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Valentina Gogovska from the Republic of North Macedonia sharing thoughts about MCG

 



I am Valentina Gogovska from Tetovo in the Republic of North Macedonia. There I work as an associated professor at UKIM, Faculty of Natural Sciences and Mathematics in Skopje, North Macedonia. I took my PhD in 2014 at the Neofit Rilski University at Blegoevgrad in Bulgaria. 

My first contacts with the Group for Mathematical Creativity and Giftedness date back to 2003, at the conference in Svishtov, Bulgaria and 2004 in Copenhagen, at ICME 10. However, I want to emphasize that the meeting at the conference in Riga, 2010 was inspiring and unforgettable, at least for me. The excellently organized conference, but most of all the impeccable team of the Group for Mathematical Creativity and the members of the International Committee, the amazing Linda who was the president at that time, their motivation, togetherness, attractive energy and unique enthusiasm made me feel happy and myself. Since then, I consider myself an active member of the group, although I was elected as a member of the International Committee of the Group for Mathematical Creativity and Giftedness only in 2017, at the conference in Nicosia. I am especially happy to be part of this group. I consider the group as my family, made up of dedicated members who invest in themselves and their work in order to encourage interest in mathematics and improve the achievements of students and their acquisition of structural and permanent knowledge.

Although I have been a member of the International Committee since 2017, I have made my greatest contribution at local level. Within the Faculty of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, we organized Science Days for primary and secondary school students, and in addition, at my Institute of Mathematics, we organize annual seminars for students and teachers (for science and education) in which I regularly participate. In these seminars, apart from me, participate my colleagues, our students and most of the successful professors and teachers who further illustrate their dedication and investment. I have also given several lectures on mathematical creativity and giftedness at international education conferences, all with the aim of encouraging interest in mathematics. In addition, my institute has a special POIM Portal that serves to stimulate the curiosity of the youngest, as well as a special, free site with mathematical texts, puzzles, books and materials for students of all ages.

The story I want to share is a positive one, for both, our Institute of Mathematics and the entire Faculty of Natural Sciences and Mathematics and it consists of two parts: The POIM Portal, whose main goal is to increase awareness of the place and role of mathematics in the sciences, technology, teaching, nature and culture. The articles published on the portal describe the role of mathematics in solving specific problems from different areas of mathematics and beyond. Shorter texts are also published, such as mathematical puzzles, problems, creative texts, a brief overview of mathematical theories, by which we highlight the beauty of mathematics as a result of its perfection and precision. In order to maintain the relationship between the faculty and our students who are teachers in secondary and primary schools as well as the teaching and university staff, we started organizing seminars, workshops and competitions for students. The second, the "Mathematics and Applications" seminar with the aim to promote mathematical sciences among young people, review past achievements in mathematical sciences and their applications, consider directions and opportunities for future research. There is no registration fee to participate in the seminars, and the participants will be able to publish their work and receive a Certificate of participation. All interested university professors and associates, representatives from the industrial and social sectors, current professors and teachers from secondary and primary schools, students and pupils who show significant mathematical results and interest in mathematics are invited to participate.

Finally, I will paraphrase a famous quote from Mother Teresa, maybe not all of us can do great things, but everyone can do small things which multiplied by the number of doers will encourage positive change. Therefore, I invite you to join our family, the Group for Mathematical Creativity and Giftedness, and with joint efforts to make the world a better place.

 

An application for participation in the group can be filled out at this link.

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