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Mathematical Institute, University of Oxford

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Mathematical Institute, University of Oxford

The Mathematical Institute is the mathematics department at the University of Oxford, England. It forms one of the ten departments of the Mathematical, Physical and Life Sciences Divisional Board in the University.

Contents

Overview

Oxford Mathematics includes both pure and applied mathematics (statistics is a separate department) and is one of the largest and most respected mathematics departments in the UK with about 90 faculty. Its research covers a range of fields from, for example, Algebra and Number Theory to the applications of mathematics to industry, climate, and the brain. It has over 850 undergraduates, over 200 postgraduates and around 150 MSc students.

As of Michaelmas term 2013 Oxford Mathematics has been unified and is now housed in the striking, purpose built Andrew Wiles Building on the Radcliffe Observatory Quarter in North Oxford, near the original Radcliffe Observatory. Sir Andrew Wiles, a Royal Society Research Professor at the University of Oxford, is best known for proving Fermat's Last Theorem.

Senior academic staff: professors

Oxford Mathematics has a number of "statutory chairs" in both pure and applied mathematics:

  • The Savilian Professor of Geometry is Nigel Hitchin, FRS,
  • The Wallis Professorship is held by Terry J. Lyons, FRS,
  • The Waynflete Professorship of Pure Mathematics is held by Ben Green, FRS
  • The Whitehead Professorship of Pure Mathematics is held by Martin Bridson
  • The Professorship of Mathematical Logic is held by Boris Zilber
  • The Professorship of Pure Mathematics is held by Roger Heath-Brown, FRS.

    • The chairs in applied mathematics are:

  • The Sedleian Professorship of Natural Philosophy held by Sir John M. Ball, FRS
  • The Rouse Ball chair held by Philip Candelas, FRS,
  • The Professorship of Mathematical Biology held by Philip Maini FRS
  • The Professorship of Numerical Analysis held by Lloyd N. Trefethen, FRS,
  • The Professorship of Mathematics and its Applications held by Jon Chapman
  • The Professorship in the Analysis of Partial Differential Equations held by Gui-Qiang Chen
  • The Professorship of Mathematical Finance held by Xunyu Zhou
  • The Professorship of Mathematical Modelling held by Alain Goriely
  • The Simonyi Chair for the Public Understanding of Science is held by Marcus du Sautoy
  • The Professor of Probability is Alison Etheridge FRS

    • Alumni

    Sir Roger Penrose is a prominent emeritus member of the Institute. Sir Michael Atiyah was another prominent member between 1961 and 1990.

    History

    Prior to this the Institute was located in multiple buildings. The main one was built in 1966 and was located at the northern end of St Giles' near the junction with Banbury Road in central north Oxford. The building of the old institute was originally proposed by G.H. Hardy at least 30 years earlier. In addition, the Institute had two annexes, also located close to the centre of Oxford. These were in Dartington House, situated on Little Clarendon Street, and the Gibson Building, situated further north, on the site of the Radcliffe Infirmary. In 2015, episode "What Lies Tangled" of the British television detective drama Lewis was filmed in the Mathematical Institute. New Mathematical Institute building (Andrew Wiles Building) plays itself in this episode.

    References

    Mathematical Institute, University of Oxford Wikipedia
    (Text) CC BY-SA