Imaginary Conference 2016
20.7.–23.7.2016, Berlin, Germany

Shaping the future of mathematics communication

What is the future of mathematics communication? What does successful knowledge transfer in mathematics look like? What are its modern tools, concepts, and strategies? How can the public be involved in a meaningful way?

IMAGINARY Conference on Open and Collaborative Communication of Mathematical Research 2016 (IC16) is an interdisciplinary gathering of mathematicians, communicators and interested professionals who wish to discuss and work together on current issues of communication and knowledge transfer in mathematics. In contrast to a classical conference, IC16 will take a participative and collaborative approach in order to advance new ideas, bring forward concrete results and help shape the future of mathematics communication. IC16 is funded by the Volkswagen Foundation.

News

Latest news: please find here a list of the latest news connected to the IMAGINARY conference. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us.

– July 8: The workshop documentation (Hackpads) is online!
– July 8: The workshop participants list online!
– July 1: Official registration closed!
– June 30: The final conference program is now online (including invited talks, talks, workshops and participants).
– June 29: Our invited speakers are Eugenia Cheng, Hermann Karcher, Jürgen Richter-Gebert and Henry Segerman.
– June 14: Deadline for submission of a MathLapse!
– February 15: Call for talks and workshops closed!

 

Side program news:

Informal pre-opening at 7ECM

A guided tour through the IMAGINARY & Views in 3-manifolds exhibition at 7ECM is offered on tuesday at 16:00h. After that, we attend together the 7ECM public lecture and the film screening of “The Discrete Charm of Geometry”. Participants can join our informal get-together after that. Please see the local information page for instructions how to get there.

MathLapse festival

The MathLapse Awards and Film Night will show the best MathLapse movies submitted to our expert jury. It will take place on friday, july 22 at 21:00 in the event location “Spektrum” in Berlin-Neukölln.

Program

The program of the IC16 is a rich mixture of inspiring talks as well hands-on workshops in five areas of present-day mathematics communication. Invited talks from international professionals will introduce each area followed by a selection of contributed presentations. The workshops are designed to run in parallel and will each gather a group of participants to address a specific task that is achievable in the given timeframe of 11 hours over three afternoons. All results of the conference will be made openly available to the community. A diverse evening cultural program will make networking and mingling with your peers easy and allow you discover the vibrant city of Berlin.

Topical sessions

We have identified five topics of general importance for mathematics communication and its open source distribution. Below, each of them is introduced and briefly outlined. More topics can be added.

Knowledge transfer and pedagogics of mathematics communication

In this section, we will focus on didactical approaches needed in mathematics communication for children and adults. This includes new forms of knowledge transfer and inter/cross- disciplinary methods. Key aspects include:

  • didactics and pedagogy
  • cross-disciplinary approach
  • open education
  • new forms of communication: social media, MOOCs, competitions, films, etc.

Advances in 2-d and 3-d visualization of modern mathematics, creation of mathematics exhibits

Here we will focus on modern visualization and production techniques that especially apply to mathematical topics and mathematical exhibits. This topic will include new techniques for visualizing mathematics, new user interfaces and technology. Special focus areas could be:

  • visualization tools
  • software development for math communication
  • 3-d printing and other physical construction tools
  • video game technologies
  • new mathematical exhibits

Mathematical writing, journalism and media

This section will focus on the communication with the media and on presenting written material in an interesting and comprehensible way. It will also aim to give an overall introduction to the available mathematical media outlets for a general audience. Possible examples are:

  • mathematics journalism (magazines, articles, etc.)
  • mathematics communication journals
  • mathematical writing on current research
  • supporting mathematicians in writing about their research

Community, networking and legal aspects

This subject area will give an introduction to available community resources such as physical mathematics museums and online exhibits, as well as existing and future mathematics communication networks. It will also focus on legal aspects for the distribution of mathematical outreach projects and include financial and political topics like ways to generate funding and links to funding agencies and funding partners.
Possible examples are:

  • mathematics communication / research 2.0: giving mathematics communication a more research oriented focus to ensure e.g. good quality control.
  • mathematics communication network: trying to link current mathematics communicators
  • mathematics museums and mathematics exhibitions
  • legal notes for mathematics communication (copyright, code of conduct, open source)
  • funding & politics (financial sustainability, political measures for math communication)
  • integrating mathematics communication into a larger institutional structure

Agile design and tools for maths communication

Design and communication tools play a major role in communication. How can we design content for mathematics communication? How can we, as communicators, involve the public and broaden the interdisciplinary approach by involving many people from different subject areas? Possible examples are:

  • agile design for mathematics communication
  • mathematics and art
  • new interfaces, new interaction possibilities
  • communication tools for open source and community management

Program information

We offer 10 workshops with very diverse topics. You can find short abstracts and informations for participants in the workshop booklet.

