Back to Academic service and professional activities

Supporting mathematical research in developing countries

Since 2018 I have been involved in training mathematicians and promoting mathematical research in developing countries, particularly in French-speaking sub-Saharan Africa.

Steering committees

• (From 2025) Member of the Governing Board of CIMPA (Centre International de Mathématiques Pures et Appliquées) .
• (Since 2024) Co-coordinator of the research network Arithmetic and Geometry in Central Africa (REDAGAAC).
• (Since 2022) Representative of CIMPA for the selection committee of the African Mathematical Schools.
• (Since 2021) Co-supervisor of the Number theory and Information Theory node for the International CNRS Research Network AFRIMath.

Conferences and seminars which I co/organized

• (Nov. 2024) Gabonese Workshop in Arithmetic and beyond, ENS Libreville. Research school, conference, outreach activities for the general public and students. Budget: about 40,000€.
• (March 2024) Fourth Algebraic Days of Gabon, ENS Libreville. Research school in number theory and arithmetic geometry, talks given by young researchers, a one-day meeting for Gabonese Women in Mathematics, outreach activites for the general public. Budget: about 30,000€.
• (2022) Third Algebraic Days of Gabon, ENS Libreville, Gabon. Research school and conference on algebraic geometry, arithmetic geometry and number theory, a one-day meeting for Gabonese Women in Mathematic, outreach activities for the general public. Three weeks, about 50 participants. Budget: about 30,000 €.
• (2022) CIMPA Research School on Cryptography, theoretical and computational aspects of Number Theory, AIMS Senegal. Two weeks, about 45 participants. Budget: 30,000€. Final report of the school.
• (2021-2022) Co-organizer of the online AFRIMath seminar on Number Theory and Information Theory, with Tony Ezome
• (2021) African Mathematical School on Introduction to Number Theory, Cryptography and related courses, AIMS Senegal. Two weeks, about 50 participants. Budget: 25,000€. Final report of the school.
• (2018) CIMPA Research School on Arithmetic, algorithmic and cryptography, in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo. Two weeks, about 50 participants. Budget: 20,000€. Final report of the school.

Other scientific events I took part in

• (Dec. 2024) Talk at the online seminar REDAGAAC.
• (Sept. 2022) Workshop Women in Sage in Nigeria (online participation).
• (June 2022) CIMPA Research School at Institut de Mathématiques et de Sciences Physiques, Dangbo, Benin (two weeks). An article about this school in the newspaper of University of Franche-Comté and a podcast interview for the university.
• (March 2022) Workshop of the Gabonese Women in Mathematics Association (online participation).
• (Dec. 2021) Research school on Number Theory and its Applications, Institut de Mathématiques et de Sciences Physiques, Dangbo, Benin (online participation).
• (Sept. 2021) Workshop Women in Sage Senegal, AIMS Senegal.

Courses taught

Mini-courses at Master 2 level, typically lasting between 6 and 10 hours, in English or French. Topics:

• Elliptic curves (Kinshasa, 2018)
• Introduction to SageMath (Senegal, 2021) - link to the course
• Modular forms and elliptic curves (Benin, 2022)
• Algorithmic Number Theory (Senegal, 2022)
• Algebraic Number Theory I (Gabon, 2022), as part of a CIMPA course
• Algebraic Number Theory II (Gabon, 2024)
• Introduction to modular forms (Gabon, 2024)

International or African organizations with which I have collaborated

... to finance these actions:

• University of Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo
• AIMS Senegal, Mbour
• CIMPA, Centre International de Mathématiques Pures et Appliquées
• Direction Europe et International (DEI), CNRS. Project SENAREX Écoles sénégalaises en arithmétique et mathématiques explicites, with Bernadette Faye, funded in 2021-22 (15,000 €). This project has helped finance three scientific events in Senegal in 2021 and 2022.
• International CNRS Research Network AFRIMath of CNRS.
• International Mathematical Union - Commission for Developing Countries
• International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP), Trieste, Italie - Office of External Activities
• Roman Number Theory Association, Italy
• Foundation Compositio Mathematica, Netherland
• Number Theory Foundation, USA

Partner mathematicians on the African continent

• Tony Ezome, ENS Libreville, Gabon
• Bernadette Faye, Université Alioune Diop de Bambey, Senegal
• Rebecca Walo Omana, Université de Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo.

Others

• Member of the International CNRS Research Network GANDA (Geometry and Arithmetic) between France, South Africa, Denmark and Madagascar.
• (2019) CIMPA Research school on Cryptography, theoretical and computational aspects of algebraic number theory and algebra, Haiti. The school had to be cancelled at the last minute for safety reasons.