26/12/2022

2022 Retrospective: Festival attracted 14,000 visitors

The second National Mathematics Festival took place this year between September 29th and October 1st, bringing together more than 14,000 people at Marina da Glória, in the southern zone of Rio de Janeiro. Since the first edition, 32,000 people have already enjoyed the event, which aims to present mathematics in a fun way. The third edition is planned for 2024.

At the end of the event, IMPA's Director-General, Marcelo Viana, highlighted that the days of immersion in mathematics were a success. "The second edition of the Festival fulfilled its promise: to bring mathematics to everyone, in a playful and enjoyable way, as evidenced by the thousands of visitors of all ages over the three days."

Da esquerda para a direita, o diretor-adjunto do IMPA, Claudio Landim, o secretário de Educação do Rio, Antoine Lousao, a subsecretária de Educação, Teresa Pontual, e o diretor do IMPA, Marcelo Viana

The novelty of this edition was the roundtables organized to promote debate among researchers, teachers, and students. Discussions covered the following themes: “How to stimulate and positively influence mathematics students” ; “The strength of women in science and mathematics”; “Teaching and learning mathematics for people with disabilities”; “What is Data Science and how is it present in our daily lives”; and finally, “Inspired and inspiring girls,” which included the participation of Viana and the IMPA Girls' Olympics – a project that encourages greater female participation in mathematics activities and olympiads, reducing inequality in the number of men and women in the scientific field.

Ao todo, 167 unidades públicas e privadas participaram

The program also included lectures by various prominent figures in mathematics, such as IMPA researcher Paulo Orenstein; PhD and research director of the Youcubed Research Center at Stanford University (USA), Jack Dieckmann; and researcher from CTS-FGV (Center for Technology and Society of the Getúlio Vargas Foundation), Nina da Hora; and other notable names. The event also featured exhibitions, a film club, and numerous workshops. During the three days of the festival, the public could ride a bicycle with a square "wheel"; sit on a bench made of nails; participate in origami workshops; robotics workshops, among other activities.

The first day was exclusively for schools. In total, 167 public and private schools participated. On Friday (30) and Saturday (1st), the Festival opened its doors to the general public.

The event was featured in the press with reports on Band; TV Brasil; Agência Brasil ; the UOL and R7 portals ; Veja Rio ; and radio stations Tupi , Roquette-Pinto, Nova Brasil, and EBC. MultiRio (a multimedia company linked to the Municipal Education Secretariat of the city of Rio de Janeiro) also reserved space for the Festival. In the week leading up to the event, the newspapers O Globo and Extra had already reported on it.

Desde a primeira edição, 32 mil pessoas já curtiram o evento