Konstantin Ardakov awarded the 2020 Adams Prize

Oxford Mathematician Konstantin Ardakov has been awarded the 2020 Adams Prize. The Adams Prize is awarded jointly each year by the Faculty of Mathematics, University of Cambridge and St John’s College, Cambridge to UK-based researchers, under the age of 40, doing first class international research in the Mathematical Sciences. This year’s topic was “Algebra”, and the prize has been awarded jointly to Konstantin and Michael Wemyss (University of Glasgow).

Professor Mihalis Dafermos, Chair of the Adams Prize Adjudicators, said: "Prof Ardakov has made substantial contributions to noncommutative Iwasawa theory, and to the p-adic representation theory of p-adic Lie groups. In a long-term collaboration with Simon Wadsley, he has developed a p-adic analogue of the classical theory of D-modules, of significance both in representation theory and to the local Langlands program.

The Adams Prize is named after the mathematician John Couch Adams and was endowed by members of St John’s College, Cambridge. It is currently worth approximately £15,000. It commemorates Adams’s role in the discovery of the planet Neptune, through calculation of the discrepancies in the orbit of Uranus.

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Coronavirus (Covid-19): advice and updates

The University has announced numerous steps to prioritise the health and welfare of staff, students and visitors in the light of the UK’s escalating coronavirus situation. This is an unprecedented and challenging time for our university and department community, and I would ask that you please support each other wherever you can, and follow University guidance, which is continuously updated. MI staff and students should also check their emails regularly for further guidance.

Mike Giles, Head of Department

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Oxford Mathematicians win 2019 PNAS Cozzarelli Prize

Oxford Mathematicians Derek Moulton and Alain Goriely together with their colleague Régis Chirat (University of Lyon) have won the 2019 PNAS Cozzarelli Prize in the Engineering and Applied Sciences category for their paper 'Mechanics unlocks the morphogenetic puzzle of interlocking bivalved shells.'

The paper describes how two groups of animals—brachiopods and bivalve mollusks—sport interlocking shells that help guard against predators and environmental perturbations, and explains how those shells are formed.

The Cozzarelli Prize is awarded annually to six research teams whose PNAS (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America) articles have made outstanding contributions to their fields. Each team represents one of the six classes of the National Academy of Sciences.

 

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Books at Bedtime - new books by Oxford Mathematicians

Oxford Mathematicians occasionally have time to write and edit books. Their range of topics - from Topology and Geometry to Stochastic Methods and Chaos via the International Congress of 1936 and a candid account of a life escaping from poverty and living with polio - is a testament to how much maths reaches in to our lives. Some are for specialists, some for aspiring specialists, but all give you a flavour of the mathematical life.

Here are some of the those works that have already been published or will appear soon. The Oxford Mathematician (and their individual page) is highlighted in blue along with relevant links to the book itself.

Stochastic Modelling of Reaction-Diffusion Processes - Radek Erban, S. Jonathan Chapman
Stochastic methods have been used by researchers in Oxford Mathematics to model a number of biological systems, ranging in size from molecular dynamics simulations of small biomolecules to stochastic modelling of groups of animals.

This book can be used both for self-study and as a supporting text for advanced undergraduate or beginning graduate-level courses in applied mathematics. It discusses the essence of mathematical methods which appear (under different names) in a number of interdisciplinary scientific fields bridging mathematics and computations with biology and chemistry (including mathematical biology, non-equilibrium statistical physics, computational chemistry, soft condensed matter, physical chemistry or biophysics).

Chaos - An Introduction for Applied Mathematicians - Andrew Fowler and Mark McGuinness
This is a textbook on chaos and nonlinear dynamics, written by applied mathematicians for applied mathematicians. It aims to tread a middle ground between the mathematician's rigour and the physicist’s pragmatism.

The Wonder Book of Geometry - David Acheson
David transports us into the world of geometry, a fundamental and ancient branch of mathematics and argues that geometry can provide the quickest route into the whole spirit of mathematics at its best, especially for the young.

Topology: A Very Short Introduction - Richard Earl
The twentieth century was the century of topology – or so said Jean Dieudonné. From a nascent, intuitively understood subject in the time of Riemann, topology would become a significant area of mathematics, influencing the foundations of mathematics, through to applications in physics and data science.

