Motivation: The conference “African Women in Mathematics: Challenging Questions” is designed to explore challenging questions in mathematics, encourage collaborative problem-solving, and provide a platform for discussions on the future of African women in mathematics. The inclusion of workshops, presentations, and panel discussions aims to engage participants actively in addressing mathematical challenges and fostering a supportive community. We are planning also to host a General Assembly of the African Women in Mathematics Association (AWMA).

1.Objectives

bring together African mathematicians to work together, share their motivation, and discover women from different countries to different career levels, who can be considered as role models.

launch new research projects and collaborations between mathematicians from different African countries.

Create new contacts and mentoring networks for young women embarking on mathematical research.

Teach new programming skills to African women mathematicians.

And finally, contribute to the SageMath software and train new users and contributors.

2. Conference Planning and organization

Organizing and Scientific Committees:

Selma Negzaoui (Université de Monastir, Tunisia)

Marie Françoise Ouedraogo (Université Joseph Ki-Zerbo, Burkina Faso) 

Sophie Dabo (Université de Lille, France)

Elisa Lorenzo Garcia (Université de Rennes 1, France; and Université de Neuchâtel, Switzerland)

Ini Adinya (University of Ibadan, Nigeria)

Bernadette Faye (Université de Bambey, Senegal)

Olivia Nabawanda (Mbarara University of Science and Technology, Uganda)

3. Main Lecturers and programme for the conference

Pr Moustapha Fall, AIMS Senegal

Pr Ali Baklouti, Vice-rector, Sfax University 

Dr Mpfareleni Rejoice Gavi, manager for the AIMS House of Science

Pr Boutheina Ben Hassine, Gender Equality Office, University of Sousse 

Halima Ouanada, We4Lead project, Tunis El Manar University

Raissa Malu, Physicist, international education consultant, promoter of Science and Technology Week, DR Congo

Pr Josephine Guidi-Wandja, AWMA vice-presidente West Africa

Pr Entissar Elrasheed, AWMA vice-presidente East Africa

Pr Sibusiso Moyo, AWMA vice-presidente South Africa

Pr Mary Fomboh, AWMA vice-presidente Central Africa

Pr Selma Negzaoui, AWMA vice-presidente North Africa

Day 1: Navigating Challenges in Mathematics

Morning Session: Opening Ceremony

09:00 - 09:30: Registration and Welcome Coffee

09:30 - 10:00: Opening Remarks by AWMA President

10:00 - 10:30: Keynote Address: "Exploring the Frontiers: Challenges and Opportunities in African Mathematics"

10:30 - 11:00: Icebreaker Activity

11:00 - 12:30: Panel Discussion: Identifying and Addressing Key Challenges in African Mathematics and women in mathematics

12:30 – 14:00: Networking Lunch

Afternoon Session: Unveiling Mathematical Puzzles

14:00 - 15:30: 

- Workshop: Tackling Mathematical Challenges – Strategies and Solutions

- Presentation: "Beyond the Obvious: Unconventional Mathematical Questions"

15:30 - 16:00: Coffee Break

16:00 - 17:30: Roundtable Discussions: Collaborative Approaches to Mathematical Problem-Solving

Day 2: Exploring New Horizons

Morning Session: Mathematical Inquiry

09:00 - 10:30: Parallel Sessions - Research Presentations on Challenging Questions1

10:30 - 11:00: Coffee Break 

11:00 - 12:30: Parallel Sessions - Research Presentations on Challenging Questions2

12:30 – 14:00: Networking Lunch

Afternoon Session: Beyond Boundaries

14:00 - 15:30: Panel Discussion: Pushing the Limits – Breaking Barriers in Mathematics

15:30 - 16:00: Coffee Break

16:00 - 017:30: Panel Discussion: Strategies for Gender Equality in Mathematics

Day 3: The Future of African Women in Mathematics

Morning Session: The next generation

09:00 - 10:30: Workshop: Strategies for Encouraging Young Women in Mathematics

10:30 - 11:00: Presentation: "Inspiring the Next Generation: Mentorship and Role Models"

12:30 - 14:30: Networking Lunch

Afternoon Session: AWMA General Assembly

14:00 - 015:30: AWMA General Assembly

15:30 - 16:00: Coffee Break

16:00 - 16:30: Closing Ceremony 

  Logos of our sponsors and collaborators:

