Pre-event Program
The pre-event consists of an online series of preparatory lectures preceding the main CIMPA School. It offers a first introduction to some of the key topics of the school and helps participants build the background needed to follow the lectures more comfortably.
Date and Time
- 29 June 2026, 10:00 AM -- 12:30 PM (Benin Time) — Lecture 1
- 30 June 2026, 10:00 AM -- 12:30 PM (Benin Time) — Lecture 2
- 30 June 2026, 2:00 PM -- 4:30 PM (Benin Time) — Lecture 3
Platform
The pre-event is conducted online via Teams (or BigBlueButton). Participants receive the connection link by email prior to each lecture.
Goals of the Pre-event Lectures
Goals
- Give a first overview of the school and its topics (combinatorics and graph theory).
- Reactivate prior knowledge when relevant.
- Introduce basic tools and ideas to reduce the initial gap.
- Stay informal to encourage questions and discussion.
What this is not
- A full or self-contained course.
- A rigorous or exhaustive reference.
- A fixed standard for notation or definitions.
- Expect differences with your actual lecturers.
- Use this as intuition-building support, not as the final framework.
Important
- This is a fast-paced introduction, not a complete learning path.
- You are expected to complete and consolidate the material during the course.
Pre-event Lecture Series
Lecture 1 — Basics of Graph Theory (29 June 2026, 10h00 AM Benin Time)
- Part A — Counting & Arrangements
- Part B — Graphs: First Contact
- Part C — Representing Graphs
- Part D — Trees and Forests
Lecture 2 — Linear Algebra (30 June 2026, 10h00 AM Benin Time)
- Part A — Vectors & Vector Spaces
- Part B — Matrices as Linear Maps
- Part C — Eigenvalues & Eigenspaces
- Part D — Back to Graphs
Lecture 3 — Graphs: Distance and Spectrum (30 June 2026, 2h00 PM Benin Time)
- Part A — Distance in Graphs
- Part B — Powers of the Adjacency Matrix
- Part C — Eigenvalues & Spectrum
- Part D — Laplacian Matrix