Celebrating May 12 at Mathematics Münster

At Mathematics Münster, we are celebrating gender diversity with several events and digital activities throughout the week from 8-12 May in the context of the May12 initiative.

Join in! Everybody is invited. We especially encourage FLINTA* people to join.

Photo gallery of the events

Programme:

Monday, 8 May, 1:15 pm, Common Room
Short movie about Olga Alexandrovna Ladyzhenskaya
Her theorems shaped the modern theory of PDEs of mathematical physics. Free screening is offered by the May12 initiative.
more

Tuesday, 9 May, 5 pm, SRZ 216/217
Discussion on "Achieving gender balance in science" with Eva Maria Feichtner
Prof. Dr. Eva Maria Feichtner is the founder and co-director of ALTA (Institute for Algebra, Geometry, Topology and their Applications), University of Bremen, and was the vice president of internationalisation and diversity until last year.
more

Wednesday, 10 May, 12.15 pm, SRZ 216/17
3rd lunch time lecture on Gender Biases
"Do we still need equality measures? Gender Biases in Academia and how to reduce them" by Dr. Lisa Horvath
For investigators.
more

Thursday, 11 May, 6.30 pm, Restaurant Lido
Joint dinner
We welcome female, inter, nonbinary, trans and agender scientists for a joint dinner on thursday evening.

Friday, 12 May, 2 pm, SRZ 216/217
MM Connect meets Women in Maths
Research talks by MATHRIX professors Franziska Jahnke and Marlies Pirner, afterwards tea time in the SRZ lounge.

About the faszination of mathematics

The University of Münster social media team has asked some of our early career researchers what they find particularly fascinating about mathematics. You can see a picture gallery with their  statements below, on Instagram or Facebook.

Tingxiang Zou: Math is a sea of mountains, covered by mist. I can only see a tiny part from the ground I stand. I follow people and still feel so lost. Some great minds can climb high up and see where the mountains merge, but also see more rising up. It is an endless tough journey, but strangely fascinating.
© MM/vl
Pia Dillmann: An Mathematik fasziniert mich besonders das Zusammenspiel aus visuellem Denken und abstrakten Konzepten. Meine geometrische Intuition hilft mir, algebraische Konzepte tiefer zu verstehen. Um zu einer rigorosen Beweisidee zu kommen, male ich oft erst viele Bilder!
© privat
Alex Tullini: I see maths as a language unlike any other, whose greatest property is the absolute effectiveness at testing some of the limits of human thinking while simultaneously identifying pillars of truth within such limits.
© MM/vl
Margarete Ketelsen: Wenn ich Mathematik mache, kann ich alles um mich herum vergessen und in eine andere, faszinierende und herausfordernde Welt eintauchen. Am schönsten ist es, dabei nicht alleine zu sein und mit den Mitstreiter:innen Frust und Freude zu teilen.
© MM/vl
Estefania Loayza-Romero: What I love about doing mathematics is that it does not matter what your mother tongue is, or where you were born, it only matters how passionate you are about it. Having the opportunity of meeting people from all over the world with the same passion is just fascinating.
© MM/vl
Luisa Meinke: An der Mathematik fasziniert mich besonders, dass sie die unterschiedlichsten Menschen zusammenbringt. Gemeinsam erarbeiten wir Ergebnisse, die universell gültig sind und in fast allen Bereichen des täglichen Lebens einflussreiche Anwendung finden.
© privat

Impressions of our "May 12" events

Photos

Monday: Opening and film screening "Olga Alexandrovna Ladyzhenskaya"
Monday: Opening and film screening "Olga Alexandrovna Ladyzhenskaya"
© MM/vl
  • Monday: Film screening "Olga Alexandrovna Ladyzhenskaya"
    © MM/vl
  • Monday: Film screening "Olga Alexandrovna Ladyzhenskaya"
    © MM/vl
  • Monday: Film screening "Olga Alexandrovna Ladyzhenskaya"
    © MM/vl
  • Tuesday: Discussion on gender balance in science with Prof. Dr. Eva Maria Feichtner
    © MM/vl
  • Tuesday: Discussion on gender balance in science with Prof. Dr. Eva Maria Feichtner
    © MM/vl
  • Wednesday: Lunch time lecture on gender biases
    © MM/vl
  • Thursday: FINTA dinner of the Faculty of Mathematics and Computer Science at Restaurant Lido
    © MM/vl
  • Thursday: FINTA dinner of the Faculty of Mathematics and Computer Science at Restaurant Lido
    © MM/vl
  • Friday: MM Connect meets Women in Maths with MATHRIX professor Franziska Jahnke
    © MM/vl
  • Friday: MM Connect meets Women in Maths with MATHRIX professor Marlies Pirner
    © MM/vl
  • Friday: Get-together after MM Connect in the Common Room
    © MM/vl
© May12 initiative

Movie "Olga Ladyzhenskaya"

This year, courtesy of Ekaterina Eremenko, the May12 initiative offers the screening of the 30 minutes-length movie "Olga Ladyzhenskaya".
This movie was first presented during the World Women in Maths meeting in 2022 and tells the story of Olga Alexandrovna Ladyzhnskaya, whose 100th birthday was in 2022.
You can discover the trailer on Youtube.

About the International Women in Maths Day

The day is a great opportunity for the mathematical community around the world to celebrate women in mathematics and make their achievements more visible. The aim is to inspire people and promote an open, welcoming and inclusive working environment for all.

May 12th is the date of birth of Maryam Mirzakhani, the first and so far only female winner of the Fields Medal. She died from cancer in 2017 at the early age of 40. Her beautiful and astonishing results and her life and career are an inspiration for everyone, women and men, to pursue their dreams in science. Her birthday was chosen to celebrate Women in Mathematics in her memory.

More information on the May12 initiative: may12.womeninmaths.org

Explanation of FLINTA*: This German acronym stands for women, lesbians, inter, non-binary, trans and agender people. The * is meant to include all people who do not identify with the terms mentioned, but are patriarchally discriminated against because of their gender.