Mathematics Summer Academy visits Rhine-Waal University of Applied Sciences

Kleve/Kamp-Lintfort, 1 September 2016: This year’s young maths enthusiasts attending the 19^th annual Mathematics Summer Academy came from all over North Rhine-Westphalia, some as winners of this year’s NRW Mathematics Olympiad, others based on the merits of their individual applications. The Summer Academy is a unique opportunity for pupils to come together with like-minded peers and explore complex maths topics that go far beyond school curricula. To balance out the intense periods of study, it also includes a relaxing and fun accompaniment programme with a football tournament, how-to courses on juggling and unicycling, and a trip to the nearby Goch Ness lake.

The Mathematics Summer Academy has met for years at the Wolfsberg castle in Kranenburg-Nütterden, a stone’s throw from the Kleve Campus of Rhine-Waal University of Applied Sciences. In 2015 the Summer Academy group had the chance to sit in on a university-level mathematics lecture at the University taught entirely in English – an interesting challenge for pupils accustomed to learning maths in German. As this year’s Summer Academy took place in the lecture-free period, three Kleve professors instead orchestrated a full-day event for the 85 upper-secondary pupils. The visit and event were sponsored by the the zdi Centre Kreis Kleve CleverMINT, whose mission is to encourage young people in the pursuit of future careers in maths, science and technology.

Professors Thomas Pitz (economics), Matthias Krauledat (computer science) and Achim Kehrein (applied mathematics) each presented interesting maths topics related to their fields. As a result, the Summer Academy group not only learned about game theory as a mathematic model for economic and social sciences and the mathematic structure of the fugues composed by one of the world’s greatest composers Johann Sebastian Bach – Professor Krauledat even played different variations on the cello to demonstrate – but also how maths problems can be innovatively solved according to the principles of biological evolution. After their lectures, the professors, together with research associate Ms Akah Neh, spoke of their own academic careers and professional experiences in various branches of industry. The discussion touched on their international studies at renowned universities such as Oxford, Leiden (Netherlands) and Löwen (Belgium), on PhD studies abroad in USA as well as a collaborative project with a Nobel Prize winner that led all the way to China. The pupils themselves also had the opportunity to discuss their future plans and possibilities with the day’s organisers. Ms Akah Neh in particular emphasised to the pupils the importance of realising their full potential in STEM fields.

The Mathematics Summer Academy of North Rhine-Westphalia is the largest maths-based summer programme for young people in Germany. It is part of a larger Land-wide initiative to promote and encourage pupils’ interest and enjoyment of mathematics and, particularly in the case of maths talents, to introduce pupils to complex maths fields and topics at the university level.