Latest news

Over the last few years the department has increased its efforts to be greener in various ways, e.g. reducing the amount of energy it uses, wasting less, recycling more, donating old equipment to charities for reuse etc.

A Green IT system for desktop computers around the department was phased in at the beginning of 2010. The aim of the system design is to be as unobtrusive as possible whilst saving lots of energy. Based on feedback from users, monitoring user habits and other experience the system was thus designed to be fully automatic and hence does not rely on the user having to remember to turn off the PC (although they do need to logout). The system has been highly successful (the most successful within the university) and is the major contributor to a 23% reduction in the total electricity usage compared to 2009 figures available. The green IT system uses free tools and is well documented so others can make use of the work elsewhere.

Efforts have also been made to reduce the electricity consumed by air conditioning and heating around the department. With 3 old buildings all with different inefficiencies this is not always easy. However, the department has produced some common sense guidance for the use of air conditioning and heating, and where possible automatically manages the air conditioning systems.

The department is planning to move to a single new building on the Radcliffe Observatory Quarter site in Summer 2013. Green measures and energy efficiency have been at the heart of the design process from the beginning. Within the maths building space there will be a site wide energy centre utilising ground source heat pumps and a biomass boiler, and the majority of the building will be naturally ventilated. The building will also have facilities for secure bike parking and showering to further encourage cycling. The building is targeting BREEAM excellent standard.

On a related note the Oxfordshire Cycle Challenge is into its last week. So far not many people within the department have logged journeys but hopefully this will rise in the last few days to help both the departmental and overall university totals.

With great regret we announce the death, on 30 April 2011, of Daniel Gray Quillen, Waynflete Professor of Mathematics from 1984 to 2006. Details of memorial events will be added in due course.

We are delighted to announce that the Oxford Mathematical Institute Newsletter for 2011 has been sent, and is now available for download using the link below. This issue includes a welcome note from Sam Howison as the new Chair, a short history of the Maths and Philosophy degree, and features a centre page spread on the new Mathematical Institute building. You can also take this opportunity to support the new building using the giving form below, which includes information on how gifts of all sizes can play a critical role -and you can also register for the annual Mathematical Institute Garden Party which is taking place on Saturday 16 July.

• Spring 2011 Newsletter
• Making a Gift
• Summer Garden Party 2011

It was announced on March 22 2011 that Jonathan Pila is to receive a Clay Research Award for his resolution of the André-Oort Conjecture in the case of products of modular curves. This work gives the first unconditional proof of fundamental cases of these general conjectures beyond the original theorem of André concerning the product of two such curves. The foundational techniques that Pila developed to achieve this breakthrough range from results in real analytic geometry which give sharp upper bounds for the number of rational points of bounded height on certain analytic sets, to the use of O-minimal structures in mathematical logic.

The award will be presented at the 2011 Clay Research Conference, to be held May 16-17 at Harvard University in Science Center Lecture Hall A.

Kit Yates recently met with Dr Yan from the BBC1 TV program Bang Goes the Theory to talk about conics.

The video is available on the BBC website

"Risk, Model Risk and Knightian Uncertainty: on the role of probability in finance"

The 2011 Nomura Lecture will be given by Professor Hans Follmer on
Thursday 12 May 2011 at 17:15 hours in the Examinations Schools.

The Mary Cartwright Lecture takes place on Friday 25th February in the University Museum.

A reception will be held after the meeting at the Mathematics Institute followed by a dinner at the Ashmolean Museum.

Full details are available on the poster

The first week long Saudi Arabian Study Group with Industry, organised by OCCAM and KAUST, was held last week at KAUST. Industrial study groups were pioneered in the UK by Oxford in the 1960s and now take place in over twenty countries around the World and have become the premier way of bringing academics and industry together.

Further details are available in [file:saudi-study-group1.pdf=an article from the Saudi Gazette].

Two former DPhil students from the Oxford Mathematical Finance Group, Hualei Chang and Lei Jin, have joined Goldman Sachs.

The IMA Gold Medal is awarded in alternate years in recognition of outstanding contributions to mathematics and its applications over a period of years. This year the medal has been awarded to Nick Trefethen. The medal will be presented on 29 June 2011.