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Please join us for a fireside chat, hosted by OSE, between PQShield founder and visiting professor, Dr Ali El Kaafarani, and Sami Walter, associate at Oxford Sciences Enterprises (OSE). 

Dr Ali El Kaafarani is the founder and CEO of PQShield, a post-quantum cryptography (PQC) company empowering organisations, industries and nations with quantum-resistant cryptography that is modernising the vital security systems and components of the world's technology supply chain.  

In this chat, we’ll discuss Dr Ali El Kaafarani’s experience founding PQShield and lessons learned from spinning a company out from the Oxford ecosystem.

I will describe a new method for constructing conformal blocks for the Virasoro vertex algebra with central charge c=1, by "nonabelianization", relating them to conformal blocks for the Heisenberg algebra on a branched double cover. The construction is joint work with Qianyu Hao. Special cases give rise to formulas for tau-functions and solutions of integrable systems of PDE, such as Painleve I and its higher analogues. The talk will be reasonably self-contained (in particular I will explain what a conformal block is).

We will review physics-informed neural networks (NNs) and summarize available extensions for applications in computational science and engineering. We will also introduce new NNs that learn functionals and nonlinear operators from functions and corresponding responses for system identification. 

These two key developments have formed the backbone of scientific machine learning that has disrupted the path of computational science and engineering and has created new opportunities for all scientific domains. We will discuss some of these opportunities in digital twins, autonomy, materials discovery, etc.

Moreover, we will discuss bio-inspired solutions, e.g., spiking neural networks and neuromorphic computing.

Many justifications can be offered for the study of the history of mathematics. Here we focus on three, each of them illustrated by a specific historical example: it can aid in the learning of mathematics; it can prompt the development of new mathematics; and last but certainly not least – it's fun and interesting!

Despite the stereotype of the lone genius working by themselves, most professional mathematicians collaborate with others. But when you're learning maths as a student, is it OK to work with other people, or is that cheating? How do you build the skills and confidence to collaborate effectively? And where does AI fit into all this? In this session, we'll explore ways in which you can get the most out of collaborations with your fellow students, whilst avoiding inadvertently passing off other people's work as your own.

In this interactive session, Jenny Roberts from the Institute of Mathematics and its Applications will offer guidance on what employers are looking for in mathematical graduates, and how best to sell yourself for those jobs!

Exploring fascinating mathematics more independently by doing a Part B project or dissertation can be one of the most exciting and rewarding parts of undergraduate study. Supervision meetings are one of the main tools for making the most of this experience.

In this Fridays@2 session, a panel of staff and students with experience in Part B projects and dissertations will share practical tips on how to prepare, communicate effectively, and tackle common challenges. Whether you’re currently working on a project, planning one, or just curious, join us for insights and an interactive Q&A.