E for Extra-European mathematics

Abstract

The authors introduce colleagues and friends from Africa and South America who collaborate with them in programs of international cooperation for teaching and research. They then chat with them about the problems and the perspectives of mathematics in developing countries. The discussion centers on the main obstacles to improving mathematics in such countries: the need to train local students at the PhD level, as well as the necessity to motivate them to come back if they are trained abroad, and to allow them to continue to profit from ongoing international relations.