INI NEWS BULLETIN
December 2018

Dear friends, associates and supporters of INI,

Welcome to our December monthly news bulletin. We have eight stories to share with you in this final edition of 2018. We hope that the mixture of new documents, event invitations and job vacancies proves stimulating.

We're very much looking forward to bringing you more INI-related updates throughout 2019. Until then, best festive wishes, enjoy today's winter solstice, and a happy New Year to all.

- INI communications team

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News bulletin contents:
1. UPDATE: a reminder of the three new programmes launching in January 2019
2. EVENT: full details of poet-in-residence John Kinsella's talk on 22 January 2019
3. REPORT: INI Annual Report 2017-2018 is now available to view/download
4. PHILANTHROPY: celebrating two major recent donations to INI
5. ARTICLE: "Inception to Inauguration" exploring the founding of INI 25 years ago
6. EVENT: the 145th European Study Group with Industry comes to Cambridge, 8-12 April 2019
7. IN OTHER NEWS: mathematics and meterorites meet in Antarctica
8. VACANCY: applications still open for Development and Communications Coordinator role 

 1. UPDATE: future programmes at INI

As detailed in our last bulletin, three new programmes will begin from 3 January 2019 - with registration still open for many of the corresponding workshops. For full details visit each programme's homepage via the links below.

> MES - The mathematics of energy systems, January-May 2019
> ASC - Approximation, sampling and compression in data science, January-June 2019
> DNM - The mathematical design of new materials, January-June 2019

2. EVENT: talk by poet-in-residence John Kinsella, 22 January 2019

On Tuesday 22 January 2019, INI poet-in-residence John Kinsella will be joining us at INI for an evening of poetry readings and discussion. Based largely around his work "Spiralling", a collection of writings published to coincide with the Institute's 25th anniversary celebrations in 2017, the theme will concern spiral motifs and the relationship between poetry and mathematics. Joining John in the discussion will be Barry Phipps (Churchill), INI's Curator of Art and Science. 

Doors open at 17:00, the readings will follow at 17:30 and an informal drinks reception will round off the evening from 18:30.

All are welcome, and no RSVP is required.

3. REPORT: INI Annual Report 2017-2018 is now available to view/download

The Institute's Annual Report (2017-2018) is now available to download. Its contents cover the themes and outcomes of all programmes held at INI during that period, a summary of significant Institute activities, financial records and key statistics relating to all of these topics.

4. PHILANTHROPY: celebrating two major recent donations to INI

Two major philanthropic donations to the Institute have recently been confirmed, both of which will have a measurable impact on the scope, ambition and effectiveness of INI's activities. They are as follows:

- A generous £250,000 donation from the Turner-Kirk Charitable Trust has allowed the establishment of the Kirk Distinguished Visting Fellowships scheme. This fellowship, the first recipients of which have already been confirmed for 2019, will provide funding for one senior mathematician per programme in the style of the existing Rothschild Distinguished Visiting Fellowships. These field-leading figures will, however, be chosen from under-represented groups within higher mathematical research. In practice this will mean that they will primarily be senior women mathematicians. It is the Institute's hope that this prestigious fellowship will help create and promote influential new role models within the field, and address the historical gender imbalance that persists within the science.

An extensive interview with Dr Ewan Kirk (both a philanthropic donor and Chair of INI's Management Committee) on the subject will follow in the New Year.

- A generous £200,000 donation from Winton Philanthropies has followed long-term engagement with David Harding and James Gilbert of Winton Capital. This gift will be put to multiple uses across the Institute, helping it to maintain the continuing excellence of its output for years to come.

5. ARTICLE: "Inception to Inauguration" exploring the founding of INI 25 years ago

Written with a focus on the financial genesis of INI, and utilising extensive records from the earliest copies of the Institute's Annual Report, this newly published article provides a clear and comprehensive picture of the challenges involved in setting up such a centre and the generosity and support which made it possible.

6. EVENT: the 145th "European Study Group with Industry" comes to Cambridge, 8-12 April 2019

Organised in part by INI Director David Abrahams and TGM Knowledge Transfer Manager Jane Leeks, the 2019 UK European Study Group with Industry (ESGI) will be hosted at the University of Cambridge from 8-12 April 2019. This event promises to be an stimulating week-long collaboration of mathematicians and industrialists working together to solve industrial problems.

7. IN OTHER NEWS: mathematics and meterorites meet in Antarctica

Although not directly linked to INI activities, we thought that our audience would like to hear about the "UK Polar Meteorite Exploration and Research" project. As readers will see from its website, one of the team's major collaborators is INI Director David Abrahams. This ambitious project, in its organisers' words: "brings together mathematicians, glaciologists, engineers and planetary scientists to study the science of meteorites in polar settings" and will involve much hands-on field work throughout the course of the current Antarctic Summer.

We are reassured that David will be here to fulfil his duties in Cambridge throughout 2019 and not roaming the wilds of the world's fifth-largest continent.

Full details of the project, including a regularly updated blog, can be found via the following link: https://ukantarcticmeteorites.com/

8. VACANCY: applications still open for Development and Communications Coordinator role 

The Institute is seeking a Development and Communications Coordinator to provide technical research and communications support in relation to the expansion and diversification of TGM and INI activities. This will involve scientific and technical exploration and analysis of the research programmes and related activity, in particular the translation and dissemination of scientific details and information to a broader audience.

To apply, applicants should follow the link below and submit their application before 6 January 2019.