Preliminary Schedule

Wednesday, July 20, 2016

09:00 Opening
09:30 Presentation of workshop topics
10:00 Session 1
12:40 Lunch Break
14:00 Workshop group selection
14:30 Parallel workshops
19:00 Dinner Break

Thursday, July 21, 2016

09:00 Session 2
11:40 Session 3. pt. I
12:10 Lunch Break
13:20 Session 3. pt. II
15:00 Parallel workshops
19:00 Dinner Break

Friday, July 22, 2016

09:00 Session 4
11:40 Session 5. pt. I
12:10 Lunch Break
13:20 Session 5. pt. II
15:00 Parallel workshops
19:00 Dinner Break

Saturday, July 23, 2016

9:00 Presentation of workshops
13:00 End of conference

Side program

User exhibition

There will be a free exhibition corner at IC16. You can bring your work and put it on display for the community. Please let us know in advance and register your exhibit on site. We highly welcome open source exhibits and kindly ask you to also share your work on the IMAGINARY platform.

MathLapse festival

The MathLapse festival will show the best MathLapse movies submitted to our expert jury.

Information

IC16 will take place from July 20 to July 23 at the TAK Theatre, Berlin. With its 3-day program of inspiring presentations and participative workshops, it will bring together 150 international mathematics researchers, communicators and interested professionals.

Important dates

  • Feb 8, 2016  – Deadline for call for talks and workshops
  • Feb 15, 2016  – Deadline for travel support application
  • March 22, 2016 – Announcement of final program and opening of registration
  • June 14, 2016 – Deadline for MathLapse submissions
  • July 1, 2016 – Registration closes
  • July 20–23, 2016 – Conference
Final conference program

Local Information

Information on airport transfer, locations and more can be found on the

Local information page

Location

IC16 will take place at the TAK Theatre Berlin. The TAK Theatre is an atmospheric performance stage, meeting and concept hall in the vibrant heart of Berlin-Kreuzberg. With its convenient structure and inspiring setting, it provides the ideal location for IC16. The TAK Theater is accessible without restrictions for people with impairments and in close vicinity to many restaurants, shops and bars.

Address: TAK Theatre Berlin, Prinzenstrasse 85 F, 10969 Berlin
Public transport connection: U8 Moritzplatz, Bus M 29, or night bus N 8
Public transport schedule: www.bvg.de
Public transport pricing: TAK is situated within the Berlin Tarifgebiet AB. The regular inner city fare for a single ride within this zone is 2.70 EUR

Travel Support

In order to support the participation of interested professionals regardless of their financial means, IC16 is giving away travel grants to a selected number of applications who are not able to fund their attendance fully. The travel grant covers the registration fee for the conference as well as costs for travel, accommodation and a visa up to 600€. In order to apply for one of the 20+ travel grants, please apply before 15 February 2016. Detailed information on the required application documents can be downloaded in .odt and .docx Format.

Child Care

Child Care will be provided during the conference. During registration for the conference, please specify the number of children you would like to bring, their age and any other important information (allergies etc.) We will get in touch with you if there are questions and to provide you with the details.

No conference fees

There are no conference fees for IC16. However, we will ask you for a small contribution to the costs for coffee and cookies as well as the dinner.

 

Accommodation

Hotels

At Titanic Comfort Hotel, we extended the reservation to offer 15 more rooms for IC16 participants. The rate is 69,00 EUR for standard single, 79,00 EUR for standard double room. This special offer is available until June 30th. These rooms can be booked individually by the participants by calling group reservation manager Tobias Stelly on +49 30 76 77 187 232 or writing him at [email protected]. Please do NOT book online, as there the rate is higher!
There are many other hotels in walking distance from TAK that you can book individually. The closest is Motel One Berlin Mitte, which is just 1 min walking distance from the conference site. (There is no special agreement for IC16 participants with this hotel).

