Latest news

A (trial) remote access portal (RAP) has been setup to provide easier access to common resources simply via a web browser. The RAP website makes it easy to remotely access your files, start remote applications sessions, access journals websites etc. Please note that you need to have the Sun Java JRE installed on your machine for this to work. Most modern machines come with it pre-installed, but if you experience difficulties please get an updated version of the JRE from http://www.java.com/en/download/manual.jsp .

Authenticated SMTP has also been enabled on the departmental mail server. This may be of particular use to mobile users using an IMAP connection to read their email. Traditionally in such a situation sending email required a specific configuration depending on the location. With authenticated sending it is possible to simply configure the mail client to always send via the maths system.

Lastly a single web page http://www.maths.ox.ac.uk/members/it/remote-access has been created which list the various options for remote access to email, files, applications and journals. In each section the top option is typically the easiest one to use.

Congratulations to Cornelia Drutu Badea on the award of the title Professor of Mathematics.

Endre Süli was elected Foreign Member of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts at the General Assembly of the Academy, which was held in Belgrade on 5th November.

The Academy, founded as the Serbian Royal Academy in 1886, is the Serbian national academy. It is the highest academic institution in the country, whose members are elected triennially.

This year's list of new Foreign Members also includes the President of the Czech Republic, the economist, Vaclav Klaus; the Estonian composer Arvo Pärt; and the Swedish Nobel Laureate, neurophysiologist, Torsten Wiesel.

In order to fix an important security vulnerability of the Linux kernel, most of the departmental services have been restarted this morning.

This has now been completed.

Merton College has announced its intention to elect Professor Sir Martin Taylor, FRS, to the Wardenship from 1 October 2010.

Further details are available.

A fault appears to have begun developing with the departmental firewall about 7:30pm on Tuesday 27th October. The firewall appears to have limped along offering intermittent service until about 10:30pm.

Repairs to the firewall were attempted this morning and service was briefly restored. In parallel work was done on the department's new firewall to bring it into service early if required.

Service is expected to be restored via the new firewall by 11:30am should the old kit not be fixed by that time.

Apologies to all for the inconvenience.

Update: service was restored at 11:14am.

Simonyi Professor for the Public Understanding of Science Marcus Du Sautoy will deliver his Inaugural Lecture on Wednesday 25 November, at 5.30 p.m. A reception will follow the lecture.

Venue: Examination Schools
75-81 High Street, Oxford, OX1 4BG
Lecture commences at 5.30 p.m.

Doors open 4.30pm
5.30-6.30pm: lecture
6.30-7.30pm: reception

NB: This event is free, but tickets are required. Please register your attendance and print out a free ticket at http://www.conted.ox.ac.uk/inauguralsimonyi. You will need to specify the number of people on your party, and print out a free ticket for each of them. No one will be admitted to the lecture without a ticket.

Galileo once wrote: "The universe cannot be read until we have learnt the language in which it is written. It is written in mathematical language and the letters are triangles, circles and other geometric figures without which means it is humanly impossible to comprehend a single word." Mathematics is the key to many of the greatest scientific and technological advances made throughout the ages. For artists too, mathematics underpins many steps in the creative process. From the tiles in the Alhambra to Bach's Goldberg Variations, there are mathematical structures hiding behind these great works of art. In this lecture, I shall explore the power of this mathematical language to help navigate Nature's dark labyrinth and to take us into new worlds we could hardly hope to conceive of.

Sir Andrew Wiles will be joining the Mathematical Instiute as a Royal Society 2010 Anniversary Research Professor.

Sir Andrew Wiles specialises in number theory and became famous for proving Fermat’s Last Theorem. The Theorem was first conjectured in 1637 but all attempts to solve it failed until Sir Andrew Wiles published his general proof in 1995 to international acclaim. His achievement was popularised in Simon Singh’s book Fermat’s Last Theorem and BBC Two’s Horizon. He will be moving from Princeton University to take up his new Royal Society Professorship at Oxford’s Mathematical Institute and Merton College in 2011.

For further information see this Oxford University news item

The University of Oxford has recently completed a Masterplan which sets out a vision for the redevelopment of the former Radcliffe Infirmary site for new academic research and teaching buildings. The completion of the Masterplan represents a key milestone in the redevelopment of the Radcliffe Observatory Quarter.

The University is now seeking detailed planning permission for the second phase of the Masterplan: two new buildings to house the Humanities Division & Library and the Mathematical Institute. In advance of submitting planning applications to Oxford City Council, the University is consulting residents, stakeholders, staff and students on the proposals.

An exhibition will be held in St Luke's Chapel (at the front of the old Radcliffe Infirmary site on Woodstock Road) on the 15th and 16th October, 2pm-7:30pm both days. Visitors to the exhibition will be able to inspect the proposals and ask any questions of the members of the Project Team.