Meeting under the Integral Sign? The Oslo Congress of Mathematicians on the Eve of the Second World War - Christopher D. Hollings and Reinhard Siegmund-Schultze
This book examines the historically unique conditions under which the International Congress of Mathematicians took place in Oslo in 1936. This Congress was the only one on this level to be held during the period of the Nazi regime in Germany (1933–1945) and after the wave of emigrations from it. Relying heavily on unpublished archival sources, the authors consider the different goals of the various participants in the Congress, most notably those of the Norwegian organisers, and the Nazi-led German delegation. They also investigate the reasons for the absence of the proposed Soviet and Italian delegations.

My Gift of Polio ~ An unexpected Life ~ From Scotland’s Rustic Hills to Oxford’s Hallowed Halls & Beyond - James D Murray
James Murray was the youngest of six children born into a poor working-class family in Moffat, a very small isolated town in rural Scotland, during the Depression of the early 1930s. He caught polio as a baby and his future looked bleak. This profusely illustrated memoir describes his early years growing up in poverty and follows his serendipitous life beyond - taking him from degrees at the University of St. Andrews to international renown in the world of academia at Harvard, Oxford, Paris and other universities around the world.

Conformal Maps and GeometryDmitry Belyaev
Geometric function theory is one of the most interesting parts of complex analysis, an area that has become increasingly relevant as a key feature in the theory of Schramm–Loewner evolution. Though Riemann mapping theorem is frequently explored, there are few texts that discuss general theory of univalent maps, conformal invariants, and Loewner evolution. This textbook provides an accessible foundation of the theory of conformal maps and their connections with geometry.

Leading Within Digital Worlds: Strategic Management for Data Science - Peter Grindrod
With rapidly evolving emerging technologies, the business world is entering a phase of reform. Within times of change, transformative and disruptive environments as well as uncertain futures have created a difficult landscape for leaders within business. This book is written for business leaders who want to remain at the forefront of the business world in these times of technological and digital evolution.

Lectures and Surveys on G2-Manifolds and Related Topics - Spiro Karigiannis, Naichung Conan Leung and Jason Lotay (Eds.)
This book, one of the first on G2 manifolds in decades, collects introductory lectures and survey articles largely based on talks given at a workshop held at the Fields Institute in August 2017, as part of the major thematic program on geometric analysis. It provides an accessible introduction to various aspects of the geometry of G2 manifolds, including the construction of examples, as well as the intimate relations with calibrated geometry, Yang-Mills gauge theory, and geometric flows. It also features the inclusion of a survey on the new topological and analytic invariants of G2 manifolds that have been recently discovered. 

Geometric Group TheoryCornelia Drutu and Misha Kapovich
The book contains proofs of several fundamental results of geometric group theory, such as Gromov's theorem on groups of polynomial growth, Tits's alternative, Stallings's theorem on ends of groups, Dunwoody's accessibility theorem, the Mostow Rigidity Theorem, and quasiisometric rigidity theorems of Tukia and Schwartz. This is the first book in which geometric group theory is presented in a form accessible to advanced graduate students and young research mathematicians.

Probability and Random Processes, 4th edition, & One Thousand Exercises in Probability, 3rd edition - Geoffrey Grimmett and David Stirzaker

Probability and Random Processes:
This book provides an extensive introduction to probability and random processes. It is intended for those working in the many and varied applications of the subject as well as for those studying more theoretical aspects.

One Thousand Exercises in Probability:
This volume contains more than 1300 exercises in probability and random processes together with their solutions. The new edition extends the previous edition by the inclusion of numerous new exercises, and several new sections devoted to further topics in aspects of stochastic processes. Since many exercises have multiple parts, the total number of interrogatives exceeds 3000.

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International Women's Day Event in the Mathematical Institute, Friday 6th March 2020

INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY EVENT - Mathematical Institute, Lecture Theatre 3, Friday 6th March 2020, 12-2pm

In conjunction with the Mathematical, Physical and Life Sciences Equality & Diversity team, Oxford Mathematics, Department of Statistics and Department of Computer Science invite you to attend an event celebrating women in science and showcasing the achievements of women in our University.  Three speakers from across the departments will talk about their research and careers to date.  The presentations will be followed by a networking lunch and poster session. 

Our speakers are:
Ms Klaudia Krawiecka, DPhil student in Cyber Security, Department of Computer Science
Dr Priya Subramanian, Hooke Research Fellow, Mathematical Institute
Dr Cora Mezger, Director of Statistical Consultancy Services, Department of Statistics

The event is free to attend but please register to attend by emailing @email by midday on 28th February 2020, noting any dietary or access requirements.

There will also be a poster session, at which Early Career Researchers, undergraduates and postgraduates are invited to present posters that showcase their work or work relating to International Women’s Day.   Posters will be judged by a panel of experts and vouchers awarded to the three best entries (£100 for first place; £50 for second place and £25 for third place).  

