Latest news | Mathematical Institute

Wed, 10 Mar 2010	Francis Everitt & Sir Roger Penrose Win 2010 Trotter Prize On Thursday, March 11, 2010, two physicists-GP-B Principal Investigator, Francis Everitt, from Stanford and Sir Roger Penrose from Oxford-will jointly be awarded the ninth annual Trotter Prize at Texas A&M University. The annual Trotter event includes both a cash prize to the recipient(s) and an endowed public lecture series. The Trotter Prize in Information, Complexity and Inference is awarded annually for pioneering contributions to the understanding of the role of information, complexity and inference in illuminating the mechanisms and wonder of nature. The Trotter Lecture seeks to reveal connections between science and religion, often viewed in academia as non-overlapping, if not rival, worldviews. For this year's Trotter Lecture, both Everitt and Penrose will speak on this topic. Everitt's talk, entitled "Mystery in Science, Reason is Religion," will explore how mystery and moral discipline permeate both science and religion and how reason affects each in the context of Christian faith. Penrose's talk, entitled " Did the Universe Have a Beginning?" will explore the philosophical implications of conformal cyclic cosmology (CCC), which Penrose offers as an alternative scheme to the prevailing Big Bang theory. Please contact us with feedback and comments about this page. Created on 10 Mar 2010 - 09:12.
Fri, 05 Mar 2010	[RESOLVED] Networking issues in Dartington House and other buildings Following on from the university backbone networking problems earlier in the week, after which we have been experiencing significant problems with the wireless networks in Dartington House, we have experienced further networking problems today. We have been working closely with OUCS in order to track down the problems but unfortunately changes made today on our backbone connection at about 1:30pm resulted in a total loss of the unmanaged and printing networks between Dartington House and our other sites. This had the most effect on people within the building although could have caused difficult for some printing elsewhere. The problem was finally cleared about 4pm. Investigations into the main networking problem are continuing and measures have been put in place both to mitigate the problems and assist in tracking the root causes. These problems were resolved on Monday 15th March. Please contact us with feedback and comments about this page. Created on 05 Mar 2010 - 18:24.
Thu, 04 Mar 2010	Tom Bridgeland elected to Senior Research Fellowship at All Souls Tom Bridgeland elected to Senior Research Fellowship at All Souls. Please contact us with feedback and comments about this page. Created on 04 Mar 2010 - 16:11.
Wed, 03 Mar 2010	Tyrone Rees Wins 1st Prize in a Student Paper Competition Tyrone Rees, a graduate student in the Numerical Analysis Group, has just won a 1st prize in the student paper competition of the Copper Mountain Conference on Iterative Methods (Colorado, USA). Please contact us with feedback and comments about this page. Created on 03 Mar 2010 - 16:16.
Wed, 03 Mar 2010	[RESOLVED] Wireless network in Dartington House is unstable Due to hardware problems, the wireless network in Dartington House is very unstable, it currently works intermittently. We are doing our best to keep it going, but need for the supplier to get back to us in order to resolve the problem. --- These problems have been worked around during the last week and fully resolved today (Mon 15th March) Please contact us with feedback and comments about this page. Created on 03 Mar 2010 - 13:56.
Tue, 02 Mar 2010	Loss of Network Connectivity Between our Buildings - 7:45am 2/3/2010 There was an unscheduled outage of the connections to the university backbone network this morning at about 7:45am resulting in disruption for up to an hour. Since the network connections between our five sites goes over the backbone this had an impact on the departmental systems. OUCS have identified the cause of the outage and resolved the issue. Departmental systems should generally be back in operation now, if you experience any problems please report them as normal. Please contact us with feedback and comments about this page. Created on 02 Mar 2010 - 08:32.
