On Tuesday I visited the School of Mathematics at the University of Manchester in the new Alan Turing Building (pictured) at the invitation of the Mathsoc there. I had a useful day and met some interesting students and staff.
While there I ate lunch at the cafe in the Alan Turing building, which is called “Pi in the Sky”. It seems to me if you’re going to have a cafe in a maths building, you might as well use a Pi pun.
Hi,
Please may I enquire about what exactly your job is about, and what you had hoped to achieve by visiting The University of Manchester’s Maths department? What was your aim when conversing with staff or students?
Or for any general mathematics department I suppose, but I ask about Manchester because from the link you posted, I see their Mathsoc catering more for the social aspect of a students life as opposed to the mathematical aspect.
Is it your job to change this?
Many thanks for answering any of my questions.
Hello,
Thank you for your interest!
I am University Liaison Officer for the Institute of Mathematics and its Applications (IMA). My job is primarily to promote the IMA and mathematics to university students. I was invited to visit Manchester by the Mathsoc and my aim was to collect the views of maths staff and students on the IMA in general and the University Liaison project in particular; to see what I could do to engage with students at Manchester. And you are right that I will be attempting to do the same with other mathematics departments.
It is certainly not my job to tell students how they should be running their Mathsoc.
If you would like to discuss this further, or talk about how you could be involved with my project, please feel free to email me at peter.rowlett@ima.org.uk.
Peter.