Please find the schedule for the event below. Please note, you will need to bring paper, a pen, a calculator and your own lunch. (Timetable subject to change)
09.45-10.00: Arrivals
10.00-10.10: Welcome
10.10-11.00: Making Sense of Statistics Dr Eduwin Pakpahan
11.00-11.10: Break
11.10-12.00: The ubiquity of "e" Dr Matteo Sommacal
12:00-12:30: Campus Tour
12:30-13:00: Lunch (Lunch is not provided but campus shops and cafés will be open and there is space for eating packed lunches)
13.00-13.50: Platonic Solids Dr Gert Botha
13.50-14.00: Evaluation and Close
More information about the sessions can be found below.
Session 1
Title: Making sense of Statistics
Lecturer: Dr Eduwin Pakpahan
For some, mathematics is easy, but for others it is the opposite. Statistics, as part of mathematics, is without exception. The language of probability, distributions, hypothesis testing and estimation, is somehow difficult to understand. It becomes more so when the focus is not merely about the numerical results, but the reasoning and the messages those numbers convey. In this talk, we will begin with a brief history of statistics, starting with two statisticians (and their masterpieces) and their contributions to the many fields of science (economics and medicine, in particular). We will illustrate their work using some graphs and tables, and students will be challenged to think about the findings. We will present Simpson's Paradox and the debates between correlation and causation. These problems represent how statistical analysis should be performed carefully and thoughtfully, thus demonstrating it is not only about the methods that we master, but also the understanding of the research questions that we examine.
Session 2
Title: The ubiquity of "e"
Lecturer: Dr Matteo Sommacal
From calculus to finance, probability, statistics, optimal planning, quantum mechanics, nuclear physics, population dynamics, medicine, epidemiology, the number "e" - aka Euler’s number or Napier's constant - shows in the broadest range of problems as one of the most fundamental constants of nature. Almost mysteriously, it appears prominently and ubiquitously in all branches of pure and applied sciences, allowing to define functions that are at the very foundations of modern mathematics. In this workshop, we will start from an interactive exploration of the idea of compound interest on bank savings and rediscover "e" along the historical line of Jacob Bernoulli's seminal work. We will then give some other striking (and surprisingly unrelated-to-one-another) examples of the pervasive presence of "e" around us and in the universe.
Session 3
Title: Platonic Solids
Lecturer: Dr Gert Botha
For thousands of years natural philosophers, mathematicians, artists and thinkers have been intrigued by the regular solid shapes that one can form in three dimensions. Each of these enclosed volumes is constructed from identical two-dimensional planes and has the property that all its angles are equal and all its sides have the same length. We shall be looking at how to construct these solids and investigate some of their properties.
