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Mathematics Institute

Centre for Applications of the Mathematical Sciences (CAMS)

Introduction

The Centre for Applications of the Mathematical Sciences is a new initiative whose purpose is to maximise the benefit to society of Warwick’s already world-leading research in the Mathematical Sciences. Our notion of “society” is broad: it encompasses the public, private and third sectors regionally, nationally and internationally. CAMS is a joint venture between the Warwick departments of Mathematics, Statistics and Computer Science and will be outward-looking, inclusive and problem-driven. It will establish new forms of partnership across interdisciplinary boundaries within academia, and across inter-sectoral boundaries between academia and other sectors of society. The CAMS initiative is an exciting opportunity to help define the future role of the mathematical sciences in our society and economy. 

Warwick is uniquely placed to host an initiative like CAMS. Firstly, Warwick’s departments of Mathematics, Statistics and Computer Science are each internationally recognised centres of excellence in their own right, providing an enviable science base upon which CAMS can rest. Secondly, barriers to inter-disciplinary working are far lower at Warwick than at most universities. Thirdly, Warwick has 30 years of institutional experience in large-scale knowledge exchange via the successes of the Warwick Manufacturing Group in applied manufacturing engineering. CAMS will therefore build on strong name recognition outside the academic sector and access to a large reservoir of existing knowledge.  

Activities

Research: 

CAMS will pursue a research agenda focused on new applied Mathematical Science research and new applications of such research. At its foundation, it will create three new research groups to provide an initial focus although the CAMS research profile would be expected to evolve in response to circumstance over the medium-longer term. The initial research groups under discussion (still to be finalised) are

  • Industrial applied mathematics: focused on applications of fluid dynamics, solid mechanics and PDEs to solve problems held by partners in the engineering and physical sciences domains.
  • Distributed socio-technical systems: focused on applications of network science, agent-based systems and nonlinear dynamics to practical challenges faced by partners in transportation systems, urban science, financial regulation, energy grids and social sciences.
  • Applied statistics/data science: focused on impactful and ethical applications of data science to social and technological problems such as those in Data Science for Social Good.

CAMS research should be project-based with clear objectives, oriented towards collective goals and properly resourced. It is anticipated that most CAMS projects will be done in close collaboration with external partners. 

Impact and knowledge exchange: 

Projects will be formulated to deliver quantifiable improvements in the application domain of project partners. Partners will be expected to assist in capturing these impacts. 

Training: 

CAMS will help incorporate external perspectives into undergraduate courses, postgraduate training and CDTs. Graduate students will be encouraged to work on CAMS projects as part of their PhDs, building on a firm foundation already laid down by the MathSys CDT across the participating departments. CAMS will facilitate contributions by relevant external partners to core graduate and undergraduate academic activities. 

Public engagement: 

CAMS will complement public engagement activities across participating departments by resourcing a serious online outreach programme to market the value of Warwick Mathematical Sciences research to the public and to potential project partners. This will involve working with staff and students to create videos, curate a social media identity, write blog posts, enter competitions, write case studies, design reusable outreach content, organise public lectures and events etc. 

Consulting: 

CAMS will establish a new entity to facilitate consultancy for academics and graduate students thereby providing a new route for business to interact with.