Unreasonable Effectiveness of Mathematics, and the Ethical Obligations of Mathematicians

If you liked this episode, please spread the voice sharing it with your friends or on your social media.

= = = { 0 } = = =

Produced by Marcello Seri and Anna de Bruijn

= = = { 0 } = = =

Illustrations by Henrieke Krijgsheld

The podcast soundtrack is derived from the royalty free track Starving by OctoSound and used in agreement with pixabay license https://pixabay.com/music/funk-starving-170377

We are grateful to the Faculty of Science and Engineering of the University of Groningen for allowing us to use their equipment for this recording.