What is.. 'What is..?'?
The inspiration for the 'What is..?'-seminar comes from the 'What is..?'-column of the AMS. It is an informal seminar aimed at young researchers from all sections of the department of mathematics at UiO. The goal is to share some neat mathematics from our respective spheres of interest and to create an ample opportunity to meet and socialize across sections.
What is.. it not?
'What is..?' is not a research seminar. You are, of course, allowed to mention your research, but aiming to explain what you are working on is most likely too ambitious for a 'What is..?'-talk. Instead, aim to give a short expository talk.
What is.. a good talk?
At the 'What is..?'-seminar, a good talk is a short expository talk to a general mathematical audience explaining anything from a basic concept in your area of mathematics to a nifty construction or an interesting problem.
We encourage you to give a blackboard talk as we feel this supports the atmosphere of the event better, but we acknowledge that there may be exceptions to this rule.
Your talk should be no more than 15 minutes and should aim to be accessible to participants from all sections of the department.
A few tips
Based on our experience with this seminar format, we have collected a few tips that we think may be useful to keep in mind when you plan your talk:
- Remember that the audience is a general mathematical audience: What you consider a basic concept within your field may not be common knowledge to someone from another field.
- 15 minutes is shorter than you think. Pick one message/concept/idea you want to get across.
- It is often better to start with an easy to understand motivating example than with an abstract definition. You may even consider focusing only on explaining a special case.
- Focus on explaining what the problem is rather than how to solve it. Make your audience fall in love with the question first.
Finally, remember that you are among friends. 'What is..?' is an informal seminar and we aim for it to be a safe stage to practice your communication skills while having fun sharing math you care about.