Thirteen women mathematicians portrayed in the original exhibition share their experience, thus serving as role models to stimulate young women scientists to trust their own strength. In presenting mathematics through women mathematicians’ perspectives and samples of their life stories, the curators hoped to highlight the human aspects of producing mathematics, making this discipline more tangible and therefore more accessible to outsiders or newcomers.

The format, originally envisaged as a networking opportunity and for which the project was awarded with the Humboldt Alumni Award 2015, has indeed proved to reinforce collaborations and exchanges between mathematicians in different European countries, and stimulate dialogue around the themes of the exhibition between the general public and mathematicians. 

You can see individual panels in our online gallery. To download the full exhibition (all panels in high resolution for printing), please make sure you have a sufficient internet connection:

Full quality Panels for printing (PDF, 728.5 MB)

Mid quality Panels (JPG, 33.5 MB)

Catalogue (PDF, 4.2 MB)

Full quality Poster for printing (PDF, 16.3 MB)

Mid quality Poster (PDF, 1.9 MB)

Full quality Panels for printing (PDF, 611.1 MB)

Mid quality Panels (PDF, 48.8 MB)

Full quality Panels for printing (PDF, 700.1 MB)

Following the opening in Berlin 2016, the exhibition has been traveling to more than 80 cities in and out of Europe, including South America, Australia and Africa. Please check details of the venues from 2016-2018 at Women of Maths.

The exhibition has further triggered other similar projects leading to extended versions of the exhibition in various cities (Cambridge, Aachen, Kaiserslautern, Heidelberg and even other continents, in Chile) where further Portraits of Mathematicians (and computer scientists in the case of Heidelberg) where added to the existing panels.

This exhibition and the catalogue (publishing house: Verlag am Fluss) are the result of the joint efforts of the photographer Noel Tovia Matoff and four mathematicians: Sylvie Paycha, Sara Azzali, Alexandra Antoniouk, Magdalena Georgescu. With the precious help of Maria Hoffmann-Dartevelle, who translated into German and Sara Munday, who proofread the interviews and, last but not least, our two inspired graphic designers Wenke Neunast/eckedesign (exhibition) and Gesine Krüger (catalogue).

The exhibition was made possible on the basis of a project submitted by Alexandra Antoniouk and Sylvie Paycha.

You can download the catalogue or order it in paper form via the publishing house Verlag am Fluss.