29 - 30 April 2019, Mathematical Collaboration III, Bristol, England

We are pleased to announce the third edition of the Mathematical Collaboration workshops. After the previous two successful workshops on group knowledge and mathematical collaboration (Oxford 2017) and social virtues in mathematics (St Andrews 2018), this year we return with a focus on communities and communication in mathematics.

Mathematical progress is a collective endeavour. Researchers build on one another’s work, collaborate, and rely on one another to learn techniques, and to identify interesting problems. Well-designed communities can support inquiry, foster collaboration, and include diverse researchers. Badly-designed communities can stymie inquiry, block collaboration, and can exclude people from marginalised groups. To understand what well-functioning communities look like, and how institutional structures in mathematics might be designed to best support intellectual progress, we need to engage in interdisciplinary inquiry, bringing together mathematical practice, social epistemology, sociology, education, and computer science. We also need to include working mathematicians, and researchers who are working on practical projects to improve the profession.