Clara Prats, Scientist and Professor at the Universidad Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC), will visit the Baix Camp de Reus today to give a lecture on how mathematics can contribute to finding answers to problems related to health and the inclusion of women in the world. about science.
How can mathematics contribute to finding answers to health-related problems?
Mathematics is a handy tool for quantification and modulation. In the current context, help us make predictions that contribute to epidemic management, that is, using mathematical tools, we can model the dynamics of the epidemic and predict how infection, hospital occupations, deaths, etc. will develop. . Within three or four weeks. In other words, they contribute to providing more information when making decisions and managing resources.
What will he convey to the students?
double message. First of all, mathematics can be useful in many aspects of our professional and personal lives. Second, I would like to convey that when we talk about interdisciplinarity, such as using mathematics to study a biomedical problem, it is not that doctors know mathematics, but that doctors know how to work with mathematicians, and vice versa. This means finding channels of communication between experts from different disciplines.
Knowledge must also be imparted to citizens.
If you’ve taken a communication exercise with someone from a different discipline, you have a much closer way of speaking with the community. This aspect is important when we talk about public health, because society is part of the problem and part of the solution. Doing the exercise of translating scientific knowledge into informative and rigorous knowledge is key.
Does math help improve emotion management?
Personally, identifying and quantifying things, to understand the situation, helps me manage emotions. I think mathematics has played a key role in this sense, that is, when it comes to being able to better explain a situation.
Scientific training from school is crucial.
Having a scientific background will allow children and teens to understand their surroundings and gain critical insight.
Should we have blind faith in science?
We must trust the scientific method. What we cannot do is accept scientific knowledge as an immutable fact because it changes. What is considered scientific evidence today, may have changed a year from now.
Efforts must also be made to awaken the scientific calls of women.
There is still a significant inconsistency if we consider those who are engaged in research professionally, that is, there are more men than women. Rather, diversity is richer. In the same way that when we study a problem from different disciplines we can go further, interdisciplinarity also entails diversity of perspectives and gender. For all these reasons, an increase in female presence will enrich science.
Is the current problem in reconciling family life and research career?
After training between the ages of 20 and 30, between the ages of 30 and 40 you should settle down and look for a place in a company, research center, university, etc. This stage coincides with the stage of motherhood. The problem with the science race is that if you “get off the wagon,” and when you come back, you don’t do it at the same point, but you take a step back. You are at a disadvantage and therefore there must be policies looking for a solution.
