As you read this issue the IMA will have held the first in our new series of Employers’ Forums. This is an excellent initiative, advanced by our rejuvenated Professional Affairs Committee. Particular thanks are due to EDF Energy at Barnwood, which is hosting the event. A very good programme has been drawn up by David Ogle CMath FIMA CSci, Heather Tewkesbury CMath FIMA and John Meeson, which includes: Recruitment of mathematicians; Why do employers want mathematicians?; How do mathematicians progress through recruitment campaigns?; Skills required of mathematicians; Embedded Employability – enhancing the university curriculum; and a graduate’s eye view. The event will feature both the nuclear and security sectors, which reflects the affiliations of principle speakers.
The next such event will be held at the Atomic Weapons Research facility in 2013. For many years our members in industry and commerce have encouraged the IMA to do more to encourage this sector. Through this action from our Professional Affairs Committee we have been able to provide an excellent base for this area of mathematics. We hope that the whole of the mathematics community associated with industrial and commercial mathematics and the employment of maths graduates in this sector will get behind this activity so that a strong and vibrant voice can be provided to this community.
In July the National HE STEM Programme was completed. This issue includes summary reports (see pages 207–215) from many elements of the outcomes that have been created within this wide-ranging initiative in England and Wales. The IMA led the mathematics strand with strong support fromthe MSOR and sigma. The IMA staff led on outreach, developing the large and small kits, and developing new resources for undergraduate ambassadors. We also produced materials related to Employer Engagement, such as HE industrial panels, ‘maths at work’ days, careers materials, and videos of the ‘wants of employers’. All materials are available via the excellent IMA MathsCareers website.
The MSOR led on curriculum development. Their programme, which was developed with the HE maths community, will I am very sure be well received. Peter Rowlett’s report describes these elements in much more detail.
The sigma maths support expansion has cemented the role of maths support in UK higher education, with great strides in the sustainable provision of maths support in most regions of England and Wales. Dagmar Waller’s and Duncan Lawson’s summary report is in this issue.
Many thanks to Makhan Singh, Hazel Lewis AMIMA, Peter Rowlett MIMA and Dagmar Waller for their excellent work over the lifetime of the project, and to Nigel Steele CMath FIMA and Duncan Lawson CMath FIMA for their guidance and wisdom. We are delighted to wish Hazel the very best as she begins a new career to train as a school teacher.
DfE are continuing to advance their thoughts on the school curriculum. Nigel Steele met with the DfE officials concerning the primary curriculum, where the IMA does not profess significant expertise, and therefore provided support to the advice of the Advisory Committee on Mathematics Education (ACME). We plan to make a more significant contribution as the agenda moves on to the secondary curriculum.
Our membership drive continues. Posters are included in this issue andwe have issued an invitation to all successful newundergraduates to join the IMA e-Student scheme and to engage with the IMA-funded mathematics societies and our University Liaison Officer Erica Tyson. If you work in Higher Education then please encourage your undergraduates to join the mathematical community. Sadly we lose too many when they graduate.
Our Early Career Group goes from strength to strength. Good luck to the new officers: Chair: Stephen Lee CMath MIMA; Vice Chair: Sharon Evans MIMA; Conference Team: Peter Rowlett MIMA, Lindsay-Marie Armstrong AMIMA, and Jacqueline Bishop AMIMA; Promotion Leader: Sara Owen AMIMA; Engagement Leader: Richard Crawford CMath MIMA; and Immediate Past Chair: Benjamin Dias CMath FIMA CSci.
I hope that we can all support Promotion Leader Sara Owen AMIMA, who will coordinate the ECM group social and networking events and the promotion of the ECM group’s activities via Mathematics Today and the IMA Social Media platforms: and Engagement Leader Richard Crawford CMath MIMA who will encourage ECM members in upgrading their membership, gaining Chartership designation and engaging with the IMA in their local branch. Richard also liaises with the IMA University Liaison Officer to encourage ECM support for IMA activities with university students.
Working with Chris Budd CMath FIMA and LynnWebster the ECM group have expanded our web and social media presence so that we are now active on the web, in blogs, on Facebook, YouTube, LinkedIn, Google Plus, and Twitter. So whichever is your favoured platform you can nowkeep up to date with IMA and other maths matters. While you are on the web you might like to view the historic Royal Institution Christmas Lectures by Christopher Zeeman. These groundbreaking lectures, the first maths lectures in the 149 year series, inspired a generation and led to sequels by Ian Stewart FRS, CMath FIMA and Marcus Du Sautoy.
The next issue of Science in Parliament will contain an article by Professors Paul Glendinning VP Learned Society and Ken Brown VP LMS, on the topic of ‘60 years of mathematics’ to celebrate the Queen’s anniversary. In associated news I have been elected to be on the Advisory Panel of the Parliamentary and Scientific Committee, and so we look forward to greater involvement with this important forum. Our next target will be to encourage early-career researchers to enter the March 2013 SET for Britain 2013 event. Gold, silver and bronze awards are available for the best A0-sized posters submitted in each category. The Westminster Medal in memory of Dr Eric Wharton is also presented to the overall winner. Early career researchers should describe their work and communicate high level science to a lay audience. There are many topics where posters can be engaging. The IMA Mathematics Matters case studies show exemplars that could be subjects where posters could be presented, as do entries for the IMA Lighthill Thwaites prize in 2011. Let us see if we can respond to this clear invitation.
DAVID YOUDAN FIMA
