News

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.

Welcome to our new colleagues from the Numerical Analysis group, who joined the department from the Computing Laboratory on 1 October. In 2009/10, they will be housed at 3 Worcester St. They will move to the Gibson Building in 2010/11.

Our MSc in Mathematical Finance programme is structured to allow those working full-time to develop expertise in mathematical finance without compromising their professional work. The course covers all the areas of mathematical finance currently deployed in financial institutions, it also enables students to focus on topics most relevant to them.

The course has been revised and restructured in the wake of the global financial crisis. There is a new module specifically on quantitative risk management. In addition to presenting classical risk management tools, currently employed methodologies are scrutinised on the backdrop of recent risk management failures, and new directions proposed.

The deadline for applications for a January 2010 start is 2nd November. For further details see the course pages.

This years Simonyi Lecture for the public understanding of science will be given by Timothy Gowers.

The list of invited speakers for the next International Congress of Mathematicians, at Hyderabad in 2010 has now been posted.

There is a large Oxford contingent. Congratulations to

• Roger Heath-Brown
• Marc Lackenby
• Philip Maini
• Oliver Riordan
• Gregory Seregin
• Xunyu Zhou

We are pleased to announce the following awards:

A Lifetime Achievement Award goes to Dr Brian Stewart.

Individual Teaching Development Awards go to Professor Charles Batty, Dr Jackie Stedall and Dr Robin Knight.

A Teaching Development Award goes to Dr Jackie Stedall and Dr Cath Wilkins.