Past Fridays@2

This workshop will focus on the main causes of exam stress, anxiety and panic and look at practical strategies to manage and overcome these issues. We will also review strategies to best support exam preparation.

Dr Ruth Collins is a Chartered Psychologist who specialises in the management of anxiety and panic. She is also a trained mindfulness teacher and an associate of the Oxford Mindfulness Centre.

This year sees the 100th anniversary of Emmy Noether receiving her Habilitation and thus becoming the first women to be granted the right to teach and lecture at a university in Prussia (now Germany).  Noether shaped modern algebra and her influence was felt in many other fields including topology.

We will start by exploring what algebraic topology is, how the subject was shaped by algebra (under the influence of Noether), before considering some current challenges and applications.

Polynomials have been at the heart of mathematics for a millennium, yet when it comes to applying them, there are many puzzles and surprises. Among others, our tour will visit Newton, Lagrange, Gauss, Galois, Runge, Bernstein, Clenshaw and Chebfun (with a computer demo).

How do humans process information? What are their strengths and limitations? This crash course in cognitive psychology will provide the background necessary to think realistically about how learning works.

Mathematicians need to talk and writeabout their mathematics.  This includes undergraduates and MSc students, who may be writing a dissertation or project report, preparing a presentation on a summer research project, or preparing for a job interview.  We think that it can be helpful to think of this as a form of story telling, as this can lead to more effective communication.  For a story to be engaging you also need to know your audience.In this session, we'll discuss what we mean by telling a mathematical story, give you some top tips from our experience, and give you a chance to think about how you might put this into practice.  The session will be of relevance to all undergraduates and MSc students, not only those currently writing a dissertation or preparing an oral presentation.

Mathematical biology has grown enormously over the past 40 years and has changed considerably. At first, biology inspired mathematicians to come up with models that could, at an abstract level, "explain" biological phenomena - one of the most famous being Alan Turing's model for biological pattern formation. However, with the enormous recent advances in biotechnology and computation, the field is now truly inter- and multi-disciplinary. We shall discuss the changing role mathematics is playing in applications to biology and medicine.

Would you employ you? What are employers looking for in Mathematical graduates? What kind of work can use your skills? This workshop will get your minds thinking about the possibilities after you have finished studying and will cover:

·         General careers’ information starting from a mathematical sciences degree

·         Things to think about at CV and interview stage

·         How membership of a professional body (the IMA) supports your applications and career development.

·         Information about the Mathematics Teacher Training Scholarships

Mathematics is both the language and the instrument that connects our abstract understanding with the physical world, thus knowledge of mathematics quickly translates to substantial knowledge and influence on the way the world works.  But those who have the greatest ability to understand and manipulate the world hold the greatest capacity to do damage and inflict harm.  In this talk I'll explain that yes, there is ethics in mathematics, and that it is up to us as mathematicians to make good ethical choices in order to prevent our work from becoming harmful.

Are you keen to share your love of maths with non-mathematicians, but aren’t sure where to start? Whether you're keen to get involved in outreach activities at Oxford, or you'd just like to explain to your friends and family what you do all term, there's something for everyone in our interactive hour of workshop activities, and lots of laughs along the way. Just bring plenty of enthusiasm, and come prepared with a bit of mathematics you particularly like. 

This session is open to all, and no prior outreach experience is necessary.

Would you like to meet some of your fellow students, and some graduate students and postdocs, in an informal and relaxed atmosphere, while building your communication skills?  In this Friday@2 session, you'll be able to play a selection of board games, meet new people, and practise working together.  What better way to spend the final Friday afternoon of term?!  We'll play the games in the south Mezzanine area of the Andrew Wiles Building, outside L3.

This session is particularly aimed at fourth-year and OMMS students who are completing a dissertation this year. The talk will be given by Dr Richard Earl who chairs Projects Committee. For many of you this will be the first time you have written such an extended piece on mathematics. The talk will include advice on planning a timetable, managing the  workload, presenting mathematics, structuring the dissertation and creating a narrative, providing references and avoiding plagiarism.

The Goldbach conjecture is a famous unsolved problem in mathematics. It asks whether every even number greater than or equal to 4 is the sum of two primes. I will discuss some of the history of the problem, explaining among other things why the answer is surely yes, and also why this appears to be very hard to prove.

New undergraduates often find that they have a lot more time to spend on independent work than they did at school or college.  But how can you use that time well?  When your lecturers say that they expect you to study your notes between lectures, what do they really mean?  There is research on how mathematicians go about reading maths effectively.  We'll look at a technique that has been shown to improve students' comprehension of proofs, and in this interactive workshop we'll practise together on some examples.  Please bring a pen/pencil and paper! 

This session is likely to be most relevant for first-year undergraduates, but all are welcome, especially those who would like to improve how they read and understand proofs.

In this interactive workshop, we'll discuss what mathematicians are looking for in written solutions.  How can you set out your ideas clearly, and what are the standard mathematical conventions?  Please bring a pen or pencil! 

This session is likely to be most relevant for first-year undergraduates, but all are welcome.

What should you expect in intercollegiate classes?  What can you do to get the most out of them?  In this session, experienced class tutors will share their thoughts, and a current student will offer tips and advice based on their experience.  

All undergraduate and masters students welcome, especially Part B and MSc students attending intercollegiate classes. (Students who attended the Part C/OMMS induction event will find significant overlap between the advice offered there and this session!)