Hostels

There are several hostels within 10min walking distance from the conference location:

Private Apartments

Private rentals can be both an enjoyable and affordable option for accommodation. Why not share a flat with other participants? To find an apartment, you could try the flat sharing portals Airbnb or Wimdu. Both sites list around 20 options each within 10 min walking distance from the conference site.

Registration

Registration for IC16 is closed! Please send us an email to [email protected], if you still plan to come and want to register. You can have a look on our final conference program here.

Register for IC16

In order to receive the latest information regarding IC16, please sign up to our newsletter by ticking the box ”IC16 Conference Newsletter”.

 

IC16 newsletter

 

About

Organizer

IMAGINARY started in 2008 as an interactive travelling exhibition that presents visualizations, interactive installations, virtual worlds, 3D-objects and their mathematical background in an attractive and comprehensible way. Over the last years IMAGINARY has developed into an open source organization including a platform (www.imaginary.org) and a network for interactive and participative math communication. IMAGINARY is a project of the Mathematisches Forschungsinstitut Oberwolfach, an institute of the Leibniz Association. The platform is funded by the Klaus Tschira Stiftung.

 

Scientific Board

Diego Armentano Professor, Universidad de la Republica, Uruguay
Alicia Dickenstein Vice-president of the IMU, Argentina
Gert-Martin Greuel Professor, TU Kaiserslautern, Germany
Paul Igodt Professor, KU Leuven, Belgium
Gang Liu Professor, Xi’an Jiaotong University, China
Andreas Matt IMAGINARY, MFO, Germany

Jean Paul Ngome Abiaga IBSP UNESCO, Gabun and France
Jürgen Richter-Gebert Professor, TU Munich, Germany
Christiane Rousseau Member, IMU Executive Committee, Canada
Betul Tanbay President of the Turkish Mathematical Society, Turkey
Cedric Villani Director of the Institut Henri Poincaré, France
Bianca Violet IMAGINARY, MFO, Germany

Team

Conference Organization Team

Andreas Matt (Project Leadership)
Bianca Violet (Project Management)
Carina Geldhauser (Project Assistance)
Christian Rauch (Project Consulting, STATE)
Christian Stussak (Teaser Programming)
Christoph Knoth (Web Development)
Konrad Renner (Web Design)
Robert Wöstenfeld (Project Coordination)

 

IMAGINARY Team Members

Albert Haase (Business Consultant)
Andreas Matt (Project Management, Communication, Media)
Antonia Mey (Projects, Communication)
Bianca Violet (Project Management, Communication, Films)
Christian Stussak (Software Development, Programming)
Daniel Ramos (Network, Projects)
David Grünberg (Projects, Education)
Eric Londaits (Web Development, Tech Consulting)
Gert-Martin Greuel (Scientific Advisor)
Guillaume Jouvet (Projects, Translations)
Norman Friedenberger (Business Development)
Robert Wöstenfeld (Projects, Exhibitions)

IC 16 is funded and supported by Volkswagen Foundation.

    

 

Contact

For any questions and comments regarding IC16, please contact us at [email protected].

 

 

 

Imprint

Responsible for this web site is /
Verantwortlich für diesen Webauftritt ist:

Address / Anschrift:
Mathematisches Forschungsinstitut Oberwolfach gGmbH
Schwarzwaldstr. 9-11
D-77709 Oberwolfach-Walke
Germany
Telephone / Telefon 07834/979-0
Fax 07834/979-38

 

Director / Geschäftsführer
Prof. Dr. Gerhard Huisken
registered at register court / eingetragen beim Registergericht Amtsgericht Freiburg i. Br.,
HRB Nr. 680630

Sales tax identification number / Umsatzsteuer-Identifikationsnummer
DE241343899

 

E-Mail: [email protected]
Website: www. mfo.de

 

Person responsable for the content according to sec. 55 para. 2 RStV / Verantwortlicher für den Inhalt gemäß § 55 Abs. 2 RStV:

Prof. Dr. Gerhard Huisken
Mathematisches Forschungsinstitut Oberwolfach gGmbH
Schwarzwaldstr. 9-11
D-77709 Oberwolfach-Walke
Germany