To apply to present a poster, please email @email by midday on 21st February 2020 with your poster title and abstract (no more than 150 words).  Posters should be A0 in size.  Funds are available for printing costs. 

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The 3rd Oxford Maths Festival - Outreaching

Hundreds of kids of all ages and their families, tables full of games, rooms full of creativity and glorious patterns. Sunday in Oxford Mathematics' Andrew Wiles Building and Saturday in Templars Square, Cowley. Yes, it was the 3rd Oxford Maths Festival 2020.

The aim of the festival is to show the beautiful, creative and collaborative side of mathematics - families were able to do hands-on maths activities (provided by NRICH), make craft items to take home, and play board games together. On the first day, activities took place at Templars Square Shopping Centre in East Oxford, reaching a new audience as part of our desire to make Oxford Maths as accessible as possible. The second day took place here in the Andrew Wiles Building and included Barney Maunder-Taylor of House of Maths providing several maths shows and Andrew Jeffrey who uses magic, juggling and balloons to explore mathematical topics. But let the pictures do the talking (and the Maths).

These events fall under the banner of Outreach. But perhaps the word is inadequate. It is as important as Teaching and Research.
 

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Anna Seigal awarded 2020 SIAM Richard C. DiPrima Prize

Anna Seigal, one of Oxford Mathematics's Hooke Fellows and a Junior Research Fellow at The Queen's College, has been awarded the 2020 Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics (SIAM) Richard C. DiPrima Prize. The prize recognises an early career researcher in applied mathematics and is based on their doctoral dissertation. 

Anna's research interests lie in tensors and multilinear algebra, applied algebraic geometry and algebraic statistics, and their connections to machine learning, numerical analysis, optimization, and computational biology.

She will receive the award at the SIAM Annual Meeting in July in Toronto.

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Hidden histories: Oxford’s female computing pioneers. Come and celebrate on 27th February

Some remarkable women shaped Oxford computing: Dorothy Hodgkin won the Nobel Prize for work on insulin; Susan Hockey pioneered digital humanities; Shirley Carter, Linda Hayes and Joan Walsh got the pioneering software company NAG off the ground in 1970; and female operators and programmers were at the heart of the early large-scale computing efforts powering 20th-century science.

To recognise these pioneers and to celebrate the Bodleian Libraries' release of interviews by Georgina Ferry of some of Oxford’s female computing pioneers, we will be holding a special event in Oxford Mathematics on 27th February 2020. There'll be a talk, a panel discussion featuring some of the pioneers themselves and even tea beforehand. Come along and hear a no longer hidden history.

4.30pm: Welcome tea
5.00pm: Professor Ursula Martin - Hidden histories: Oxford’s female computing pioneers
5.45pm: Panel discussion chaired by science writer Georgina Ferry and featuring some of the the pioneers themselves

Mathematical Institute
Radcliffe Observatory Quarter
Woodstock Road
Oxford OX2 6DD

No need to register.

Caption image: Susan Hockey defining fonts on the PDP15 at Atlas Computer Centre

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UKRI announces £300m of major new funding for the mathematical sciences

Oxford Mathematics welcomes the announcement from UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) of major new funding for the mathematical sciences. Professor Mike Giles, Head of Department, said "I am delighted to see UKRI's announcement of major new funding for the mathematical sciences. I think this recognises the huge impact of mathematical sciences in the whole economy, as well as in the NHS and other aspects of public life. 

More than that, it also understands that the long-term health of the subject is critically underpinned by support for the whole research spectrum from fundamental curiosity-driven research through to a wide variety of applications. History has shown that any part of that spectrum can lead us in brand new and unexpected directions. The extra support will allow us to capitalise on these opportunities."

 

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Interested in Graduate Study but not sure you can make it work? UNIQ+ might just help

Financial, socio-economic and other life circumstances can make it difficult for some to continue studying beyond an undergraduate degree. UNIQ+ is intended to encourage access to postgraduate study from talented undergraduates from across the UK who would find continuing into postgraduate study a challenge for reasons other than their academic ability.

The programme offers paid summer research internships giving talented UK undergraduate students the opportunity to discover what postgraduate study is like at Oxford through research experience in the University’s state-of-the-art facilities, working alongside our students and staff.

The 2020 programmes will run from 6 July for seven weeks.

Applications are now open. The deadline is 12 noon on Monday 24 February 2020.

For full information, including eligibility criteria, click here.

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