Europe Blog
Our views on the Internet and society
Giving young mathematicians the chance to shine
Friday, January 21, 2011
Maths is very important to Google. It’s the basis of everything we do: from the
algorithms
that deliver answers to your search queries, to the way in which your Gmails are grouped in
conversations
, to the technology advances which are enabling us to develop
driverless cars
. It’s so important to us, that our founders named the company after a very large number - a
Googol
.
Maths is given a lot of importance by policy makers too - its contribution to
creativity and innovation
was celebrated in some of the events organised by the European Union back in 2009. And in December last year, the latest
OECD PISA report
and
league tables
highlighted how well (or not) Europe’s various national education systems are performing in the core educational fields of reading, mathematics and science.
Over the last few months, our attention’s been drawn to another mathematical league table - the one that tracks the
winners of the International Mathematical Olympiad
, first held in Romania in 1959. The IMO is the world championship of secondary school mathematics, designed to test ingenuity and insight and tax the sharpest minds in the world.
Google has always encouraged and supported excellence in the sciences, whether in its own staff, or in its work with academics around the world. And so yesterday, together with the Advisory Board of the International Mathematical Olympiad, we were proud to announce that we are
making a gift of one million euros
to the organisation to help cover the costs of the next five global events (2011-15).
From left to right: Peter Barron (Google), Robbert Dijkgraaf (Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences, Chair of the IMO 2011 Foundation) and Geoff Smith (University of Bath, UK and member of the IMO Advisory Board)
We’re delighted that we can help the IMO bring young mathematicians from around the world together to celebrate a shared passion, to push themselves and to compete to be the best in the world.
This year’s event
takes place in Amsterdam in July and we’ll be watching out for the results with particular interest.
And I don’t doubt that quite a few Googlers will also spend some time in coming months trying solve
the sort of mathematical challenges
that will be put to the world’s young Maths Olympians.
Posted by Simon Hampton, Director of Public Policy, Google (BSc Maths)
Google@Thought: exploring happiness
Thursday, January 20, 2011
Brussels is a very busy place. Every week, hundreds of meetings and events take place across the city, hosted by officials, politicians and lobbyists from every part of Europe. Understandably, it’s all too easy to get “event fatigue” in this town.
Which is why - every once in a while - we like to take a break from talking about the policy issues of the day and organise a Google@Thought seminar. We invite speakers who delight in the exploration of ideas and concepts that reach far beyond the Brussels bubble, and enjoy a relaxed dinner with our guests.
Just before Christmas we hosted
Professor Ruut Veenhoven
, director of the
World Database of Happiness
, founding editor of the Journal of Happiness Studies and Emeritus Professor of 'social conditions for human happiness' at Erasmus University Rotterdam in the Netherlands.
Professor Veenhoven’s specialism, the measurement of happiness, is a discipline that is rapidly gaining interest amongst sociologists, psychologists,
economists
, and most recently, politicians in
France
and in
the UK
.
“Happy people live longer”, explains Professor Veenhoven, “and they really live longer. The effect of being happy or not on how you live is comparable to smoking or not. Basically, if you feel happy it is because your needs are gratified, as an organism you are thriving.” And happy people are good for society. They are likely to be more more healthy and active, and more likely to be politically engaged.
You can explore Professor Veenhoven’s research yourself at the World Database of Happiness - and enjoy the highlights of Professor Veenhoven’s Google@Thought seminar in the below YouTube video.
Posted by Angela Steen, Policy Analyst
Labels
Academics
18
Advertising
10
Africa
26
Austria
7
Belgium
25
Big Tent
11
Bosnia and Herzegovina
2
Browsers
1
Brussels Tech Talk
7
Bulgaria
5
Campus
2
Child Safety
24
Cloud computing
17
Competition
16
Computer Science
35
Computing Heritage
37
Consumers
11
controversial content
2
COP21
1
copyright
34
Crisis Response
2
Culture
116
Czech Republic
16
Data Centre
15
Denmark
4
Digital News Initiative
6
Digital Single Market
1
Diversity
7
Economic Impact of the Internet
57
Economy
24
Elections
7
Energy + Environment
16
Engineering
6
Environment
5
Estonia
6
European Commission
21
European Parliament
14
European Union
104
exhibitions
1
Finland
13
France
77
Free Expression
88
Free flow of information
47
German
1
Germany
65
Google for Entrepreneurs
9
Google in Europe Blog
846
Google Play
1
Google TechTalk
2
Google Translate
1
Google Trends
3
Google+
4
Greece
16
Growth Engine
3
Hackathon
3
Hungary
16
Innovation
70
Internet Governance
7
IP
10
Ireland
16
Israel
17
Italy
42
Journalism
34
Latvia
1
Lithuania
1
Luxembourg
3
Maps
17
Middle East
18
Netherlands
6
News
2
News Lab
1
North Africa
6
Norway
3
online
1
Online Safety
2
Open data
8
Open Government
7
Open source
2
Poland
24
Portugal
6
Power of Data
25
privacy
49
Publishing
30
Right to be Forgotten
9
Rio+20
1
Romania
3
Russia
18
Safer Internet Day
4
San Marino
1
Science
5
Security
7
Single Market
7
Slovakia
16
Slovenia
2
SMEs
24
Spain
39
Startups
6
State of the Union
2
STEM Education
36
Street View
38
Surveillance
1
Sweden
13
Switzerland
11
Telecoms
11
The Netherlands
4
Tourism
1
Transparency
12
Tunisia
4
Turkey
3
Ukraine
3
United Kingdom
94
Vatican
2
Youth
2
YouTube
42
Archive
2016
Sep
Aug
Jul
Jun
May
Apr
Mar
Feb
Jan
2015
Dec
Nov
Oct
Sep
Aug
Jul
Jun
May
Apr
Mar
Feb
Jan
2014
Dec
Nov
Oct
Sep
Aug
Jul
Jun
May
Apr
Mar
Feb
Jan
2013
Dec
Nov
Oct
Sep
Aug
Jul
Jun
May
Apr
Mar
Feb
Jan
2012
Dec
Nov
Oct
Sep
Aug
Jul
Jun
May
Apr
Mar
Feb
Jan
2011
Dec
Nov
Oct
Sep
Aug
Jul
Jun
May
Apr
Mar
Feb
Jan
Giving young mathematicians the chance to shine
Google@Thought: exploring happiness
2010
Dec
Nov
Oct
Sep
Aug
Jul
Jun
May
Apr
Mar
Feb
Jan
2009
Dec
Nov
Oct
Sep
Aug
Jul
Jun
May
Apr
Mar
Feb
Feed
Give us feedback in our
Product Forums
.
