T4EU SCIENCE CAFÉ: Anxious about mathematics? Is that even real?

Transform4Europe organizes the T4EU SCIENCE CAFÉ: "Anxious about mathematics? Is that even real?", on February 5th, 2026, from 16h00 to 15h30, which will be broadcast live via T4EU’s YouTube.

Mathematical achievement and students’ career choices depend not only on the quality of teaching and their cognitive abilities, but also on their attitudes and emotional experiences. One of the most important of these is math anxiety, that is a feeling of tension, worry, or even fear that arises when dealing with numbers or mathematical tasks.

In this talk, we will explore what math anxiety is, how common it is, and how it manifests in everyday situations from the classroom to exams and real-life decision making. Understanding that this form of anxiety exists, and recognizing its impact, is the first step toward helping students cope with it and build more positive, confident relationships with mathematics.

This open talk aims to shed light on how emotions shape our engagement with mathematics - and what we can do about it, and counts on guest speaker will be Krzysztof Cipora from Jagiellonian University in Krakow, Poland. The discussion will also feature students of Psychology and Biopsychology from UP FAMNIT.