InterMat: Maths should be fun, playful – and engaging

Maths can be difficult to grasp when students move directly from high school into higher education programmes that include substantial mathematical content. A dedicated outreach initiative, InterMat at DTU, aimed at students in their second and third and last year of high school, seeks to ease this transition.

High schools can access online teaching materials, including exercises and slides, which are used in classroom teaching in advance of project days at DTU.

At the end of April, this spring’s project day brought together more than 80 students and their teachers from seven high schools, primarily from the Copenhagen area. Thirteen students and their teacher had travelled all the way from Aabenraa in Jutland to take part.

Strong interest

DTU Compute contributed both experienced researchers and lecturers as well as a few early‑career researchers — a PhD student and a postdoctoral researcher — who introduced the maths behind ChatGPT, QR codes, images and matrix calculations, as well as tomography, where maths makes it possible to visualise the invisible.

The day included several workshops combining short lectures and hands‑on exercises, allowing students to test their newly acquired knowledge.

“We place great emphasis on showing that maths is fun and playful. We are delighted to see young people taking an interest in maths. There were many questions, and I sensed a great deal of energy and eagerness to learn,” said Professor Kim Knudsen, who together with Associate Professor Emeritus Karsten Schmidt, Professor Steen Markvorsen and Associate Professor Ulrik Engelund Pedersen had put together the day’s programme.

A well‑designed and accessible format

Maths and Physics Teacher Dorte Nielsen from Aabenraa Statsskole participated together with 13 second‑year students. The group had stayed overnight in Copenhagen and were due to travel home later that evening.

“We take part because of the format. This is maths for students with a particular interest in the subject. InterMat is easy to engage with, as the online materials — with exercises and slides — can be used directly in teaching as preparation. You can then come here, see DTU and take part. The day has inspired the students by showing what maths can be used for in real life,” said Dorte Nielsen.

The outreach initiative InterMat was established in 2014 at Birkerød Gymnasium in collaboration with DTU Compute. Students from that high school have participated year after year, and among this year’s participants were Rita, Amalie and Erik from the physics and maths study programme.

They were very enthusiastic about the project day, as it gave them the opportunity to spend a full day at DTU working with maths. In a regular high‑school lesson, there is rarely time to explore topics in depth, and the day also provided broader perspectives on the practical applications of maths, they said. They also returned home with ideas for topics for their SPR (the major written assignment in the final year of high school).

Continuing education programme for teachers

DTU Compute has furthermore strengthened its engagement with high‑school teachers through a specially designed continuing education programme in Maths and Computational Thinking: InterMat 2.0 . Teachers can apply for funding for this programme through the Novo Nordisk Foundation.

The deadline for applying to the Foundation for funding to participate in InterMat 2.0 in autumn 2027 is 27 October 2026.