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Congratulations to John Ball, who has been awarded the Royal Society's Sylvester Medal, and to Marcus du Sautoy, who has won the Michael Faraday Prize.

Further info available.

Pólya Prize - awarded in recognition of outstanding creativity in, imaginative exposition of, or distinguished contribution to, mathematics within the United Kingdom

The Pólya Prize is awarded to Professor Roger Heath-Brown, of the University of Oxford, for his many contributions within analytic number theory, and his dynamic application of analytic methods in wide-ranging investigations of problems spanning number theory and arithmetic geometry.

Throughout his career, Heath-Brown has regularly produced papers that have resolved long-standing problems or have presented novel techniques that have decisively changed the landscape. He has been able to devise variations of well-established techniques that permit conclusions going well beyond what was previously thought to be possible. In consequence, he is responsible for many of the sharpest conclusions available in the most important problems stretching across analytic number theory and beyond.

Naylor Prize and Lectureship - awarded in recognition of work in and influence on Applied Mathematics or the Applications of Mathematics; or lecturing gifts

The Naylor Prize and Lectureship in Applied Mathematics is awarded to Professor Philip Maini, of the University of Oxford, in recognition of his contributions to, and influence on, the field of mathematical biology.

In recent years, mathematical biology has experienced very rapid growth, and has established itself as an area that is driving the evolution of much new mathematics, as well as having an increasing impact on the biological sciences. Maini has been at the forefront of many of these developments. Many of the problems that he studies necessitate the formulation and analysis of new models, requiring him to bring to bear both knowledge of the relevant biology and mathematical skills. He is unsurpassed by his peers at the art and science of formulating tractable mathematical models of complex biological processes.

Whitehead Prize

A Whitehead Prize is awarded to Dr Cornelia Druţu, of the University of Oxford, for her work in geometric group theory.

Merton College proposes to appoint a stipendiary lecturer in Mathematics to teach up to three hours per week in full term during the academic year 2009-10. The lecturer will be paid a stipend of £6,038 p.a. with entitlement to join USS, and have membership of Common Room with the right to take four meals per week free of charge.

The successful candidate should be involved in mathematical research at the postgraduate level, and will be able to teach effectively some Moderations or Part A topics. In addition to his/her teaching duties, the successful candidate may be expected to help with the organisation of Mathematics within College, to lend pastoral support to students reading for these degrees, and to assist with Admissions.

Full details of the post, its conditions, and the application process are set out in the Further Particulars which can be downloaded from http://www.merton.ox.ac.uk/vacancies/ or, in case of difficulty, may be obtained from the Academic Administrator, Merton College, Oxford, OX1 4JD (e-mail: @email, telephone 01865 276296). The closing date for receipt of applications is 14 August 2009.

Raphael Rouquier has been awarded the Elie Cartan Prize from the French Academy of Sciences.

This is a triennial prize awarded to a mathematician aged under 45, of any nationality, who has accomplished an important body of work, either through the introduction of new ideas or by solving a difficult problem.

The prize was created in 1980 and the previous winners are Dennis Sullivan, Mikhail Gromov, Johannes Sjostrand, Jean Bourgain, Clifford Taubes, Don Zagier, Laurent Clozel, Jean-Benoit Bost and Emmanuel Ullmo.

1. EPSRC Economic Impact Plan: New requirements and changes to proposal form
2. EPSRC Managing Demand: Amendments to policy for repeatedly unsuccessful applicants
3. EPSRC Peer Review Survey: Outcomes and Changes
4. EPSRC Postdoctoral Fellowship: (internal deadline: 14 July 2009)
5. London Mathematical Society: Conference Grants



1. EPSRC Economic Impact Plan: New requirements and changes to proposal form
From 21 April 2009, applications for EPSRC funding will need to address the issue of the potential economic impact of research grants. The wider context is the drive on the part of HM Government to demonstrate value and return for its public investment.
EPSRC has replaced the beneficiaries section of the application form with two new sections:
• Impact summary: this is to explain who may benefit from the research, how they may benefit and what will be done to make sure they have the opportunity to benefit.
• Academic beneficiaries: this is to explain how the research will benefit other researchers in the field. Up to two pages impact plan should be submitted with the application form.
Applicants will also need to write a new two-page Impact plan in addition to the case of support. The plan is specific to users and beneficiaries of the research who are outside of the academic research community and should expand on the information in the impact summary
Information and guidance on how to prepare an impact plan are available here.

2. EPSRC Managing Demand: Amendments to policy for repeatedly unsuccessful applicants
EPSRC has introduced changes to the grant application process in order to reduce the volume of applications as a whole. The new measures concern changing the rules on the resubmission of proposals and the introduction of a temporary 12-month exclusion for repeatedly unsuccessful applicants.
• From 1 April 2009 EPSRC no longer accepts uninvited resubmissions of proposals.
• From April 2010 EPSRC is introducing a 12-month cooling-off period for repeatedly unsuccessful applicants. EPSRC will allow unsuccessful applications who have: (i) three applications as PIs over two years in the lower half (below 50%) of the applicant field, and (ii) personal success rate below 25% to submit only one application over the subsequent 12-moth period.
Click here for more information on new rules on the resubmission of proposals.

3. EPSRC Peer Review Survey: Outcomes and Changes
In 2008 EPSRC ran a survey to gather information from stakeholder in academia and industry on the suitability of the current peer review process and suggestion for improving the process. Overall, the current process is seen favourably by the vast majority of the research community. Some actions, however, where identified for the improvement of the process. Actions include:
• Reviewer forms will be redesigned to make them clearer and to make the links with the assessment criteria more explicit.
• Strengthening guidance for panels.
• Improving the process followed by panels.
• Establishing a new EPSRC peer review college to increase focus on performance management and to offer opportunities for training and networking.
Results of the EPSRC Peer Review Survey are available here.

4. EPSRC Postdoctoral Fellowship (internal deadline: 14 July 2009)
EPSRC Postdoctoral fellowships enable talented new researchers to establish an independent research career shortly or immediately after completing a PhD. They provide funding to cover the fellow’s salary and a small amount of travel and subsistence, equipment and consumables. The fellowships last for up to three years.
Candidates should have an ‘Oxford sponsor’, a faculty member supporting the application and prepared to assist in the application process. Full first drafts should be submitted to Research Facilitation by 14 July.
More information for this call is available here.

5. London Mathematical Society: Conference Grants
The current upper limit for grants is £6,000. This normally covers support for: the principal speakers (up to £4,000); research students (up to £1,000); participants from the international short visits scheme or from the former Soviet Union (up to £1,000).
Award amount max: £6000
Internal deadline: 1 September 2009.
More information for this call is available here.


More information on current and past funding opportunities on: https://www.maths.ox.ac.uk/research/research-facilitation/funding-oppor…

Gui-Qiang G. Chen (BS Fudan; PhD Academia Sinica), Full Professor of Mathematics, Department of Mathematics, Northwestern University, USA and Visiting Chair Professor of Mathematics, Fudan University, PRC and Visiting Professor, Centre for Advanced Study, Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters, Norway has been appointed to the Professorship in the Analysis of Partial Differential Equations with effect from 10 August 2009.

Professor Chen will be a fellow of Keble College.

See http://www.all-souls.ox.ac.uk/content/Senior_Research_Fellowships