Meet & Math

Meet & Math – here you can find a summary of current and past events on overarching topics outside of purely technical mathematics. Behind mathematics there are always people.

Upcoming Events

Event Series

Girls Day

On Girls' Day, girls in 5th grade and above can spend a day getting a taste of various professions and career fields, giving them the opportunity to discover new fields or learn more about ones they already know, and to find out about potential career paths.

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Meet the WiMis

At “Meet the WiMis,” students have the opportunity to chat with WiMis from various research groups in our department in a relaxed atmosphere and learn more about pursuing a Ph.D.

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WIM Lunch

Female mathematicians can meet other female mathematicians and exchange ideas over lunch. If questions can be answered during this time, that’s wonderful. If not, you can simply enjoy lunch in good company. All female mathematicians—from doctoral students to professors—are warmly invited. We always meet at 12:00 p.m. on the ground floor of S2|15. Contact person: Irene Heinrich

Workshop

Every summer, a workshop is held on a variety of topics aimed at combating discrimination and fostering respectful learning, research, and work. Past topics have included, for example, “What Can We Do?! Combating Sexism in Higher Education” and “Raising Awareness of Classism in Higher Education and Society”

Christine Bernardi Lecture

Once a year, the Department of Mathematics organizes a Christine Bernardi Lecture, which is delivered by a distinguished scholar and is aimed at a broad audience of mathematicians. Before or after the Christine Bernardi Lecture, the speaker offers a discussion on career experiences in mathematics.

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Meet&Movie

The Gender Equality Working Group hosts a movie night once a year. All members of the department are warmly invited! Before and after the film, there will be plenty of time to chat over drinks and snacks. The film will be shown in German with English subtitles.

Parents

We want to provide employees and students with children with an overview of all the resources and support services available at TU. Information about vacation programs and other offerings is regularly shared via our mailing lists.

Handout mit Anlaufstellen für Eltern (PDF file) (opens in new tab)

Working Group Equality

The Working Group Equality was initiated in summer 2022 in order to support the Gender Equality Officers and to cover additional topics in the field of gender equality and diversity. Their work includes
The working group meets twice per semester and is happy to welcome new members.

For additional information the working group may be contacted via

Selected Past Events

On April 3rd 2025, the department of Mathematics welcomed 25 female school students for the second Girls'Day organized by our department. The program included the visit of different research groups, a campus tour and getting insights about studying Mathematics. In addition, the girls had the opportunity to solve mathematical problems together in groups as it is very common at universities. The event concluded with a joint lunch with female undergraduate students that allowed the girls to ask questions and listen to several anecdotes.

We would like to thank the organizers Hendrik Wilka and Linda Thelen. We also would like to thank all the other helpers of this event.

Christine Bernardi Lectures

Once a year the Department of Mathematics organizes a Christine Bernardi Lecture, which is given by an excellent mathematician working in fields of mathematics related to Christine Bernardi and will address a broad mathematical audience.

The second Christine Bernardi Lecture took place on October 23rd, 2024, 5:15 pm, and the speaker was Barbara Kaltenbacher.

After or before the lecture, the speaker shares experiences about a career in Mathematics.

At May 27th, 2024 we celebrated the birthday of the famous mathematician Maryam Mirzakhani with an event called “Journey in Mathematics”

Whan: May 27th of 2024, 6 – 10 pm.

Where: Wilhelm-Köhler-Saal ofTU Darmstadt.

Organisors: Elena Mäder-Baumdicker and Catrin Mair

We invited to an evening with

  • the film “Journeys of Women in Mathematics”,
  • a talk from Prof. Dr. Ilka Agricola (Philipps-Universität Marburg) in cooperation with Dr. Verena Reiter (DGVFM) about the development of student numbers and the job market trends for mathematicians,
  • a panel discussion on the topic of “Leaky Pipeline”, career paths, job profile of professors, opportunities, … The panelists were Camilla Klee, Lisanne Gossel (M.Sc.), Dr. Irene Heinrich, Dr. Carina Geldhauser (ETH Zurich) and Prof. Dr. Ilka Agricola; moderated by Dr.-Ing. Cornelia Seeberg.

