Here’s a round-up of some maths news we didn’t yet write about this month.
Awards
This month the Abel Prize committee announced this year’s award will go to László Lovász and Avi Wigderson “for their foundational contributions to theoretical computer science and discrete mathematics, and their leading role in shaping them into central fields of modern mathematics.” The prize will be handed over at a ceremony in May. You can read more about this year’s prize on the Abel Prize website.
Cheryl Praeger has been awarded the inaugural Ruby Payne-Scott Medal for her mathematical work on symmetry and developing algorithms that help power technology around the world. Named after pioneering Australian radio astronomer Ruby Payne-Scott, the medal recognises exceptional researchers in physical and biological sciences and is awarded by the Australian Academy of Science.
The IMA are running a What it’s like to study Mathematics at University?’ Conference online on 14th April – with speakers including researchers, maths teachers and A-level students, the event will explore what being a student mathematician entails and how to take it further into a career. For ages 16+, it’s free to attend and you can register online.
From the people who brought you the WayBack Machine, the Internet Archive Scholar includes over 25 million research articles and other scholarly documents preserved in the Internet Archive. The collection includes everything from digitised copies of eighteenth century journals through to the latest Open Access conference proceedings and pre-prints crawled from the World Wide Web.
The newly launched Her Maths Story website collects stories of women mathematicians from all over the world, and includes photos and pithy quotes – it’ll be a useful resource if you want to showcase real mathematicians and their varied backgrounds and careers.
Registration is now open for the upcoming virtual Women and Non-Binary People in Mathematics conference funded by the LMS, taking place on 11th-12th February. The event is open to all mathematicians in all stages of their career and from any field, and is on MS Teams.
The LMS are also running their annual Women in Mathematics Day on 24th March, aiming to promote interest and careers in mathematics for women. Open to mathematicians of all genders, backgrounds and career stages, the event will include talks from academia and industry, a panel discussion and a poster competition with prizes.
International Day of Mathematics Website & Poster Challenge
For 2021’s International Day of Mathematics on 14th March, the theme is Mathematics for a Better World. The organisers have now launched their 2021 website, Mathematics for a Better World, which shows some cool applications of maths.
Medals of the Order of Australia awarded to maths people
Numberphile creator Brady Haran and maths pioneer Prof. Cheryl Praeger are among those awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia, as part of this year’s Australia Day celebrations on 25th Jan.
Communications of the AMS, a new diamond open access journal, is launched
Communications of the American Mathematical Society (CAMS) is a new, diamond open access journal designed to provide a home for the very best research and review articles across all areas of mathematics. CAMS will be a natural home for both pure and applied mathematics, presenting a window into a holistic view of mathematics and its applications to a wide range of disciplines. The AMS expects the journal to be a diverse and inclusive home for mathematicians around the world in support of emerging research. It is anticipated that the first published articles will appear in early 2021. For more information, visit the journal’s webpage.
Funding Boost for Mathematical Sciences Institutes
Three of the UK’s leading research institutes will be supported to widen access to mathematical sciences and support training through funding confirmed on 21st January. The Isaac Newton Institute (INI), the International Centre for Mathematical Sciences (ICMS) and the Heilbronn Institute for Mathematical Research (HIMR) will be able to support a wide range of education and training activities using the money.
The funding is part of the £300 million government investment in the Additional Funding Programme for Mathematical Sciences, announced in 2020.
‘This is What a Mathematician Looks Like’ badges raise money for charity
Aerospace engineer Krystina Pearson-Rampeearee has launched a new set of pin badges which proudly proclaim “This is what a mathematican looks like”. In the accompanying Twitter thread, she explains that £1.50 from the sale of each badge will go to maths positivity charity Maths on Toast.
The badges are available, along with a range of others, in Krystina’s Etsy shop for £6.99 + P&P.
Increase in Scientific Publications not mirrored in maths
Some scientific publishers are reporting a surge in submissions this year as scholars find more time during the pandemic to write papers. Does mathematics fit this pattern? Err, no. This blog post by Edward Dunne for the AMS goes into it.
The University of Leicester is planning to sack all its pure maths staff
In a move which claims to ‘shape for excellence’, the University of Leicester plans to cease research in pure mathematics. All pure mathematicians will be made redundant (in the middle of a pandemic) and three teaching-focused lecturers will be hired to cover their undergraduate programmes.
The idea is that the university needs to focus more onits “future research identity in AI, computational modelling, digitalisation and data science”, and that resources will be reallocated there. Presumably they’ll have to also outsource any integers or algebraic structures they need in order to do those things as well.
Previous attempts to do a similar thing in 2016 were met with outcry, including from the late Sir Michael Atiyah, and dropped, but they’re trying again. There’s a petition protesting the decision which already has over 5,000 signatures.
Today the European Mathematical Society launches PopMath, a calendar of popular maths events taking place across Europe and beyond, including online. It should be a great resource for people wanting to find or share details of mathematical outreach activities.
It’s that time of year when we take a look at the UK Government’s New Years Honours list for any particularly mathematical entries. Here is the selection for this year – any more, let us know in the comments and we’ll add to the list.
Phillippa Spencer, Senior Principal Statistician, Defence Science and Technology Laboratory. Appointed OBE for services to Defence, particularly during the Covid-19 Response. A Dstl press release says this is “in recognition of her support to the UK’s decision makers by her application of maths to deliver consistent, assured data to prevent the loss of life through exposure to COVID-19, Novichok and Ebola”.
Jonathan Carter, Chief Engineer Stealth at Atlas Elektronik UK, appointed MBE for services to Naval Operational Effectiveness, is quoted in the Dorset Echo saying
People don’t always understand the amount of science, maths and physics that goes into the Royal Navy. I see this recognition as not just for me, but also for the group of people working across those disciplines who have been working for a long, long time on these systems. Our young scientists, physicists and mathematicians should take heart that persistent, enduring efforts do occasionally get recognised, and persist with what they’re doing.
David Walrond, former Principal of Truro and Penwith College, appointed OBE for services to Further Education in Cornwall, is cited by the Cornish Times as leading the establishment of the Cornwall Teaching School and Maths Hub.
