Professors of the Department of Mathematics Rudolf Scitovski, Kristian Sabo, and Šime Ungar, and professor Francisco Martínez Álvarez of the Universidad Pablo de Olavide, Computer Science Division, School of Engineering, Spain, are the authors of a new book entitled Cluster Analysis and Applications. The book was published in July 2021 by Springer.

Cluster Analysis and Applications provides a systematic overview of recent data grouping concepts and methods developed by the authors in the last ten years, and parts of the results that have been published in scientific journals such as Advances in Data Analysis and Classification, Journal of Global Optimization, Pattern Analysis and Applications, Mathematics and Computers in Simulation, Earth Science Informatics, Pattern Recognition, Expert Systems with Applications, Information Sciences, Pattern Recognition Letters, Computers & Geosciences, Knowledge-Based Systems, Computers and Electronics in Agriculture, Optimization Letters, etc.

The aim of this book is also to strengthen the internationalisation and visibility of both the Department of Mathematics and Josip Juraj Strossmayer University of Osijek in the international research and education space.

GAMMA working meeting, attended by partners from Croatia, members of GAMMA teams from the, J. J. Strossmayer University of Osijek, Department of Mathematics (MATHOS), Elektrotehnička i prometna škola Osijek, Srednja škola Markantuna de Dominisa Rab and the Education and Teacher Training Agency, was held on June 30 and July 1, 2021. This was the first project activity held live, and the meeting was organized by the GAMMA team from Osijek, in the premises of the Department of Mathematics.

The first day began with a discussion of the scenario templates and the elaboration of a scenario template that will be sent to the other partners for review and discussion. After a short break, the MATHOS team presented the first version of one chapter of the handbook for which they are in charge, and a constructive discussion in small groups led to new ideas on how to complement the existing version. It was followed by a theoretical overview of games and game-based learning. The working part of the day ended with an analysis and discussion of CRO topics for scenarios. The less formal part of the day continued in Baranja, where the participants had the opportunity to get to know each other better over dinner.

On the second day, participants continued to discuss CRO topics for scenarios, more specifically learning outcomes. This was followed by a presentation of some games and discussions of the games; one part of the discussion again took the form of workshops in small groups, which led to a productive exchange of ideas and examples of good practice that could be a solid basis for creating a game. During the final discussion, the participants discussed the next activity that should take place in Greece, if the epidemiological situation allows. The evaluation of the meeting showed that the exchange of ideas during the live meeting was very important and this was a very fruitful and successful meeting.

More details about the project can be found on the GAMMA web page http://www.project-gamma.eu/.

The Second GAMMA Learning Teaching Training Activity took place virtually in Microsoft Teams on April 21-23, 2021. The meeting was organized by the ETL Team of the Faculty of Philosophy of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, in Greece. Forty participants from the four partner countries attended the activity. The central aim of the Second GAMMA LTTA was to contribute to the main objectives of the GAMMA project. Most parts of the LTTA were dedicated to getting to know the authoring systems “MaLT2” and “ChoiCo”, which will be used for the project purposes for designing digital games for learning mathematics. The rest of the LTTA was about other important for the project issues, such as the Greek Educational System, a review on Digital Game-Based Learning in Mathematics Education (DGBLM), and the development of teaching scenarios. The LTTA consists of three plenaries, five workshops, and three closing discussions for reflection, the project status, and future activities.

More details about the Second GAMMA LTTA can be found on the GAMMA web page.