Invited speakers

Mayya Golistyna, European Girls' Mathematical Olympiad (EGMO)

Bio: Hello, I am Mayya. I grew up in Ukraine where I got excellent mathematical education both at secondary school and during my undergraduate course at Kharkiv National University. Upon completion of my degree, I moved to Dublin with my husband and two-year-old daughter. I spent two years as stay at home mother before enrolling in PhD program in UCD.

From my first year in UCD I got involved with the local mathematical competitions’ movement. In 2018 I participated as Deputy leader of the Irish team for the European Girls Mathematical Olympiad. This event influenced the trajectory of my career paths as I decided to focus on teaching mathematics to secondary school students.

Since I graduated in 2021, I am balancing raising two children, working part time and volunteering for the Irish Mathematical Trust, which is a charitable organisation that focuses on the organisation of mathematical Olympiads in Ireland. This involvement allowed me to participate in the role of leader of the Irish team to international maths competitions and to help with running local contests.

Title: The Role of Mathematical Olympiads in Encouraging Girls to Pursue Careers in STEM.

Abstract:  I will speak about my experience as leader and deputy leader of the Ireland’s team to European Girls Mathematical Olympiad. I will give examples of the impact international events have on the participants and the role they play in building the culture of mathematical education locally. I will discuss motivation for the existence of mathematical competitions and give overview of activities delivered to secondary school students by the Irish Mathematical Trust. I hope to inspire support for the national math Olympiad movement and I will suggest ideas for getting involved.

Natalia Kopteva, University of Limerick

Bio: Natalia Kopteva is a Professor at the Department of Mathematics and Statistics at the University of Limerick, Ireland, and also serves as the University of Limerick Research Integrity Officer and on the Ethics Committee of the European Mathematical Society. 

She holds an M.Sc. in Applied Mathematics and a Ph.D. in Computational Mathematics, both from Moscow State University. In the past, she held academic positions at Moscow State University, University College Cork, and University of Strathclyde. She is associated with INAF - Irish Numerical Analysis Forum, MACSI - Mathematics Applications Consortium for Science and Industry, and the SFI Centre for Research Training in Foundations of Data Science.

Natalia’s research expertise lies in the area of Numerical Analysis for partial differential equations. She has authored a book chapter and 65 publications in international refereed journals, presented 13 plenary and 20 invited lectures at international meetings and conferences. She is editor for SIAM Journal on Numerical Analysis and Advances in Computational Mathematics, and, including her past editorial duties, has served as editor for 8 international refereed journals.

Title: Time-fractional subdiffusion equations: gentle introduction, regularity, maximum principles, and numerical analysis

Abstract: Over the past decade, there has been a growing interest in evolution equations of parabolic type that involve fractional-order derivatives in time of order in (0, 1). Such equations, also called subdiffusion equations, arise in various applications in engineering, physics, biology and finance. Hence, it is quite important to develop efficient and reliable computational tools for their numerical solution.

In this talk, I will touch on similarities and differences between fractional-parabolic equations and their classical counterparts, including the non-local nature of fractional-order derivatives, initial-time solution singularities, and slower long-term solution decay, as well as the proofs of some regularity properties and maximum principles. Then we shall consider some robust numerical methods for such equations, as well as the derivation of a-priori and a-posteriori estimates of the computational errors.

Eabhnat Ní Fhloinn, Dublin City University

Bio: Dr. Eabhnat Ní Fhloinn is an Associate Professor in the School of Mathematical Sciences and the Director of DCU Maths Learning Centre. She has undertaken this role since 2007; prior to this, she was Manager of DIT Maths Learning Centre for two years. 

Her research interests lie in the area of mathematics education, with particular focus on the transition from post-primary mathematics to higher education; mathematics support in higher education; mathematics diagnostic testing of incoming university students; mathematics for engineers; and assessment in mathematics.
 
Dr. Ní Fhloinn was the inaugural Chairperson of the Irish Mathematics Learning Support Network (IMLSN) from 2009 – 2011 and served as PRO on the IMLSN committee until 2020. She is a member of CASTeL, the Centre for the Advancement of STEM Teaching and Learning in DCU and became an Advance HE Senior Fellow in 2023."

Title: Women in Maths: is there a new crack forming in the pipeline in Ireland?

Abstract: The phrase "leaky pipeline" is often used to describe the phenomenon in which the number of women at various stages of STEM education and careers decreases as the level increases. The reasons for this are complex, and show some degree of variance depending on the specific field, education/career stage, and region. In 2010, a major overhaul of post-primary mathematics education took place in Ireland, with the rollout of "Project Maths" throughout the country. This was heralded as a new approach which would improve students' problem-solving skills through real-world examples of mathematics. However, the Society of Actuaries in Ireland (SAI) produced a report in November 2023 detailing the decline in female applicants to their profession, and linking this to the lower number of female students earning the highest grade (H1) in Leaving Certificate Higher Level Maths since the first cohort of students undertook their "Project Maths" Leaving Certificate in 2012. In this talk, we explore this issue further and consider what impact Project Maths may have had upon female attainment in mathematics, as well as detailing initiatives underway to further promote mathematics to post-primary female students. 

Rachel Quinlan, University of Galway

Bio: Rachel Quinlan is a senior lecturer in Mathematics at the University of Galway, where she has worked since 2005. Before that she spent five years at UCD, following her PhD at the University of Alberta in the Canadian prairies. She is interested in linear algebra and its connections to combinatorics, group theory and field theory, and in teaching and learning, and in mathematical art. She has encountered many inspiring female and male colleagues and students through her work in mathematics in the last 30 years. Her favourite mathematical paper is "How I became a torchbearer for matrix theory" by Olga Taussky.

Title: It looks good on paper - mathematics and origami.

Abstract: Origami is the art and craft of paper-folding, arguably an intrinsically mathematical activity and certainly one that is well suited to the construction of physical models of geometric objects. This theme of this talk is the effectiveness of origami as a dynamic physical tool for exploring phenomena in algebra and geometry. We will discuss the 17 wallpaper groups, which classify periodic patterns in the plane according to their symmetry systems, and look at some origami models of patterns from different wallpaper classes. One special feature of origami construction, not widely shared by other art forms, is that its steps are (or can be) immediately reversible or adjustable in a purely mechanical way. This facilitates attention to the relationships and distinguishing features of different wallpaper classes. As a particular example, we will demonstrate six distinct subtypes of patterns in the cmm wallpaper class, which is familiarly embodied by the usual arrangement of bricks in a wall. 

Sinéad Ryan, Trinity College Dublin

Bio: Sinéad Ryan is Professor and Chair of Theoretical High Energy Physics at
Trinity College Dublin, Ireland where she is also the University's Dean and Vice-President for Research. 

Her research focus is the numerical simulation of quantum chromodynamics, the theory of the strong nuclear force, in an approach known as lattice QCD.  A particular interest of hers is understanding strong exotic matter and the physics of the early universe. She is a founding member of two international collaborations and she has held visiting and honorary positions in the US and in Europe. In Ireland, Sinéad is co-spokesperson for the CERN Ireland Users Group.

Precision lattice QCD calculations require state-of-the-art high performance computing resources and Sinéad has served as Chair of Europe's PRACE Scientific Steering Committee and is current Chair of the EuroHPC Infrastructure Advisory Group.

Title: Particle physics, mathematics and computing: understanding matter at the smallest scales in Nature

Abstract: I will describe how the mathematical framework through which we understand the strong nuclear interaction, called Quantum ChromoDynamics, is used to understand the nature and structure of matter at the femtoscale. The essential role of numerical simulation in particle physics will also be described and some open questions and challenges will be discussed.