This week, the Mathematical Sciences Institute and the ANU-ASD Co-Lab hosted more than thirty local students as part of the National Youth Science Forum (NYSF) Year 12 Program. 

Activities started on Wednesday with a cyber security workshop by the Co-Lab team, in which participants gained hands on experience into how weak security mechanisms can be exploited by cybercriminals to access encrypted data.

On Thursday, students had the opportunity to test their maths skills with two activities, the first one focused on the theory of prime numbers and the Riemann Hypothesis with Jim Borger, and later explored the connection between braids and algebraic operations with Asilata Bapat.

The NYSF Year 12 Program is a 10-day residential program designed to give approx. 600 top students from every part of Australia a broader understanding of the diverse study and career options available in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) and to encourage continued studies in these fields. 

We would like to thank Jim and Asilata for your assistance in this event and for your continuous support in the outreach space, we appreciate your passion for teaching maths to younger generations and we look forward to more collaborations.