Juggling is the act of iteratively catching and throwing several objects. To a mathematician a juggling pattern can be described using a mathematical notation called siteswap. The idea of siteswap notation is to keep track of the order in which the objects are thrown. The notation does not indicate what kind of objects are being juggled (e.g. balls, rings, clubs, etc) or whether a special kind of throw is performed (e.g. under-the-leg or behind-the-back).
Mathematicians, young and old, win awards, lots of them and Oxford mathematicians have their fair share. However, any university department is of course also home to a range of support staff whose job it is, on a good day, to enable academics to make the best use of their time.
To recognise this role the Oxford University Students Union (OUSU) has its own awards for best support staff, and this year we are delighted to announce that Oxford Mathematics's own Sandy Patel scooped a prize. Sandy is Graduate Studies Administrator and her role is to ensure that our over 200 Graduate Students have the best possible experience during their time in Oxford and together with their Faculty supervisors are able to produce the best research in the subject. Graduate Students are the critical component of any research university and giving them the best support is vital.
Oxford Mathematician Philip Maini has been elected to the Academy of Medical Sciences for 2017. The Academy's mission is to advance biomedical and health research and its translation into benefits for society and this year's elected Fellows, 46 in total, have expertise that spans women’s health, immunology, public health and infectious disease among many other fields.
Philip Maini FRS, who is Professor of Mathematical Biology and Director of the Wolfson Centre for Mathematical Biology here in Oxford, is a leading figure in the field of mathematical biology with research interests spanning the modelling of avascular and vascular tumours, normal and abnormal wound healing, applications of mathematical modelling in pattern formation in early development, as well as the theoretical analysis of the mathematical models that arise in all these applications.
Oxford Mathematics's Ulrike Tillmann has been elected a member of the German National Academy of Sciences. The Academy, Leopoldina, brings together the expertise of some 1,500 distinguished scientists to bear on questions of social and political relevance, publishing unbiased and timely scientific opinions. The Leopoldina represents the German scientific community in international committees and pursues the advancement of science for the benefit of humankind and for a better future.
Historically it was known under the German name Deutsche Akademie der Naturforscher Leopoldina until 2007, when it was declared a national academy of Germany. The Leopoldina is located in Halle. Founded in 1652, the Leopoldina claims to be the oldest continuously existing learned society in the world.
The Athena SWAN charter was establised in 2005 to encourage and recognise commitment to advancing the careers of women in science. In 2013 the Mathematical Institute here in Oxford was awarded a bronze medal and now, four years later, we are pleased to announce that we have been upgraded to silver.
Martin Bridson, Head of Department, said of the award: "Our Athena SWAN work supports the Department’s overarching aim of creating a working environment in which students and staff alike can achieve their full potential. This is a constant feature of all that we do, of course, but the process of self-reflection required in preparing our submission for this award provided a focus and stimulus to action that will benefit us all.
It is vital that the country’s leading departments be seen as beacons of commitment to supporting the work/life balance of their members and to redressing the under-representation of women in mathematics. This high-profile award does much to further our efforts in this direction."
Oxford Mathematician Jakub Konieczny has been awarded the Polish Mathematical Society Prize for Young Mathematicians for a series of works in combinatorics, additive number theory and ergodic theory. Jakub is a Postgraduate Student here in Oxford working under the supervision of Professor Ben Green.
The Andrew Wiles Building, our home here in Oxford, is very much a public space with its large exhibition and conference facilities and public cafe. We have hosted theatrical productions, most recently Creation Theatre's stark production of Orwell's '1984' and in particular we have provided an outlet for artists and photographers to display their work.
Yet we are of course primarily a mathematics building - mathematics and mathematicians are evident everywhere you go from Roger Penrose's tiling at the entrance to the mathematical-shaped crystals at the heart of the building.
Our latest exhibition, Sculptor Willow Winston's 'In Praise of Plato' represents all those elements. An artistic exploration of symmetry, it is a marriage of mathematics and art in a public setting. In Willow's own words "experimenting with geometrical form fabricated in metals, much based on work I have done with Plato's Perfect Solids, I use reflective materials allowing a union between real and virtual worlds, enhancing our ability to climb into the imagination. "
The exhibition, in the Mezzanine space of the Andrew Wiles Building, is open from 8am-6pm Monday to Friday and runs until 21 May.
The British Applied Mathematics Colloquium (BAMC), held this year at the University of Surrey, has awarded its two talk prizes to Oxford Mathematicians Jessica Williams and Graham Benham. Their colleague in Oxford Mathematics Ian Roper won the poster prize. All three are part of the Industrially Focused Mathematical Modelling Centre for Doctoral Training (InFoMM) a partnership between EPSRC, the University of Oxford, and a large number of industry partners.
Oxford Mathematician Doireann O'Kiely has been awarded the biennial Lighthill-Thwaites Prize for her work on the production of thin glass sheets. The prize is awarded by the Institute of Mathematics and its Applications to researchers who have spent no more than five years in full-time study or work since completing their undergraduate degrees. Oxford Mathematicians Nabil Fadai and Zachary Wilmott were also among the five finalists. The prize was presented at the British Applied Mathematics Colloquium on Tuesday 11 April.
Doireann's work focuses on mathematical modelling of real-world systems, primarily in fluid mechanics. She conducted her study of the production of thin glass sheets via the redraw process in collaboration with Schott AG.
