On November 25, university and college staff and students in Utrecht will protest against the drastic cuts to higher education. Stop by that morning to make your own protest sign. We’ll provide markers, scissors, and cardboard—so be there!

Furthermore, the housekeeping announcement that the common room will close on November 25 starting at 11:00, and the book sale will remain closed. Anyone who wants to join the protest can then head together toward 'Den Haag.

The next edition of the μ-Games (Mathematics Utrecht) will take place on Friday 22 November, 13.30-17.00, in the Minnaert Learning Plaza. This will be a friendly programming contest focused on mathematical thinking. For all problems you must first think mathematically and then write a short program to calculate the answer. The exercise sheet will also include problems aimed at bachelor's students. You can sign up in a team of 3 or 4 students, or individually. In the latter case, we will match you with a few fellow students. During the competition you can program in Python, C# and Java. The event will take place on site, but can also be joined online if you cannot make it on site. Afterwards, we will order pizza for those students that want to discuss the exercises. If you have questions you can find information at our website https://clover.science.uu.nl/ or you can reach us at: [email protected]. Sign up as a team, or as an individual. Hope to see many of you there! Best wishes, MU-Games board

Team: https://forms.gle/Z2Xs5gekPutMn5oA8
Individual: https://forms.gle/UyUJ9sDLyhV5opoEA 

Have you always wanted to climb the Dom?

Or discover the beautiful places Utrecht has to offer.

Join us sightseeing this Friday!

After climbing the Dom, we will take you to some beautiful churches and cool graffiti spots.

Sign up quickly, a ticket is only 8.50!

We gather at the Domplein at 13:45.

On Tuesday 26 November the twelth edition of the µKW (Small Mathematics Championship) takes place. This is a math competition specifically for firstyears. You will have 2 hours to dive into five problems that will not so much test your knowledge of all the theorems, but more so test your creativity and your abillity to think 'out of the box'. Picture the problems of the Math Olympiads for example. The problems are distributed over the categories of Proves in Mathematics, Infinitesimal Calculus and Linear Algebra.

The archive of previous problems can be found here. Note that the problems related to probability theory and Analysis won't appear.

Hi! Welcome to the first pub lecture of the year! It is an incredibly fun activity and you really don't want to miss it! During a pub lecture, we rent a pub in Utrecht in the evening, and then 2 physics/mathematics teachers give a short lecture on a topic that has something to do with physics/mathematics. Between the chats there is plenty of room to have a nice chat while enjoying a drink. This time you can enjoy the next 2 speakers in Josefien bar. Barbara van den Berg will tell us more about the mathematics behind DNA analyzes used in court, and Tanja Hinderer will talk about discovering black holes with gravitational waves.

Tanja Hinderer: Einstein’s theory of gravity as curved spacetime has two profound consequences (also recent Nobel Prizes): black holes and gravitational waves. Black holes are made of warped spacetime and intangible, with an event horizon demarcating their interiors. Gravitational waves, ripples in spacetime that are copiously produced, for example, by collisions of two black holes, are unique fingerprints of their sources and a clean channel of information on dark sectors of the universe. First observed in 2015, gravitational waves have since then revealed a first census of black holes in the cosmos within the reach of current detectors, which already contains surprises. Moreover, they have started to enable us to probe deeper questions about the fundamental structure of black holes and related to theoretical puzzles such as the information paradox. In this talk, I will introduce gravitational waves as probes of black holes and some of the challenges in this endeavor, discuss examples of what we have learned from recent measurements, and end with an outlook to the exciting prospects in the coming years..

Barbara van den Berg: Imagine: you are a judge in a criminal case against a robbery suspect. There are camera images of the robbery showing the face of the perpetrator. The images were compared with photos of the suspect's face by a forensic expert. The expert finds many similarities in facial features between the images and the photos and states that the combination of these features is rare. The expert therefore reports to the court that after extensive research it appears that "the findings of the facial comparison based on the given visual material are much more likely when the person depicted is the same person than when it concerns a different person." Well... what can you as a judge conclude about the chance that the suspect is the perpetrator?

