The 'Filkina' Medal Award is an anti-but-not-quite-scientific event. The team of the Mathematical Center in Akademgorodok conceived to show that mathematics can be understandable, magical and accessible not only for candidates and doctors of science. They decided to organize a simple version of the Shnobel Prize dedicated to mathematics. The name "Filkina Medal" was coined in tune with the Fields Medal, the most prestigious mathematical award. The winner of the prize is the author of a report on the most unscientific application of his own or someone else's research.
The director of the Mathematical Center in Akademgorodok, professor of the Mathematics and Mechanics Department of NSU
Evgeny Vdovin commented:
It is believed that modern mathematical problems are so complex that, in principle, they cannot be understood by ordinary people. During the 'Filkina' Medal Award, students, postgraduates and active scientists spoke in a comic and accessible form about deep mathematical concepts and problems, their implementation in real life situations. With such events, we want to show that mathematics is not some kind of knowledge accessible only to the elite, but that it is a living interesting science that arises and is applied everywhere in real life.
The award was attended by 12 speakers — postdocs of the Mathematical Center from Italy and Uruguay, a postgraduate student of the Mathematics and Mechanics Department (MMD) from France, teachers and students of the MMD, including students of the Fundamental Mathematical Research Group of and the Engineering School. They told guests about ways to escape justice, walk from a nightclub to the dormitory, and what programs a cat can write.
Vsevolod Afanasyev, a third-year student of the MMD, became the favorite and, accordingly, the winner of the prize with a story about how to optimize the spread of gossip.
Vsevolod shared his impressions:
A large theory has been developed in optimization and discrete mathematics, in which a bunch of techniques for solving applied problems have long been known. When I was invited to speak at the 'Filkina' Medal Award, I remembered one problem on the topic of gossip, or rather, about their optimal distribution. Similar questions (not only about gossip, of course) are considered in the framework of combinatorial optimization. In general, it was fun to prepare and present my talk. Most of all, I appreciated the atmosphere of the Award — this is exactly what is lacking in online seminars and conferences. I want more!