Mon, 01 Mar 2010	March 2010 EPSRC Knowledge Transfer Secondment (KTS) BBSRC Responsive Research Grants EPSRC UK-China Research Projects in Carbon Capture and Storage Technologies Isaac Newton Institute for Mathematical Sciences: Visitor Programme London Mathematical Society: Conference Grants London Mathematical Society: Connectivity Grants London Mathematical Society: Collaborative Small Grants John Fell Fund: Trinity Term 2010 London Mathematical Society: International Congress of Mathematicians Grants Royal Society: Research Grants EPSRC Knowledge Transfer Secondment (KTS) Eligibility: This funding stream is intended to improve the exploitation of EPSRC research outcomes through the transfer of people between universities and 'user organisations', which may be government departments, NHS, Charities and industry. However, unless approved by EPSRC, the secondment must be hosted in the UK. The funding can be used to support both outward secondments and inward secondments, with different eligibility conditions applying in each case. The attachment below gives further information. Deadline: 15th March 2010 Guidelines: please contact @email in the first instance BBSRC Responsive Research Grants Eligibility: Applications for funding must be within any of the following remits; animal systems, health and wellbeing; plants, microbes, food and sustainability; technological and methodological development; molecules, cells and industrial biotechnology. Deadline: 24th March 2010 Sponsor guidelines: http://www.bbsrc.ac.uk/funding/apply/deadlines.as EPSRC UK-China Research Projects in Carbon Capture and Storage Technologies Eligibility: Aimed at encouraging new and innovative UK-China collaborative projects focusing on carbon capture and storage (CCS) technologies. Funds of up to £2 million from the Energy Programme/EPSRC and matching equivalent resources from the Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) are available to support high quality projects in this call, projects should be up to three years in duration. Deadline: 25th March 2010 Sponsor guidelines: http://www.epsrc.ac.uk/funding/calls/open/Pages/carboncapture.aspx Isaac Newton Institute for Mathematical Sciences: Visitor Programme Eligibility: The Institute invites proposals for research programmes in any branch of mathematics or the mathematical sciences. The Scientific Steering Committee usually meets twice each year to consider proposals for programmes (of 4-week, 4-month or 6-month duration) to run two or three years later. Deadline: 10th July 2010 Sponsor guidelines: http://www.newton.ac.uk/callprop.html London Mathematical Society: Conference Grants Eligibility: Grants are made to the organisers of conferences to be held in the United Kingdom. Any mathematician based in the UK is eligible to apply for a grant, but if the applicant is not a member of the Society then the application must be countersigned by a member who is prepared to support the application. Applications should be made by one of the organisers of the conference. Programme Committee tends to give priority to the support of meetings where an LMS grant can be expected to make a significant contribution to the viability and success of the meeting. The Society expects that the meetings which it supports will be open to all, and will only support a closed meeting if an exceptional case is made. Support of larger meetings of high quality is not ruled out, but for such meetings an LMS grant will normally cover only a modest part of the total cost. Deadline: 24th April 2010 Sponsor guidelines: http://www.lms.ac.uk/grants/scheme1.html London Mathematical Society: Connectivity Grants Eligibility: Grants are made towards the cost of exploring potential new collaborations between mathematicians and non-mathematicians on new applications of mathematics. Any mathematician working in the UK is eligible to apply for a grant, but if none of the applicants is a member of the Society then the application must be countersigned by an LMS member who is prepared to support the application. The use of the grants is not restricted but might include the costs of a small-scale meeting to identify problems or travel costs to bring in external experts. The intention is to help the applicants do the preparatory work prior to a larger scale application to EPSRC. Deadline: 10th May 2010 Sponsor guidelines: http://www.lms.ac.uk/grants/scheme6.html London Mathematical Society: Collaborative Small Grants Eligibility: Funding which is intended to provide a small grant to a mathematician within the UK to help support a visit for collaborative research. The visit may be made either by the grantee to another institution within the UK or abroad, or by a named mathematician from within the UK or abroad to the home base of the grantee. The time available for joint research arising from the grant is expected to be at least several working days. Any mathematician based in the UK is eligible to apply for a grant, but if the applicant is not a member of the Society then the application must be countersigned by a member who is prepared to support the application. Applicants should bear in mind that the purpose of