Oxford Mathematics and Computer Science Undergraduate Andreea Marzoca has become joint winner of the The WCIT University IT Awards 2017. The awards recognise outstanding undergraduate and postgraduate IT students within the UK, and were created in 2015 by The Worshipful Company of Information Technologists Charity (WCIT Charity). Criteria for the award included academic excellence, overcoming adversity, entrepreneurial skills and contribution to charity or community. Andreea, and joint winner Joanna Joss (of Brunel University, London) are the first female winners of this award.
Andreea is a 3rd year undergraduate studying Maths and Computer Science. She is also Vice President of OxWoCS (Oxford Women in Computer Science). Andreea received her award along with the other finalists at the WCIT 95th Business Lunch, held at the Saddlers’ Hall in the City of London, where the students also had the opportunity to network with high-ranking IT professionals from all around the UK. Each finalist was presented with a cheque and certificate by the City of London Alderman Sheriff, Peter Estlin.
Oxford Mathematician Nick Trefethen FRS has been awarded the prestigious George Pólya Prize by the Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics (SIAM). The Prize for Mathematical Exposition, established in 2013, is awarded every two years to an outstanding expositor of the mathematical sciences.
Nick Trefethen is Professor of Numerical Analysis, University of Oxford, Fellow of Balliol College & Global Distinguished Professor, New York University. He is Head of Oxford Mathematics' Numerical Analysis Group. He is known for a succession of influential textbooks and monographs related to numerical mathematics, most recently 'Approximation Theory and Approximation Practice' which appeared in 2013. His next book will explore Ordinary Differential Equations.
Oxford Mathematician Philip Maini has been awarded the Arthur T. Winfree Prize by the Society of Mathematical Biology for his work on mathematical modelling of spatiotemporal processes in biology and medicine. In the words of the citation Philip's work "has led to significant scientific advances not only in mathematics, but also in biology and the biomedical sciences. His mathematical oncology research has provided detailed insight into the design of combination cancer therapies."
Philip will receive his award at the 2017 Annual Meeting of the Society, to be held at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City from July 17-20, 2017.
Oxford Mathematician and Computer Scientist Ursula Martin has been elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, joining over 1600 current fellows drawn from a wide range of disciplines – science & technology, arts, humanities, social science, business and public service.
Ursula's career has taken in Cambridge and Warwick and included spells across the Atlantic as well as recently at Queen Mary, University of London. From 1992 to 2002, she was Professor of Computer Science at the University of St Andrews in Scotland, the first female professor at the University since its foundation in 1411. Her work around theoretical Computer Science is accompanied by a passionate commitment to advancing the cause of women in science. She has also been a leading light in the recent study and promotion of the life and work of Victorian Mathematician Ada Lovelace and has been instrumental in examining and explaining Ada's mathematics as well as promoting her achievements as a woman.
From the tobacco companies in the fifties to the arguments of the Brexit campaign, Economist and BBC Radio 4 Presenter Tim Harford takes us on a tour of truths, facts and the weapon that is doubt. Surely fact-checking websites and rational thinking are the best weapons to convince people of the truth? Or is in fact the truth simply not good enough. Do we have time or any inclination to hear it? Maybe we need to start with something simpler. Perhaps arousing people's curiosity might be just as important.
Watch Tim make his case in the latest of the successful Oxford Mathematics Public Lecture series.
All mathematical models require information to make their predictions; to get something out, you have to put something in. To predict how an earthquake propagates through the ground, you have to know the material properties of the subsurface rocks. To predict the weather at noon, you have to give the initial conditions at dawn. To predict the drag coefficient of an aircraft, you have to specify its shape.
In many cases, however, we are faced with the opposite problem: given information about the outcome of a physical process, how did it come about? Such a problem is called an inverse problem, in contrast to the forward problems given above, for it inverts the relationship between cause and effect encoded in the underlying equations. Find out more in the latest in our Oxford Mathematics Alphabet.
In our latest Public Lecture Tim Harford, Financial Times columnist and presenter of Radio 4's "More or Less", argues that politicians, businesses and even charities have been poisoning the value of statistics and data. Tim will argue that we need to defend the value of good data in public discourse, and will suggest how to lead the defence of statistical truth-telling.
For details and notification of the live podcast on 8 February at 4pm please click here.
In our latest Public Lecture Tim Harford, Financial Times columnist and presenter of Radio 4's "More or Less", argues that politicians, businesses and even charities have been poisoning the value of statistics and data. Tim will argue that we need to defend the value of good data in public discourse, and will suggest how to lead the defence of statistical truth-telling.
8 February, 4pm, Mathematical Institute, Oxford. Please email @email to register
UNFORTUNATELY THIS HAS BEEN CANCELLED. A NEW DATE WILL BE SET SOON.
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In recognition of a lifetime's contribution across the mathematical sciences, we are initiating a series of annual Public Lectures in honour of Roger Penrose. The first lecture will be given by his long-time collaborator and friend Stephen Hawking on 18th January at 5pm GMT. The lecture is sold out, but we will be podcasting live.
Stephen Hawking is the former Lucasian Professor of Mathematics at the University of Cambridge and now the Dennis Stanton Avery and Sally Tsui Wong-Avery Director of Research at the Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics and Founder of the Centre for Theoretical Cosmology at Cambridge.
Puzzling things happen in human perception when ambiguous or incomplete information is presented to the eyes. For example, illusions, or multistable figures occur when a single image can be perceived in several ways.
In the Oxford Mathematics Christmas Public Lecture Ian Stewart demonstrates how these phenomena provide clues about the workings of the visual system, with reference to recent research which has modelled simplified, systematic methods by which the brain can make decisions.
Ian Stewart is Emeritus Professor of Mathematics in the University of Warwick.