Registration is open now: https://forms.gle/Sc9TSkVJ8hxHY7Sv9

 See also : https://sites.google.com/view/women-in-sage-tunisia/home

“Women in SAGE-Tunisia” is part of a long tradition of conferences (https://wiki.sagemath.org/Workshops). SageMath is free mathematics software developed by the research community, students, and research engineers. It relies heavily on voluntary contributions as well as on the one-off funding of research projects. We already organized WIS-Africa days in several countries (Senegal 2021, Nigeria 2022, Uganda 2023 and Burundi 2024). All have been successful (see for example http://africanwomeninmath.org/activities/conference). Not only, the participants improved their programming skills, contributed to the software, but they also created research collaborations and gained confidence in their own skills. We believe that Women in Sage days organized in diverses countries of Africa with the support of AWMA is an opportunity for the whole community.

1.Objectives

• bring together African mathematicians to work together, share their motivation, and discover women from different countries to different career levels, who can be considered as role models.
• launch new research projects and collaborations between mathematicians from different African countries.
• Create new contacts and mentoring networks for young women embarking on mathematical research.
• Teach new programming skills to African women mathematicians.
• And finally, contribute to the SageMath software and train new users and contributors.

2. Conference Planning and organization

Organizing and Scientific Committees:

• Selma Negzaoui (Université de Monastir, Tunisia)
• Marie Françoise Ouedraogo (Université Joseph Ki-Zerbo, Burkina Faso) 
• Sophie Dabo (Université de Lille, France)
• Elisa Lorenzo Garcia (Université de Rennes 1, France; and Université de Neuchâtel, Switzerland)
• Ini Adinya (University of Ibadan, Nigeria)
• Bernadette Faye (Université de Bambey, Senegal)
• Olivia Nabawanda (Mbarara University of Science and Technology, Uganda)

3. Main Lecturers and programme for WIS-Tunisia

(Project leaders): The main project leaders include:

• Valérie Garès (France): Statistics. 
• Ini Adinya (University of Ibadan, Nigeria): Applied Math - Financial Mathematics. 
• Nahla Abdellatif (Tunisia): Dynamical Systems
• Loubna Ghammam (Tunisia): Cryptography
• Lola Thompson, (Utrecht University, The Netherlands): Harmonic Analysis
• Olivia Nabawanda (Uganda): PDE

Our event is a collaborative conference addressed to young African researchers and graduate students. Particularly, but not exclusively, to young female researchers. There will be at least 6 research projects. All the main project leaders have confirmed their participation. The program will also include discussions on gender balance and women in mathematics.

Tentative schedule:

- 2 months before the conference: online event of introduction to Sage and opening of a workshop chat via the Zulip platform to encourage the contact between the participants and the group leaders before the in-person part of the workshop.

- During the workshop (30 September-04 October 2025): working in groups from Monday to Thursday and some talks and panels on Women in Mathematics presenting AWMA, EAUMP, UGAWOM and CIMPA opportunities. On Friday participants will present projects that will have been given to them during the week. More explicitly:

Monday

9:00 welcome, information, introduction of the organisers and group leaders.

9:30 Project’s description

10:30 break

11:00 open/install SAGE

13:00 lunch

14:30 Working in groups time

16:00 break

16:30 Talk Why to organise "Women in …" events?

19: dinner

Tuesday

9:00 Working in groups time

10:30 break

11:00 Working in groups time

13:00 lunch

14:30 Working in groups time

16:00 break

16:30 Working in groups time

19:00 dinner

Wednesday

9:00 Working in groups time

10:30 break

11:00 Group leaders describe projects to participants

13:00 lunch

14:00 City Tour 

Thursday

9:00 Working in groups time

10:30 break

11h:00 Talk Research opportunities in Africa and Europe

13:00 lunch

14:30 onwards Participants work on their identified projects

19:00 dinner

Friday

9:00 presentations by participants

10:30 break

11:00 presentations by participants

13:00 lunch

14:30 Closing ceremony

  Logos of our sponsors and collaborators:

