10 Years: IMAGINARY, Open Mathematics

The IMAGINARY journey began in 2007 at the Mathematisches Forschungsinstitut Oberwolfach. Nobody could foresee (or had the slightest clue) that it would grow to be a 10 years+ journey of maths communication with an international, interactive, research-based and open-source core!

IMAGINARY developed from a one-country traveling exhibition project (2007‑2008); to an expanding international exhibition (2009‑2012); to an open-source platform (2013); to creating school projects, a community a network, organizing competitions, conferences, workshops, teacher trainings, and experimenting with new technologies (2014‑2016); and to founding our organization (2017). We often wondered: what will IMAGINARY be or do next year? We continued creating, and sharing our love for maths and people.

Today, after 10 years, we are happy and proud to have invented an open-source infrastructure for maths exhibits and exhibitions, which is spreading globally. Through IMAGINARY, hundreds of mathematicians have become exhibition organizers and have engaged with several million visitors! With over 300 events in more than 50 countries, great exhibits in 30 languages, and a growing community of contributors, we can only thank you!

We are still wondering: What will be next? Thank you all for being part of this amazing journey.

Your IMAGINARY team.

We have some great news to start our 11th year

And there are lots of exciting things in the pipeline. Keep in touch!

   

The IMAGINARY Journey

2007
The first IMAGINARY exhibition takes place in the Technical University in Munich.
The Surfer program is developed.
2008
Our exhibition tours 12 cities in Germany and is visited by over 120,000 people.
First Surfer competitions with the journal Die Zeit and the periodical Spektrum der Wissenschaft.
2009
IMAGINARY travels the world! Events are organized in Austria, the United States, Ukraine and Pakistan.
The Ukraine event is the first fully organized, localized and built by locals.
2010
The MiMa (Museum for Minerals and Mathematics) opens in Oberwolfach, featuring IMAGINARY exhibits.
Talks and workshops take place in Tel Aviv, Jerusalem and Mumbai.
2011
IMAGINARY Spain becomes the first regional unit, organizing exhibitions in multiple cities and a local conference.
The first IMAGINARY event in Latin America takes place in Colombia.
2012
The first IMAGINARY event in East Asia is held in Suzhou, China. Several exhibitions in Russia and Argentina.
The MoMath museum opens in New York with a custom version of Surfer as one of its exhibits.
2013
The Mathematics of Planet Earth Exhibition is launched in Paris, with IMAGINARY as a partner.
IMAGINARY participates in the Bridges Conference for the first time (and has returned every year).
The new IMAGINARY website provides an open and collaborative online archive of math exhibits.
The Entdeckerbox, a box containing both physical objects and software, is made available.
The IMAGINARY Uruguay team begins their journey.
Gert-Martin Greuel and Andreas Matt win the Medienpreis Mathematik 2013 by the Deutsche Mathematiker Vereinigung (DMV) for IMAGINARY.
2014
The first IMAGINARY event in Africa is held in Tanzania.
IMAGINARY France is established.
IMAGINARY is present at the ICM 2014 in Seoul, South Korea, with the biggest exhibition so far.
2015
A record 58 events all over the world. IMAGINARY Turkey and IMAGINARY South Korea translate our content for local events.
The Snapshots of Mathematics project is published.
2016
The IMAGINARY gGmbH spins off as an independent non-profit organization.
The IMAGINARY Conference (IC16) is held in Berlin for over 150 people in 4 days of talks and workshops.
Mathematikon a mathematical shopping center in Heidelberg, opens with IMAGINARY exhibits and collaborations.
2017
We opened our office in Berlin at Mittenwalder Str. 48
The Science Spaces project begins in collaboration with several Goethe-Institutes worldwide.
The second Mathematics of Planet Earth competition was held and the winners were exhibited in London.
It’s IMAGINARY’s 10th anniversary!

Since the birth of IMAGINARY there have been 311 events in 55 countries.

Thank you

The biggest THANK YOU goes to Gert-Martin Greuel. Without you, IMAGINARY would not have started, would not have grown, would not exist. Thank you for your endless efforts and work on IMAGINARY, from the very beginning until now!


THANK YOU to our main project partners and supporters (institutions)

Mathematisches Forschungsinstitut Oberwolfach (MFO)
Klaus Tschira Stiftung (KTS)
Leibniz Gemeinschaft
German Federal Ministry of Education and Science (BMBF)
UNESCO
Oberwolfach Stiftung
Real Sociedad Matemática Española (RSME)
National Institute for Mathematical Sciences (NIMS)

Institut Henri Poincaré (IHP)
African Institutes of Mathematical Sciences (AIMS)
Turkish Mathematical Society (TMD)
The Mathematical Society of the Republic of China (中華民國數學會)
Cap Maths
Mathema
KinderuniKunst Wien


We thank all persons who have contributed to IMAGINARY, as team members, supporters, decision makers or external advisors. We are sure that we need to add many more of you, and will further extend this list.

