INI NEWSLETTER
February 2018

Dear friends, associates and supporters of INI,

A very warm welcome to this first of a new series of newsletter updates. Through these regular messages we hope to keep you fully informed of the Institute's schedule of programmes, workshops and other activities. Combined with the joint resources of newton.ac.uk, our Facebook page, Twitter feed, and Instagram posts, there should be little occuring at the Institute that you are not fully informed of well in advance.

Many thanks for your continuing support, and we look forward to sharing much exciting news from the world of INI with you, both in this newsletter and throughout the months and years to come.

Would you like to direct colleagues or associates to our newsletter sign-up page? Simply forward them this link: bit.ly/inisignup

Newsletter contents:
1. Current programme updates
2. Programme Organiser video interviews
3. INI-ICMS Correspondents refresh
4. Poetry reading with John Kinsella (7 March 2018)
5. Cambridge Science Festival - INI welcomes Dr Emily Grossman (17 March 2018)
6. Watch live!
7. INI Annual Report 2016-17
8. APPLY NOW: future programme workshops at INI

1. Current programme updates

Header images from the UNQ (top) and STS (above) programmes
- both currently underway at INI.

Since the 3rd and 10th of January respectively, the Institute has been host to two six-month programmes: Uncertainty quantification for complex systems: theory and methodologies (UNQ) and Statistical Scalability (STS). Both programmes have so far held one of their scheduled workshops/events each - with the remainder taking place between February and June 2018.

Applications are still open for the final workshops in each case. Further details can be found via the following links:

UNQW04: UQ for inverse problems in complex systems (4 February deadline)
STSW04: Future challenges in statistical scalability (26 March deadline)

2. Programme Organiser video interviews

 (top) John Aston, Po-Ling Loh and Richard Samworth of the STS programme.

(above) Peter Challenor and Henry Wynn of the UNQ programme.

Since August 2017, INI has filmed video interviews with the Organisers of each programme held at the Institute. The aim of these videos is to provide an introduction to the subject of each programme, the challenges inherent within it, and the likely outcomes from the research undertaken. Such videos for the UNQ and STS programmes have recently been uploaded. Please click and bookmark the link below to see all materials recorded so far.

3. INI-ICMS Correspondents Network refresh

Speakers and attendees at January 2018's annual INI-ICMS Correspondents Day meeting. Speakers included Prof Liz Mansfield (University of Kent, IMA) and Dr Andrew Bourne (EPSRC).

Since 2002 INI has maintained a network of Correspondents - based at Universities and research institutions around the UK - to act as a conduit between the Institute and the greater world of the mathematical sciences.

On 24 January 2018 INI hosted it's annual meeting of the network, marking a major refresh in which the scheme was rebranded to run jointly with Edinburgh's ICMS, and the list of members was comprehensively updated and augmented. On the day, we were thrilled to host all but a few of this reinvigorated list, as well as speakers Dr Andrew Bourne and Prof Liz Mansfield. Topics covered across the talks and break out discussions ranged from the future of funding for the mathematical sciences in the UK to diversity within the discipline as a whole.

Given the day's many successes, we look forward with much excitement to next year's event.

4. Poetry reading with John Kinsella - 7 March 2018

As part of INI's 25th anniversary celebrations in the summer of 2017, the Institute was honoured to publish "Spiralling" - a new collection of writing and photographs by INI Poet in Residence John Kinsella. On 7 March 2018, we will be welcoming John once more for a day of readings and discussions of his work. Further details will follow via INI's website, social media streams and next month's newsletter.

5. "Lies, Damned Lies, and Newspapers": INI welcomes Dr Emily Grossman for the 2018 Cambridge Science Festival - 17 March 2018

Can we believe everything we read in the papers? The media constantly misuse, misinterpret and abuse statistics. Sometimes mistakes arise because of genuine errors made by experts. Sometimes data from scientists is misinterpreted or misunderstood. And sometimes the media knowingly spin or distort statistics to tell a good story. Who knew?! In this interactive and amusing talk, Dr Emily Grossman takes a light-hearted look at these issues, and discusses some common errors to look out for - illustrated with examples of “embarrassing moments” where she’s been caught out in her own career as a TV science broadcaster.

As part of our involvement with the 2018 Cambridge Science Festival, we are very proud to be hosting the talk "Lies, Damned Lies, and Newspapers: The use and abuse of statistics in the media" by Dr Emily Grossman. A molecular biologist and geneticist with a specialism in cancer research, Dr Grossman brings with her an enviable reputation as a science communicator and public speaker. This promises to be a talk not to be missed.

Saturday March 17, 2018
11:00 AM – 12:00 PM

6. Watch Live! How to view INI seminars remotely

The majority of events held at INI are open to all who would like to attend them. However, if you are not able to make a particular talk in person, you may be pleased to learn that we live stream the vast majority of the activities undertaken at the Institute. Simply click and bookmark the button below to watch workshop talks, seminars and one-off events via your browser.

7. INI Annual Report 2016-17

Our most recent Annual Report is now available to view online - simply click the button below to access a downloadable PDF. If you would like to view previous issues, you will find them via the following link: bit.ly/iniannualreports

8. APPLY NOW: future programme workshops at INI

Beyond UNQ and STS, the Institute will be hosting two further programmes in 2018. Applications for all seven of their associated workshops are still open at the time of writing. We would encourage those with an interest to apply as soon as possible. Please feel free to disseminate the below links as widely as you wish.

Homotopy harnessing higher structures (HHH) programme

HHHW01
2-6 July 2018
Higher structures in homotopy theory

HHHW02
13-17 August 2018
Equivariant and motivic homotopy theory

HHHW03
24-28 September 2018
Derived algebraic geometry and chromatic homotopy theory

HHHW04
3-7 December 2018
Manifolds

Scaling limits, rough paths, quantum field theory (SRQ) programme

SRQW01
3-7 September, 2018
Renormalisation in quantum field theory and in stochastic partial differential equations: a gentle introduction and some recent developments

SRQW02
22-26 October 2018
Quantum field theory, renormalisation and stochastic partial differential equations

SRQW03
10-14 December 2018
Conclusions and Future Directions