Math4NL Community Event 2026

Connecting Mathematics with Industry and Society Across Europe

Thursday 3 December 2026 | CWI, Amsterdam | 10:00–17:00
Registration and coffee from 09:30
 

How can we connect mathematical expertise more effectively with challenges from industry, government and society? What can the Netherlands learn from successful initiatives elsewhere in Europe — and what can we learn from each other?

On 3 December 2026, Math4NL will bring together representatives of leading European organisations that build bridges between mathematics and the world outside academia. The Math4NL Community Event 2026 will provide an opportunity to compare different national and regional approaches, exchange experiences and best practices, and explore new opportunities for collaboration.

Across Europe, different models have emerged for connecting mathematical expertise with real-world challenges. Some operate as national knowledge-exchange infrastructures, others as university-based centres, professional networks, European umbrella organisations, or intensive problem-solving formats such as the European Study Groups with Industry. Rather than asking which model is “best”, we want to understand what makes these different approaches work and what we can learn from them.

From contact to lasting collaboration

Making connections is important, but it is only the beginning. The real challenge is how to move from an initial contact to a successful and sustainable collaboration.

How do we identify and articulate problems from industry and society? How do we find the right mathematical expertise? Who can act as a bridge between different communities? How do we build trust, create proof-of-concept projects, find appropriate funding, and eventually move promising ideas towards implementation and scale?

These questions are central to the further development of Math4NL. They also connect to a broader challenge for the Netherlands and Europe: excellent scientific knowledge does not automatically translate into innovation and societal impact. Strengthening the bridges between knowledge and application is therefore important not only for mathematics, but for the wider scientific community.

For that reason, the event is explicitly open to colleagues from other scientific disciplines, as well as representatives from industry, government, research organisations and the knowledge-exchange community.

European perspectives

The programme will include contributions from:

MACSI – Mathematics Applications Consortium for Science and Industry | Ireland

Based at the University of Limerick, MACSI has developed a strong model for bringing applied mathematics and statistics together with companies, public bodies and researchers from other disciplines to address real-world problems.
 

Knowledge Exchange Hub for Mathematical Sciences | United Kingdom

The UK Knowledge Exchange Hub provides a national infrastructure for connecting mathematical scientists with business, industry, government and other organisations, and for strengthening professional capacity for mathematical knowledge exchange.
 

KoMSO – Committee for Mathematical Modelling, Simulation and Optimization | Germany

KoMSO connects the German modelling, simulation and optimisation community and promotes interaction between mathematics, science, industry and society.
 

SIMAI / SISSA | Italy

The Italian Society for Applied and Industrial Mathematics and SISSA offer complementary perspectives on connecting applied mathematics, mathematical modelling and scientific computing with applications and external partners.
 

ECMI – European Consortium for Mathematics in Industry / ESGI

ECMI has a long tradition of strengthening the interaction between mathematics and industry. Particular attention during the Community Event will be given to the European Study Groups with Industry (ESGI), one of the oldest and most established instruments for bringing mathematicians and industry together. During these intensive Study Groups, companies and other organisations bring genuine problems to teams of mathematicians, who work collaboratively on them over several days. The model therefore goes considerably further than networking or matchmaking: mathematicians and industrial partners actually work together on real problems. We will be particularly interested in what has been learned from the ESGI model in practice: how effective are Study Groups in initiating collaborations, what makes them successful, and to what extent do they lead to longer-term relationships between mathematics and industry?
 

Swiss Applied Mathematical Society | Switzerland

 
The Swiss Applied Mathematical Society provides the Swiss perspective on connecting applied mathematics with technology, industry and society. Gang Mu, President of the Swiss Applied Mathematical Society, will contribute to the meeting, bringing also his extensive experience at the interface between mathematics and industry.
 

EU-MATHS-IN | Europe

 
EU-MATHS-IN is the European network for mathematics in industry and innovation. It connects national networks and mathematical expertise across Europe and facilitates collaboration between mathematics and industry across national borders.
 

Math4NL | Netherlands

 
Math4NL is developing a national platform for strengthening sustainable collaboration between mathematics and society. It aims to make mathematical expertise easier to find, to translate questions between practice and research, to connect the right people and organisations, and to support a Dutch ecosystem in which successful collaborations can develop from first contact towards implementation and impact.
 

An interactive meeting

 
The day will deliberately be discussion-oriented. Each participating initiative will give a short presentation about its model, experiences, successes and lessons learned.

A particular aim will be to compare not only organisations, but also the different mechanisms they use to create successful knowledge exchange.

In the afternoon, participants will work in smaller groups on questions such as:
  • How can we make mathematical expertise easier to find and connect it to real-world problems? 
  • What turns an initial contact into genuine joint problem-solving and a durable collaboration? 
  • What can we learn from mechanisms such as ESGI/Study Groups, challenge workshops and knowledge-exchange hubs? 
  • What roles should bridge-builders and knowledge-exchange professionals play? 
  • How can promising mathematical ideas progress from research to proof-of-concept, validation, implementation and scale? 
  • What should be organised nationally, what works best regionally, and where can European cooperation add value? 
The results will be brought together in a final plenary discussion.

From exchanging experiences to concrete next steps

 
Our ambition goes beyond sharing success stories. By the end of the meeting, we hope to identify a small number of shared principles for successfully connecting mathematics with industry and society, concrete lessons for the further development of Math4NL, and opportunities for future cooperation between the participating European initiatives.

An important question throughout the meeting will be how the different models represented — national infrastructures, research centres, professional networks, European coordination and intensive problem-solving mechanisms such as ESGI — can complement one another.

The broader question behind the day is simple:
How can we build better bridges so that mathematical knowledge reaches the places where it can make a difference, and so that challenges from industry and society can inspire new mathematics?
 

Who should attend?

 
The Math4NL Community Event is intended for anyone interested in strengthening the interaction between mathematics, science and society: researchers, representatives from industry and government, knowledge-exchange professionals, policymakers, research organisations, and colleagues from other scientific disciplines.
 
Date: Thursday 3 December 2026
Time: 10:00–17:00; registration and coffee from 09:30
Venue: CWI, Science Park 123, Amsterdam
Participation: Free, registration required (limited capacity, first come first go)

The detailed programme and registration information will be published shortly.