11th November 2011

Martin Hairer and Andrew Stuart invited to speak at the European Congress of Mathematics

The 6th European Congress of Mathematics takes place in Kraków July 2-7 2012 and brings together mathematicians from all over the world. Two Warwick mathematicians, Professor Martin Hairer and Professor Andrew Stuart have been invited to give talks.

Professor Hairer's talk will deal with some stochastic partial differential equations arising in theoretical physics which are classically ill-posed due to the lack of regularity of their solutions. While these equations cannot be solved by classical methods in any linear space, it is nevertheless possible to build nonlinear structures allowing to recover their solutions from the contraction mapping principle. A remnant of the ill-posedness of the equations is that while there is a canonical solution, different choices of nonlinear structure can lead to different solutions.

Sampling from probability measures in high or infinite dimensional spaces finds many applications in science and engineering. Professor Stuart's talk will be concerned with the use of ideas from stochastic and deterministic PDEs, probability and numerical analysis which have been developed to both design and analyze sampling methods.

3rd September 2011

Robert MacKay designated President of the IMA

Professor Robert MacKay FRS FInstP FIMA has been designated President of the Institute of Mathematics and its Applications (IMA) for the two years 2012-2013. The IMA is the UK's learned and professional society for mathematics and its applications.

“I hope to contribute to resolving the controversial issues of impact and resource allocation for UK mathematics and to the UK's involvement in the Mathematics for Planet Earth 2013 initiative and to contribute to increasing skills in mathematics and appreciation for mathematics at school.”

His presidency will start on 1 January 2012.

17th August 2011

Fudan-Sogang-Warwick Workshop on Algebraic Geometry 2011

The Fudan-Sogang-Warwick Workshop on Algebraic Geometry was held in Guiyang, China, 8th-12th Aug 2011. Organised by Meng Chen 陈猛, Fudan University (Shanghai), Yongnam Lee, Sogang University (Seoul), Miles Reid (Warwick), the workshop was supported by Fudan University and National Natural Science Foundation of China, with partial support from FuWaMP (Fudan-Warwick Math Partnership), Univ. of Warwick Strategic Partnership. The conference discussed many of the contemporary issues in modern algebraic geometry. A return meeting is planned for Warwick in the summer of 2012. Professor Miles Reid is lurking in the middle of the back row.

Conference home page

18th July 2011

Graduation and Honorary Degrees 2011

Professor Yakov Sinai of Princeton University was awarded an honorary DSc on the 18^th July. The degree was awarded in absentia.

From Professor Robert MacKay's oration: Professor Sinai is a remarkably creative mathematician whose profound insights have initiated a wide range of developments linking dynamical systems theory, probability theory and statistical mechanics. His work and influence have been recognized with many honours, most notably the Boltzmann Gold medal (1986), Heineman prize (1989), Dirac medal (1992), Wolf prize (1997), Nemmers prize (2002) and Lagrange prize (2008). He is a member of the Russian academy of sciences (1991), honorary member of the London Mathematical Society (1992), foreign member of several national academies including those of the USA, Hungary, Brazil, and the Royal Society (2009). He is an honorary doctor of Warsaw University, Budapest University and Hebrew University. It is a privilege for us to add the University of Warwick to this list today.

The full oration.

Some of the Doctors of Philosophy in Mathematics graduating today.
Click on the image for a larger version suitable for printing.

2nd June 2011

Warwick placed in top 50 in world rankings for mathematics research

Warwick was placed 27th in the 2011 QS World University Rankings by Subject in mathematics. The rankings are based on a global academic survey, a survey of employers and citations per faculty member.

QS World University Rankings by Subject in mathematics

In the 2011 Times Higher Education world rankings of research in mathematics and statistics based on “citation impact” Warwick was placed 47th. The other UK institutions in the top 50 were Imperial, Oxford and Cambridge. Information on how the list was compiled and how the list might change with different criteria can be found in the text accompanying the data in the link below.

THE rankings

17th May 2011

Warwick Mathematics placed fourth in both Times and Guardian UK rankings

The University of Warwick was placed sixth overall and mathematical sciences (mathematics , operational research, statistics and computing sciences) were placed fourth in the 2011 Guardian UK university rankings.

In the Times Good University Guide The University was ranked 8^th overall and Mathematics 4^th. Of great importance when prospective undergraduates are thinking about future careers, Warwick is ranked 2^nd behind only Cambridge as the University most targeted by key employers.

The league tables cover full-time undergraduate courses at higher education institutions in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, and are aimed at those wanting to start university in the 2012-13 academic year. They are based on teaching excellence and take into account such things as student satisfaction with courses, teaching and feedback systems as well employment rates on graduation.

The Guardian tables

30 April 2011

New developments in Complexity Science at Warwick

At the end of April 2011 Robert MacKay and Robin Ball exchanged roles within the Centre for Complexity Science as Robin became Head of the Physics department. This means Robin Ball is now Chair of the Complexity Complex, the association of research groups around campus active in Complexity Science, and Robert MacKay is now Director of the Complexity Science Doctoral Training Centre and Director of the Centre for Complexity Science.

In March 2011 the EPSRC awarded three further years of financial support for the doctoral training centre (DTC) with 10 studentships in each of 2011, 2012 and 2013.

The Complexity Complex was set up in 2005 with the goal of catalysing cross-disciplinary research in Complexity Science. Warwick secured RCUK support for a DTC in 2006 and six new faculty positions in Complexity Science in 2007, associated with the departments of Mathematics, Physics, Computer Science, Engineering (including WMG), Medicine and Psychology. The three affiliated with Mathematics, Physics and Computer Science formed the basis for creation of the Centre for Complexity Science. It has since moved, in 2008, into a custom built extension to the Mathematics and Statistics Building (now the Zeeman Building) and in September 2010 it saw the arrival of the first students on an Erasmus Mundus Masters Course on Complex Systems Science, which Warwick coordinates, jointly with Ecole Polytechnique (Paris) and Chalmers and Goteborg Universities in Sweden.

The Centre for Complexity Science