the scheme is to support specific projects with named collaborators and not, for example, simply to contribute to the costs of a sabbatical visit. The Committee will support only mathematical activities or the mathematical component of wider activities, and here the word mathematical excludes mathematics education. Deadline: 24th April 2010 Sponsor guidelines: http://www.lms.ac.uk/grants/scheme4.html John Fell Fund: Trinity Term 2010 Eligibility: The fund does not provide support for studentships. To be eligible for start-up support as an 'early career researcher', applicants must be both within the first 5 years in post as an independent researcher at Oxford and in the early stages of their research career. More experienced researchers who are new in post can still apply to the Fund for support, but will need to do so under other categories e.g. for specific pump-priming support, rather than general start up. Departments and potential applicant are advised to read the new FAQ section on the Fell Fund website: http://www.admin.ox.ac.uk/pra/fundinginitiatives/faqsdec09.shtml Applications are assessed by a generalist panel of academics; applicants should therefore ensure that their application is written with a non-specialist audience in mind. Furthermore, following a change in policy the Fell Fund is now allocating less money in each Main Awards found than in previous years. Applicants are asked to bear in mind the reduced level of funding available when putting forward proposals. Deadline: 31st March 2010 London Mathematical Society: International Congress of Mathematics Grants Eligibility: To be used for making grants to support the attendance of UK-based mathematicians at the ICM in Hyderabad from 19-27th August 2010 (http://www.icm2010.org.in). The grants are not to be used for support at satellite meetings. The Society would particularly like to support those in the early stage of their career, including postdoctoral researchers but not usually PhD students. You do not need to be a member of the LMS to apply. Applicants must have been unsuccessful in applying for a Royal Society International Travel Grant (the February 2010 round), based in the UK and involved in mathematics at postdoctoral level and above. Deadline: 9th April 2010 Sponsor guidelines: http://www.lms.ac.uk/ Royal Society: Research Grants Eligibility: The Research Grants scheme provides 'seed corn' funding for new projects of timeliness and promise initiated by research scientists at an early stage of their career (within the first 5 years of the start date of their first permanent academic position). The objective of the scheme is to increase the availability of specialised equipment and essential consumable materials, and to support essential field research. The scheme also provides support for research in the history of science or to assist with publication of scholarly works in the history of science. Applicants must be resident in the UK, they should have postdoctoral level or equivalent status at the time of the application and have a permanent or limited-tenure position in an eligible organisation. An applicant who is a post doctorate paid by a grant for which someone else is the principal investigator is not eligible. Applicants must play a major part and take a leading role in the project and not make its fulfilment more than marginally dependent on the services of postgraduate/doctoral students. Deadline: 9th April 2010 Sponsor guidelines: http://royalsociety.org/Research-Grants/ Please contact us with feedback and comments about this page. Created on 01 Mar 2010 - 17:01.
Wed, 24 Feb 2010	25th British Topology Meeting, Merton College 6-8 September 2010 This year the British Topology Meeting will take place in Merton College, Oxford, from Monday 6th to Wednesday 8th of September 2010. We hope that the meeting will be an opportunity to reinforce the strengths of the community of British topology and we aim to represent many of the facets of current topology. For more information please see the BTM webpage. The event is being supported by the London Mathematical Society and Merton College. Organisers: Jeffrey Giansiracusa ( @email ) and Oscar Randal-Williams ( @email ) Please contact us with feedback and comments about this page. Created on 24 Feb 2010 - 09:45.
Tue, 16 Feb 2010	Nomura funding renewed Nomura International plc has recently renewed its sponsorship with an uplifted funding for the Nomura Centre for Mathematical Finance (NCMF) at the Mathematical Institute, for another five years, starting from April 2010. Xunyu Zhou, Nomura Professor of Mathematical Finance and the Director of NCMF, says, We are very pleased with the continuing partnership between Oxford and Nomura, which has become exemplary for academic-industry collaborations. It is also a great vote of confidence from Nomura in the rapidly expanding Mathematical Finance group in Oxford. The new funding will support among others the Nomura Chair, 2 Nomura Research Fellows, the annual Nomura Lecture, the weekly Nomura Seminar series, and academic visitors to the Centre. Please contact us with feedback and comments about this page. Created on 16 Feb 2010 - 09:00.