Motivation: Women in Sage is an initiative of the African Women in Mathematics Association (AWMA) in collaboration with other women associations in the host countries. The African Women in Mathematics Association (AWMA) is an academic association for women that was established in July 2013 in Cape Town, South Africa (http://www.africanwomeninmath.org). Its sole purpose is to promote Mathematics and the networking for mathematicians women in Africa. Women sage-Burundi, is a part of the long tradition of conferences (https://wiki.sagemath.org/Workshops). Since 2007, more than 100 Sage Days have been organized around the world. During these days, participants discover the SageMath software, develop their programming skills and contribute to the development of the software. SageMath is a free mathematics software developed by the research community, students, and research engineers. It relies heavily on voluntary contributions as well as on the one-off funding of research projects. Women in Sage days have already been organized in seven different countries (United States, South Korea, France, Canada, Greece, Senegal and Nigeria). All have been successful(example:https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSc2L7BZh0qegGMrF6jSpZH0X7g0HQcGQhN1PKVtCPqQNtkR5A/viewform?usp=sf_link organized by Lorenzo García, M.-F. Ouedraogo and Dr. Bernadette Fall;http://africanwomeninmath.org/activities/conference/women-in-sage-nigeria organized by E. Lorenzo García, M.-F. Ouedraogo and A. Ini in September 2022, http://africanwomeninmath.org/activities/conference/women-in-sage-uganda organized by E. Lorenzo García, M.-F. Ouedraogo and Olivia Nabawanda in Septembre 2023). 

Not only did the participants improve their programming skills, contributed to the software, but they also created research collaborations and gained confidence in their own skills. We believe that Women in Sage days organized at Applied Statistic Institute "ISTA", Burundi University with the support of the African Women in Mathematics Association (AWMA), Burundi University and OWSD-Burundi National Chapter is an opportunity for the whole academic community.

1. Objectives

• To bring together African mathematicians to work together, share their motivations, and discover women from different countries to different career levels, who can be considered as role models.
• To launch new research projects and collaborations between mathematicians from different African countries.
• Create new contacts and mentoring networks for young women embarking on mathematical research.
• To teach to African women mathematicians the new programming skills and contribute to the SageMath software and train new users and contributors.

2. Conference Planning and organization

Organizing and Scientific Committees:

• Prof.Elisa Lorenzo Garcia (Université de Rennes 1, France; and Université de Neuchâtel, Switzerland)
• Prof.Marie Françoise Ouedraogo (Université Joseph Ki-Zerbo, Burkina Faso).

• Dr.Ménédore Karimumuryango (Burundi University, Applied Statistic Institute "ISTA")

   

  Local Organizing Committee 

• Pr.Juma Shabani (Doctoral School of the University of Burundi, Burundi University)
• Dr.Menedore Karimumuryango (Burundi University, Applied Statistic Institute "ISTA ")
• Msc.Aurore Mugisha (Doctoral School of the University of Burundi, Burundi University, 
• Dr.Amin Shaka Aunali (Burundi University, Applied Statistic Institute "ISTA ")
• Msc.Irène Irakoze (Burundi University, Applied Statistic Institute "ISTA ")
• Msc.Ancille Bagorizamba (Burundi University, Applied Statistic Institute "ISTA ")
• Prof.François Ndayiragije (Burundi University, Department of Mathematics) 
• Girukwishaka Donatienne (Ministry of National Solidarity, Social Affairs, Human Rights and Gender)

3.Main Lecturers (Project leaders): The main project leaders include:

• Applied Maths: Ini Adinya (Nigeria)
• Number Theory: Bernadette Faye (Senegal)
• Statistics: Valérie Garès (France)
• Cryptography: Elisa Lorenzo García (Switzerland)
• Combinatorics: Olivia Nabawanda (Uganda)
• Algebra: Sarah Nakato (Uganda)

4. Programme

This event is a collaborative conference addressed to young African researchers and graduate students. Particularly, but not exclusively, to young female researchers. There will be at least 6 research projects. All the main project leaders have confirmed their participation. The program will also include discussions on gender balance and women in mathematics.

Tentative schedule:

- 1 months before the conference: online event on introduction to Sage and opening of a workshop chat via the Zulip platform to encourage the contact between the participants and the group leaders before the in-person part of the workshop.

- During the workshop (09-13 September, 2024): working in groups from Monday to Thursday and some talks and panels on Women in Mathematics (AWMA, EAUMP, UGAWOM, OWSD and CIMPA) presenting opportunities. On Friday participants will present projects that will have been given to them during the week. More explicitly:

- Monday: registration, Sage installation on laptops of participants, Introduction to SageMaths and panel discussion.

- Tuesday: Working on groups and Projects presentation

- Wednesday: working on groups, panel discussion and excursion.

- Thursday: working on groups and dinner.

- Friday: Presentation of results, talk Research opportunities in Africa and Europe, future plans.