This event is part of the May12 initiative (may12.womeninmaths.org). It was funded by the Department of Mathematics at TU Darmstadt and the SFB/TRR 326 GAUS.

On April 25th 2024, the department of Mathematics welcomed 23 female students from grades 5 to 9 for the second Girls'Day organized by our department. The program included the visit of different research groups, a campus tour and getting insights about studying Mathematics. In addition, the girls had the opportunity to solve mathematical problems together in groups as it is very common at universities. The event concluded with a joint lunch with female undergraduate students that allowed the girls to ask questions and listen to several anecdotes.

We would like to thank the SFB 326 – GAUS and the Clean Circles cluster project for their financial support.

Christine Bernardi Lectures

Once a year the Department of Mathematics organizes a Christine Bernardi Lecture, which is given by an excellent mathematician working in fields of mathematics related to Christine Bernardi and will address a broad mathematical audience.

The first Christine Bernardi Lecture took place on November 8th, 2023, 5:15pm, at the Uhrturmhörsaal ot the TU Darmstadt. Andrea Walther was the lecturer.

After or before the lecture, the speaker shares experiences about a career in Mathematics.

Interested in the everyday life of a WiMi or a PhD in mathematics?

Take the opportunity to get an insight into the different working groups of our department and get personal first-hand experience reports from WiMis.

After a short info talk you can accompany the WiMis to their offices and clarify open questions in a relaxed atmosphere.

Program:

13:30 – 13:40 What is a WiMi?
13:40 – 14:00 Tips and tricks for applying for a WiMi position by Prof. Elena Mäder-Baumdicker
14:00 – 15:30 Visiting the WiMis in their offices

Please be aware that this event is held in German.

Main organizer: Elisa Corbean

On July, 2nd, 2024, we organized MeetTheWimis for the second time.

The Girls'Day at the Department of Mathematics takes place

on April 27th 2023 at 9 – 1:30 p.m. in S2|15 – 244.

All female students at the age of 12 – 15 years who would like to get insights into the daily life of studying mathematics, to get to know different working groups and research areas of the department of mathematics and who would like to exchange ideas with female students in a relaxed atmosphere are invited to participate.

Program:

  • Presentation of the student faculty
  • Presentation by Prof. Dr. Pascal Schweitzer and Dr. Sofia Brenner on the topic of sphere packings
  • Visit of the research groups
  • Mock group exercise session
  • Role-Model-Talk

The financial support by CRC 326-GAUS and TRR 154 is highly appreciated.

Dr. Anna-Christin Ransiek from the group „Gender Studies in Mathematics“ from the Freien Universität Berlin is giving a talk about the project

„MATH+ as a Research Object“ of the excellence cluster Math+ in Berlin.

Place and time: 09.02.2023 at 04:30 pm in S2|15-244

Before the talk there will be a coffee break at 4pm in S2|15-244.

An abstract can be found on the German version of this webpage.

For further information please contact Catrin Mair.

The event is financed by the CRC 326-GAUS.

Prof. Paul Walton gave a talk on the state of the academic system with regard to gender equality. A large amount of data and numerous studies clearly demonstrate the existence of inequality. Numerous examples clearly illustrated how biases operate and how they can be identified. The speaker then used his own faculty as a case study to show what a successful path toward greater equality in academia might look like.

Organizer: Elena Mäder-Baumdicker

The Department of Mathematics invites you to an event “In honor of Maryam Mirzakhani – Women in Mathematics” on May 5, 2022.

When: May 5, 2022 at 5:30pm

Where: Wilhelm-Köhler-Saal (S1|03-283)

What: Discussion on the topic of “Perspectives of Women in and from Mathematics” with female mathematicians from various career stages and a film screening, followed by a get-together with drinks and a cold buffet.

Organizer: Catrin Mair