Circle U. has selected eleven projects for its 2025 seed-funding round, supporting new academic, professional and student-led initiatives across the alliance. The funded proposals reflect the alliance’s commitment to interdisciplinarity, sustainability, inclusion and long-term cooperation among its member universities. Each month, we spotlight one of these projects.
Making abstract ideas tangible
Mathematics and computer science are often perceived as abstract and difficult to grasp. Yet with the right approach, complex ideas can become engaging, intuitive and even playful.
The project "Interactive Objects in Computer Science and Mathematics: Workshops and Joint Exhibitions", led by David Kohan Marzagao, brings together three science communication initiatives based at King’s College London, the University of Belgrade and the University of Oslo. It aims to explore new ways of illustrating abstract concepts for students, academics and the wider public through interactive objects and shared exhibitions.
A key element of the project is the co-design of a new interactive piece centred on the concept of “rep-tiles”, shapes that can tile a surface while also forming a larger version of themselves. Developed in collaboration with students during dedicated workshops, these objects will be produced using tools such as 3D printing and laser cutting, allowing them to be shared and replicated across institutions.
In this article, David Kohan Marzagao explains the thinking behind the initiative.
Why does your research project matter?
The main activities to be undertaken in this project are joint exhibitions of interactive objects in computer science and mathematics, as well as workshops created to allow participants to take part in the exploration of such objects, possibly involving the creation or design of new pieces.
The impact of these activities includes the dissemination of science as well as encouraging students and the general public to pursue STEM-related careers.
What will you achieve within the project this year?
We aim to create interactive objects own the intersection of our research, interests and past experience in designing such objects. One example of such an object is exploring the concepts rep-tiles, pieces that tile the board in certain way. The creation of these objects will be with the participation of undergraduate or postgraduate students. We will then co-run exhibitions of the new objects alongside our collections.
Students participants in the project will develop skills in science communication and team work. Participants of the exhibitions will be able to interact with such objects and experience science and mathematics in a potential novel way.