Come Boulder with the SportCie! On November 27 we will go to the Energiehaven bouldering hall with a very nice group of people. Both for experienced climbers and people who don't even know what a dyno is. Do you want to be there? Then register quickly!!

You can pay your ticket at the hall, wear suitable clothes en bring climbingshoes if you have them. You can also rent shoes there for just €4,-.

The Dutch order of patent attorneys will give a lunch lecture on their profession. Free lunch included!

Title: Patent Attorney – at the crossroads of law, technology, and innovation

Abstract: We are the ‘Orde van Octrooigemachtigden’ the Dutch order of patent attorneys. Our profession is unknown to many, which we think is a shame because we love it. In our presentation, we will discuss the basics of intellectual property, patents in particular, followed by a discussion on the skills and qualifications a patent attorney needs. We will give you an overview of how a patent attorneys’ career starts and where it may lead.

Saint-Nicholas Colloqium

Drinks!

Care for a laugh? Join the C&M to visit the ComedyCloud show in Tivoli! The tickets will be available soon, so keep an eye out :)

Beware: the show will be in Dutch.

TBD

Join the Picture-your-research-contest and have a chance of winning 1000 euros! The Nederlands Tijdschrift voor Natuurkunde (Dutch Journal of Physics) invites physicists and physics students to picture their research (both universities of applied sciences and universities). This can be done in many different ways: an infographic, comic strip, photo report and so on. The choice is yours, as long as images play the leading role. For more information: https://www.ntvn.nl/verbeeld-je-onderzoek-wedstrijd

Do you think you’ve been good this year? Then come by on December 2, 3, or 4 to craft a little shoe! Maybe Sinterklaas will leave you a treat in it on December 5 before heading back to Spain. If you haven’t been so good, or you don’t want to risk finding out, you can bake your own pepernoten in the room on December 5.

So, be extra kind to the board members—they’ll be Sinterklaas’ helpers on December 5 and will also let him know if you’ve been good. See you then!

Love,
Emma on behalf of the board

Hey, welcome to the 2nd WOL lunch! After the success of the 1st lunch, you are welcome in the vagant on Monday, December 2 from 12-14! While enjoying a delicious free lunch, we will discuss the 'lecture skills' of teachers; How does a teacher or TA help you pass a course? Share all your experiences on this topic; We will (together with the program director & manager) ensure that this reaches teachers properly! And while we are already eating, you can immediately submit all your complaints about subjects & studies, we will ensure that this is reported to the department! So come and visit us on Monday, December 2!

The idea that math doesn't just have to be practical, but that you can also do math just because it is fun, is nearly 4000 years old and was first thought up by the Babylonians. In order to keep this ancient tradition of doing recreational maths alive, the Cie Infinity organises the Recreational Math Evening every month. An evening of looking at fun mathematical questions together, of the type that you also get at contests like the (international) math olympiad, the MOAWOA or the IMC. Everyone is welcome and there are exercises of every level! So join the dork side, we have cookies!

Op maandagavond 9 december a.s. (18.00 - 20.30 uur) organiseert de Graduate School of Teaching (GST) een voorlichting over de academische lerarenopleidingen die door de UU worden aangeboden. De voorlichting is bedoeld voor BA-studenten die een minor- of masterkeuze gaan maken.

De voorlichting bestaat uit een plenaire voorlichting over de verschillende lerarenopleidingen die de UU aanbiedt. Ook zullen er verhalen uit de praktijk worden verteld door studenten en alumni uit het alfa, bèta en gamma werkveld. Na afloop van het plenaire deel is er gelegenheid om informeel met studenten, alumni en studieadviseurs in gesprek te gaan om zo te ontdekken welke lerarenopleiding het beste bij een student past.