What is the purpose of mathematics? What are the current research topics in the field? What does being a researcher entail? How does one become a researcher? What study programmes must be pursue to become a mathematician? What are the possible career opportunities in the public and private sectors? These are natural questions raised by students about mathematics, which is sometimes misunderstood as a static discipline used to select the strongest students and perceived as fixed since the 17th century.

Welcoming a mathematician into the classroom provides an opportunity to answer all these questions. The interactions between the mathematician and the students can take different forms, such as discussions similar to the ones offered by the FNR’s Researchers’ Day, or it could be a lecture or an interactive quiz about mathematics, its applications, or its modern developments.