PENTA

“Women work in science, technology, mathematics. People need to see us in these roles”

This year, BGSMath and the Catalan Society for Mathematics (SCM) celebrated the “International day of girls and women in science” with a public event that showcased the many women mathematicians, who work in top-level fields of research with important applications in society. The event was held on 9 February at the Institut d'Estudis Catalans, downtown Barcelona. If you want to know what it was like, watch our video about the event, featuring, among others, BGSMath scientists Giulia Binotto, Natàlia Castellana, Jésica de Armas, and Helena Ramalhinho. Barcelona deputy mayor Gerardo Pisarello also paid a visit at our stands: the city of Barcelona prepared another footage, where BGSMath's Roser Homs and Arantxa Sanz explain what the day was about.

Meet PhD student Glòria Casanellas

Industrial PhDs, a good way to foster R&D

On 19 February, the event “Maths for Industry 4.0” brought together mathematicians who work in statistics, modelling and data science with the companies best prepared to enter the digital transformation. PhD student Glòria Casanellas presented her work at Horizons Optical.

Interview with Marta Sanz-Solè

What is it like to be part of the Abel Committee?

On 20 March, the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters awarded the Abel Prize for 2018 to Robert P. Langlands (Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton, USA) “for his visionary program connecting representation theory to number theory.” Penta met UB Professor and BGSMath faculty member Marta Sanz-Solé, who was member of the Abel Committee between 2016 and 2017. She explains what is it like to be part of this prestigious body and how awardees are selected.

Interview with Jordi Vitrià

“Machine learning will help companies to take decisions”

UB Professor and BGSMath Faculty member Jordi Vitrià is one of the authors of a new book on big data, deep learning, and artificial intelligence published as part of a series by National Geographic (first in Spanish, then in English and Italian). He makes the case to Penta readers that “Every human being must have the right to protect from other people’s eyes some aspects of his or her life that are perfectly legal. Total transparency in a society is impracticable. ”

BGSMath's best published papers

In this new section of Penta, we would like to highlight the best scientific papers among those sent to us by the BGSMath community. If you feel one of your published papers is especially relevant and would like to see it highlighted in the newsletter, please send it to highlights@bgsmath.cat, together with a brief assessment of its scientific relevance. Your proposal will be received by the Scientific Advisory Board, who will select 3/5 of them for any given Penta issue.

“Your best asset in your life is you”

UB Professor and BGSMath Faculty memeber Montse Guillen has strong opinions about pensions. She notes that the current pension system in Spain is mathematically unsustainable and believes it should be totally redesigned. Possible solution? Lower pensions at 65, higher after 80.

Evariste Galois Prize

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