Sonia Kovalevsky Day at UGA

The department of mathematics held its first-ever Sonia Kovalevsky Day on Saturday, April 20, 2024 at the UGA Boyd Research and Education Center. Named for the first major Russian female mathematician and the first woman appointed to full professorship in Northern Europe, the event celebrates Sonia Kovalevsky (b. 1850). Kovalevsky displayed an aptitude for mathematics from a very young age; but her father discouraged her because he believed that there was no need for educated women and put a stop to further mathematical instruction when she turned thirteen. She continued her mathematical studies secretly. In her honor, Sonia Kovalevsky days are organized at universities throughout the world, to encourage girls to pursue a career in maths.

The UGA event was organized by Nurömür Hülya Argüz and Pierrick Bousseau, assistant professors in the math department.


The Sonia Kovalevsky day at UGA provided an opportunity for (6th, 7th, or 8th grade) middle school students to engage in a day of networking, mentoring, and fun. 

"We had 15 middle school students, mostly from the Athens Clarke county school district," Argüz said. During the event, PhD students Sayan Chattopadhyay, and Delaney Morgan as well as volunteers Barbara Remmers and Alethea He served as activity leaders together with Argüz and Bousseau. The day was comprised of three activities:

Activity 1: Seemingly Impossible Card Tricks: Once you know the math behind these tricks, they are easy to remember and then you can shock your friends and family with your amazing abilities.


Activity 2: Become a SOMA cube expert: The SOMA cube is a puzzle whose seven pieces can form a cube in 240 different ways!  But solving it isn't as simple as that makes it sound. Participants will construct their own SOMA puzzle and be able to solve it.


Activity 3: How to color terrific maps: Keys to mathematics are beauty and elegance. Participants illustrate this point by coloring maps of beautiful mathematical shapes, and of imaginary lands. While doing this, students learn how many colors are needed to fill the regions of a map, so that neighboring ones get different colors.

"I feel very fortunate that I had the chance to join the faculty in mathematics, and I appreciate all the support I got throughout my career. To pay it forward, I am committed to build new platforms, involving female students and minorities, for networking and mentoring," Argüz said. "During the Sonia Kovalevsky day, it was great to see so many young students excited about maths, and enthusiastic to learn about the career opportunities ahead of them. We'll definitely continue with further editions of such events in the future."

Image: Participants gluing/assembling Soma cubes