Domast PhD seminar

The Domast student seminar is an informal seminar for doctoral students of mathematics and statistics, as well as (advanced) Master’s degree level students interested in research. The aim is to give students an opportunity to develop science communication and presentation skills and to get a peek into other fields than their own. Students of Domast may obtain study credits for presenting in or organising the seminar. After every speaker there will be a relaxed discussion as well as a feedback session, so be prepared to take part in these if you attend. The seminar was organised for the first time in Autumn 2020.

Everyone is welcome and we hope to have speakers from all Domast fields!

In Autumn 2023 the seminar is organized by Jonathan Pim and Julia Sanders (both firstname.lastname@helsinki.fi). In Spring 2023 the seminar was organized by Susanna Heikkilä and Petri Laarne.

The seminar is held bi-weekly on Fridays at 14–16, in Exactum B222 (unless otherwise mentioned).

Autumn 2023Speaker

8 September 2023 Janne Siipola

Boxing and unboxing the black box of AI
Neural networks are functions that have gained growing popularity in recent years. In this talk I will discuss about the basics of AI. We will begin with thinking what does one mean with the black box of AI and take a look at some of the recent applications. After that I show some of the efforts people have made to understand neural networks solutions within mathematical problems, especially within partial differential equations.

Expected length: 30-45 minutes
Goal: Advertise neural networks, familiarize the audience to neural networks, give a glimpse into the mathematical theory on neural networks.
Target audience: PhD students
22 September 2023 Matilda Häggblom

How to build a team
In team semantics formulas are evaluated in a set of assignments, called a team, as opposed to a single assignment under the usual semantics. Team semantics allow us to examine various relationships between variables, such as dependence, independence, exclusion, and inclusion.
We consider the implication problems for exclusion and inclusion: Does a finite set of exclusion (inclusion) atoms entail a given exclusion (inclusion) atom? We show that the implication problems are axiomatizable and prove them by building counterexample teams.

Expected time: 25-30 minutes.
Goal: Explain in a simple way how to build teams to prove some implication problems for dependence atoms.
Target audience: PhD and MSc students.
6 October 2023 Petri Laarne
20 October 2023 Susanna Heikkilä
3 November 2023 Ensio Suonperä
17 November 2023 Sami Vihko
1 December 2023 Lauri Tarpila
15 December 2023 TBA