Maths beyond the desks aims to show the non-school aspects of mathematics; a day of competitions, applications and research for high school students, organised by the Department of Mathematics and Applications.

The event is structured in four parts:

• a team competition: two hours in which teams of seven students will compete on 21 problems in algebra, combinatorics, geometry and number theory
• the math workshops, where we offer experiences to discover mathematics under the supervision of teachers, researchers, and students from the Department
• the math samples, where we will offer previews and experiences of university mathematics, through games, problems and curiosities
• the mathematician's work, two lectures on research topics, where we will try to give an idea of what mathematicians (or at least some of them) actually do

Maths Beyond the Desks 2027 - View Italian Page

The Maths beyond the Desks Day 2026 was held on 10/04/2026. The event programme, conference abstracts, flyers and photos can be found below.

Programme:

9 am Welcome of participants
9:30 am-11 am Team Competition: Math Games | Room U2-08b
9:30 am-12:30 pm Math Workshops: Guided explorations of math | Rooms U4-01 and U4-02
12:30 pm-1:30 pm Lunch (Science Gallery)
1:30-3 pm Math Samples (Science Gallery): What You Study in a Mathematics Degree: Previews and Information
3 pm-5 pm The Mathematician's Work: Lectures by Prof. Giada Franz and Prof. Giovanni Paolini | Room U2-06
5 pm Final greetings
 

THE MATHEMATICIAN'S WORK

Speaker: Prof. Giada Franz (Université Gustave Eiffel, Paris)

Title: Minimal surfaces between classic problems and open questions

Abstract: Many interfaces and membranes in nature tend to minimize their area: this is the case, for example, with soap bubbles or the interfaces between two immiscible fluids at equilibrium.
From a mathematical perspective, these shapes are described by minimal surfaces. Although minimal surfaces are among the most classical objects in mathematics, their study proves surprisingly complex and remains a very active area of research today. In this seminar, we will explore some of the questions that have already been resolved and others that remain open regarding these complex and elegant mathematical objects.

Speaker: Prof. Giovanni Paolini (University of Bologna)

Title: Hidden Symmetries Between Algebra and Combinatorics

Abstract: The most interesting and important theorems in mathematics often reveal unexpected connections between very different concepts. In this seminar, we will start with some counting problems related to Catalan numbers and see that their combinatorics is linked to polynomials arising from the study of symmetries. A series of open problems calls for a purely combinatorial proof of the symmetry of these polynomials.