Malta Mathematical Society

A society of the same name was established in 1998 by Prof. Joseph Muscat at the Department of Mathematics of the University of Malta. The first activity organised was a talk delivered by Ms Cettina Gauci Pulo, at the time an assistant lecturer at the University of Malta Junior College, and was entitled "Discovering Fractals". Its first general meeting was held on January 5, 1999, and its first executive committee was composed of the following members: Prof. Joseph Muscat (President), Audrienne Cutajar Bezzina, Cettina Gauci Pulo, Dr. James L. Borg and Jill Kirkstadt.[1] The society was responsible for the foundation of the Malta Mathematics Olympiad, which nowadays is in its 11th edition and is independent from the society.[1][2][3][4]

In 2006, Anthony Licari gave a talk organized by the society titled "A mathematical analysis of literature".[5]

After around a decade of inactivity, Luke Collins happened to learn about the society from an archived version of the mathematics department's website, and became interested in getting it started again.[6] He approached Prof. Joseph Muscat (founder of the first society), together with fellow students Jake Xuereb and Xandru Mifsud, and together they started organising events for the general public. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the Society grew a significant online following, since most of its events were held over videoconferencing. One of the most popular events during this time was a debate titled "Is Mathematics invented, or discovered?".

In summer 2021, a short introductory course on differential geometry was held, among other leisurely activities such as a pub quiz. In November 2021, a debate titled "Debate: Is Mathematics an Art or a Science?" was organised with guest panellists from different Faculties of the University of Malta. This was the last event held before the first Annual General Meeting (AGM).

Every year, the Society organises several public lectures catering to a variety of audiences. Some lectures are popular mathematics lecturers aimed towards the general public, other lectures are aimed at sixth formers, undergraduate or even graduate students of mathematics. In addition to one-off lectures, the Society organises one or two lecture series every year. Some of these have included:

• Introduction to Differential Geometry, six lectures by Prof. Joseph Muscat (Summer, 2021)
• Analytic Number Theory and its Applications, three lectures by Luke Collins (Summer, 2022)
• Mathematics in Ongoing Physics Research, five lectures in collaboration with the Department of Physics at the University of Malta (Winter, 2022)

The Society organises also organises interdisciplinary talks, such as "Ancient Greek Mathematics" a talk given by Andrew Debono Cauchi in collaboration with the Malta Classics Association.[7]

Generally, the Society organises a Christmas themed talk in December, often with a guest lecturer from the Department of Mathematics at the University of Malta. It has also organised well-attended debates, such as "Is mathematics invented or discovered".

To encourage the active participation of undergraduates, the Society occasionally organises Quickfire talks, which are events where short talks are presented and discussed in an informal environment.

Recordings of some of the lectures, lecture series and debates can be found on the Society's Youtube channel.

In addition to academic lectures and talks, the Society organises various social events such as maths-themed Pub Quizzes, Bake sales for Pi Day, and occasional lunches.