Alba Málaga, Albert Haase, Alexander Caspar, Alexander Zimmermann, Alexandra Fritz, Alexandra Otiman, Alexandru Constantinescu, Alicia Dickenstein, Alejandro Baranek, Ana Isabel Pérez Martín, Andre Heydt, Andreas Daniel Matt, Andreas Gebert, Andreas Loos, Andreas Reuter, Angelika Daniel, Anja Teuner, Anja Teuner, Anna Hartkopf, Anna Pinto-Ferreira, Anne Kahnt, Anne Lauber-Rönsberg, Antonia Mey, Antonio Campillo, Arkadius Kalka, Arun Sharma, Ata Kerem Sütçüoğlu, Aubin Arroyo, Audrey Namdiero-Walsh, Aurélien Alvarez, Ayşe Pala, Bahar Günaydın, Beate Spiegel, Bernhard Fleischmann, Bernhard Ganter, Betül Kalıpçıoğlu, Betül Tanbay, Bianca Violet, Bruce Mafuta Shola, Carina Geldhauser, Carla Cederbaum, Cavit Görkem Destan, Cédric Villani, Charles Gunn, Chiquira Wagner, Christian Rauch, Christian Stussak, Christiane Rousseau, Christiane Schirok, Christoph Knoth, Christoph Pöppe, Christoph Weber, Christopher De Nicolo, Chulmin Kang (강철민박사님), Daniel Armbruster, Daniel Ramos, Daniel Weiss, David Grünberg, Dean Yongtak Jin (진용탁), Demet Kaya, Diego Armentano, Dietmar Kröner, Diren Yıldırım, Dominik Essing, Donggyu Lim, Seungwon Kim, Duco van Straten, Ehrhard Behrends, Ekaterina Eremenko, Emre Güngör, Eric Londaits, Erich Fuchs, Erik Hörtnagl, Esennur Uzun, Esra Gül, Ezgi Altındağ, Feride Ceren Köse, Ferit Özturk, Ferran Dachs, FORWISS, Fulya Taştan, Gang Liu, Gerhard Huisken, Gert-Martin Greuel, Gökhan Bal, Gözde Sert, Guillaume Jouvet, Günter M. Ziegler, Hannes Grimm-Strele, Harun Kır, Hatice Sezen, Heide Bottling, Helen Yu, Helen Yu (余筱嵐), Helmut Kastenholz, Henning Meyer, Henry Segerman, Hermann Karcher, Herwig Hauser, Hong-Bin Chen (陳宏賓), Hyuk Jun Kweon, Hyungju Park, İlkiz Bildik, Isabelle Jordy, Jaap, Jessica Wieczorek, Jineon Baek, Johanna Siegmund, Jos Leys, José Francisco Rodrigues, José Ignacio Farrán, Julien Cortier, Julio Bernués, Jungkai Alfred Chen (陳榮凱), Jürgen Richter-Gebert, Juste Jean-Paul Ngome Abiaga, Kaan Göze, Katerina Giannakoulopoulos, Katrin Schmid, Klaus Tschira, Ko-Wei Lih (李國偉), Konrad Renner, Lea Renner, Maik Urbanek, Makbule Yıldız, Malte Westphalen, Manfred Kuhnkies, Marcelo Fiori, Mariana Pereira, Martin Andler, Martin von Gagern, Mateja Budin, Mercedes Siles Molina, Merve Aygöl, Michael Joswig, Michael Kateregga, Mikhail Rusakov, Milena Damrau, Mine Özerden, Ming-Chi Lai(賴明治), Mireille Chaleyat, Nadja Pernat, Nehir Kübra Yücel, Nicolás Villagrán Dos Santos, Norman Friedenberger, Nur Yatkın, Oğuz Gürerk, Oleksandr Motsak, Oliver Labs, Omar Gil, Pablo Groisman, Paul Igodt, Petra Lein, Rinus Roelofs, Rıdvan Özdemir, Robert Wöstenfeld, Rosita E. Yocgo, Ruth Brozek, Ruth Wetzlar, Samuel Lelièvre, Sebastià Xambó, Sebastian Uribe, Sergiy Ovsiyenko, Seungjai Lee, Seunguk Jang, Shin-Shin Kao (高欣欣), Sibel Candemir, Silke Beller, Silke Vollenhofer-Zimmel, Silvia Benvenuti, Silvia Gomez, Simon Krohn, Sophia Jahns, Steffen Weissmann, Stephan Klaus, Stephanie Schiemann, Sümeyye Alpay, Sümeyye Dabanlı, Susanne Page, Susanne Riester, Tatjana Ruf, Thomas Vogt, Tuğçe Koç, Ulaş Yardımcı, Ülgen Kılıç, Uli Gaenshirt, Ulrich Kortenkamp, Ulrich Pinkall, Ulrich Schüller, Umut Çoraplı, Verena Franke, Weichung Wang (王偉仲), Yeon-Eung Kim, Yunus Semih Coşkun, Zekeriya Ünal