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The Mathematical Institute Garden Party for Alumni will be held on Saturday 12th July 2008 at St. Anne's College, Oxford.

4.00pm Lecture (Mathematical Institute)

Professor Sir John Ball and Professor Marc Lackenby
"The Poincare conjecture"

Topology as a subject was founded at the beginning of the 20th century by Henri Poincare. Early on, he formulated the conjecture that now bears his name, which deals with some fundamental aspects of 3-dimensional space. This notorious problem eluded many outstanding mathematicians for years, and was finally solved by Grigori Perelman in three papers that were posted on the web in 2002 and 2003. Perelman was later awarded a Fields Medal for his work, but chose to decline it. He has resigned his post at the Steklov Institute in St Petersburg and it is not known whether he is continuing to do research. The lecture will describe the mathematics behind the conjecture and the unusual events surrounding its proof.

5.30pm Garden Party Reception at St Anne's College

Last year over two hundred maths graduates of all ages turned up and they very much appreciated being able to talk to tutors at the Garden Party.

If you would like to attend lectures and/or the garden party please reply to Nims Damney, @email. There is no charge for faculty members but if you want to bring a guest we do ask for a contribution of £10.00 per head (which is what we are charging the alumni and their guests).

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To Miss Nims Damney

I will/will not be attending the lectures on Saturday 12th July 2008 .

I will/will not be attending the garden party.

I would like to bring ----- guests.

Congratulations to Ulrike Tillmann on her election to a Fellowship of the Royal Society.

Congratulations to John Ockendon, and his team of Co-PIs: Chris Breward, Jon Chapman, David Gavaghan, Sam Howison, Philip Maini, and Nick Trefethen.

King Abdullah University of Science and Technology's (KAUST) Global Research Partnership has announced a grant to Oxford's new Centre for Collaborative Applied Mathematics (OCCAM), based in the Mathematical Institute.

The Press release states:

University of Oxford's Centre for Collaborative Applied Mathematics (OCCAM), led by Principal Investigator John Ockendon and six Co-Principal Investigators, will lead to the development of mathematical solutions to real-world problems, as diverse as modeling fluid-structure and acoustic-structure interactions and petroleum reservoir simulation (with applications in industry), modeling of plant and crop growth in stressed environments and vegetation-dune interactions (with applications in agriculture and land use policy). OCCAM will also enable a broad range of the basic and applied research lines at KAUST. OCCAM and its classes, lectures, and local and international network will be accessible through this collaboration. The Oxford Mathematical Institute's renowned "Industrial Study Group" methodology -which provides a direct link between academe and the problems faced by commercial enterprises-will be transferred to KAUST between now and 2010.

Other Global Partnership Centers are to be at Cornell University, Stanford University, and Texas A&M University.

On the 12th of April Marcus du Sautoy will be receiving an Honorary Doctorate from the Open University at the Barbican "for services to the Arts & Science and exceptional contribution to education and culture."

Congratulations to Sam Howison on the award of the title of Professor.

Prof. Dr. Ulrike Luise Tillmann, has been elected the recipient of a Friedrich Wilhelm Bessel Research Award.

This award is conferred in recognition of lifetime achievements in research. The awardee is invited to carry out research projects of her own choice in cooperation with specialist colleagues in Germany, promoting international scientific cooperation.

See the letter written by Frances Kirwan introducing herself to the EWM.

An article in the January 5th issue (number 2637) of the New Scientist highlights the recent paper Triadophilia, A Special Corner of the Landscape by Philip Candelas, Xenia de la Ossa, Yang-Hui He, and Balazs Szendroi.