The summer 2020 Bridges conference: it’s a scientific conference, museum family day, short film festival and more combined

The Bridges conference is being held at Aalto University on 1–5 August 2020. The event will be hosted by Aalto University, the University of Helsinki and the University of the Arts Helsinki. The objective of the conference is to strengthen connection between mathematics and music, architecture and culture.

The conference brings together an interdisciplinary group of mathematicians, educators, and creators. Bridges typically includes talks, presentations, and workshops, as well as a fashion show, a public family day and arts-focused performances.

‘Mathematics can enrich the fields of art and vice versa. Participants from the university and from outside of it can contribute to all the fields represented in the conference, as long as the connection to mathematics is maintained’, says Kirsi Peltonen, Senior University Lecturer in mathematics at Aalto University and the coordinator of the conference.

Anyone willing to participate in the conference art exhibition or short film festival can submit their artwork or short film along with a short covering note for review. All work will be peer-reviewed, and approved work will be published in a conference publication.

‘Invited speakers and peer-reviewed scientific articles will represent the traditional world of conferences. All the other areas of the conference will be open to everyone, and we hope that people will participate actively and with an open mind. Students and senior high school students are also welcome to submit their suggestions’, Peltonen says.

Approximately 350 participants are expected to attend the conference. However, this does not include all visitors, such as the participants of the family day to be held at the National Museum of Finland or the viewers of various performances and exhibitions.

Different deadlines have been set for submitting scientific articles and artwork for review. The first deadline is on 1 February 2020 and the last on 15 May 2020. More information about the deadlines can be found on the conference website.