Tue, 02 Feb 2010	February 2010 EPSRC Industrial CASE Studentship Competition 2010 EPSRC Vacation Bursaries Philip Leverhulme Prize Smith Institute Industrial Mathematics Internships Royal Society Mullard Award AXA Postdoctoral Fellowships BBSRC Longer and Larger Responsive Research Grants Royal Society Industry Fellowship Scheme Royal Society International Joint Projects EPSRC Industrial CASE Studentship Competition 2010 Eligibility: Funding for at least 40 3.5-year PhD studentships for businesses to take the lead in arranging projects with an academic partner of their choice. This is a limited competition and the EPSRC will only accept proposals from companies wishing to establish a new collaboration. Deadline: 17th March 2010 Sponsor guidelines: http://www.epsrc.ac.uk/CallsForProposals/IndustrialCaseCall2010.htm EPSRC Vacation Bursaries Eligibility: Undergraduate student applicants must be registered for a first degree at Oxford in a subject that falls within the remit of EPSRC and must be in the middle years of their degree. The vacation bursary cannot be used as a bridge between undergraduate degree and PhD or other work, therefore students in their final year are not eligible. Students should be on track to receive at least a 2:1 classification. Duration: Support provided for 10 weeks during the 2010 summer vacation Deadline: 12th February 2010 Application procedure: Please contact Research Facilitation for further information. Your completed application must be received by 12pm on the 12th February 2010. Philip Leverhulme Prize Eligibility: Awarded to outstanding scholars or practitioners who have made a substantial and recognised contribution to their particular field of study, recognised at an international level, and whose future contributions are held to be of correspondingly high promise. Prizes are worth £70,000. Duration: 2 - 3 years Deadline: 26th April 2010 Sponsor guidelines: http://www.leverhulme.ac.uk/grants_awards/grants/philip_leverhulme_prizes/ Smith Institute Industrial Mathematics Internships Eligibility: Companies and university research groups who wish to develop strong working relationships by engaging a dedicated postgraduate researcher to work on a specific project. Interns will receive £1,500 per month for the duration of the project. Duration: 3 - 6 months No deadline date Sponsor guidelines: http://www.smithinst.ac.uk/Mechanisms/Internships Royal Society Mullard Award Eligibility: Recognition of researchers with an outstanding record in any area of natural science, engineering or technology. The award includes a prize worth £2,000 and a travel or conference grant worth up to £1,500. Deadline: 11th March 2010 Sponsor guidelines: http://royalsociety.org/Mullard-Award/ AXA Postdoctoral Fellowships Eligibility: Applicants may be either researchers having been awarded a doctorate - either recently or some years ago, or students close to submitting or having just submitted their thesis. (Their application will be examined and a grant given on condition that their doctorate is awarded and they commence their postdoc within 12 months). The proposed research must fall within the scope of one of the themes for 2010 set by the AXA Scientific Board, viz. Life risks: Aging and long term care/Addictions and risky behaviours/Emerging biomedical risks Societal Risks: Geopolitical risks/Macro-economic, financial, and societal risks Environmental risks:Natural catastrophes/Risks linked to climate change Prospective applicants should carefully read AXA's Instructions, including on eligibility, the selection criteria and AXA's selection process. Deadline: 26th March 2010 Application procedure and sponsor guidelines: http://www.admin.ox.ac.uk/rso/oxonly/applying/axa.shtml#doc BBSRC Longer and Larger Responsive Research Grants Eligibility: Funding is available to support research projects requiring longer timescales, extensive resources, or multidisciplinary approaches. Applications must be valued at a full economic cost of £2million and above for a duration of up to five years. Deadline: 20th February 2010 Sponsor guidelines: http://www.bbsrc.ac.uk/funding/grants/lola/lola-index.aspx Royal Society Industry Fellowship Scheme Eligibility: The scheme aims to enhance knowledge transfer in science and technology between those in industry and those in academia. Fellowships provide a salary as well as research expenses up to £2,000 per annum. Duration: Up to two years Deadline: 3rd March 2010 Sponsor guidelines: http://royalsociety.org/Industry-Fellowships/ Royal Society International Joint Projects Eligibility: These awards are designed to enable international collaboration by providing mobility grants for researchers and members of their research teams to cover travel, subsistence and research. The Project Leaders must be from academia, of at least postdoctoral status or equivalent and hold a permanent or fixed-term contract in an eligible organisation which, if it is the latter, continues at least for the duration of the project. Collaborations should be based on a single project including two teams or individuals: one based in the UK and the other based outside the UK. A relationship between both parties should already be established prior to making an application and the collaboration should involve bilateral visits between the UK and the country with which the overseas collaborator is based. Duration: 2 years Deadline: 25th February 2010 Sponsor guidelines: http://rsbl.royalsociety.org/International-Joint-Projects/ Please contact us with feedback and comments about this page. Created on 02 Feb 2010 - 15:16.