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(above) Coffee break discussions during the "Rigorous analysis of incompressible fluid models and turbulence" workshop, 14-18 February 2022
INI NEWS BULLETIN
February 2022
Dear friends, associates and supporters of INI,
Welcome to the February 2022 edition of our monthly news bulletin, we hope it finds you well.
This month, we're enjoying a feast of interviews, comprising: two audio-only podcasts, and two video interviews. Our podcast guests are Dr Nira Chamberlain - who has a story of adversity to share that's as entertaining as it is inspiring - and Professor Franca Hoffmann - whose travels and professional engagements in Ghana, Rwanda and beyond paint a fascinating picture of how much opportunity there is to engage with and create on Earth's second-largest continent.
Our video interviews, meanwhile, welcome five current INI programme organisers who provide insight into the themes, challenges and potential outcomes of their INI-based research. So, if you've ever wanted to learn more about the higher mathematics of kinetic theory or fractional differential equations, now is your opportunity to learn more within two concise, sub-16-minute interviews.
Finally, we take a moment to remind readers about next month's forthcoming Abel Prize ceremony.
Thanks as always for your continued support. As eagle-eyed users of the INI website will be aware, the year from this point onwards promises to be a near-constant stream of collaborative workshops. We look forward to bringing you news of their activities along the way.
- INI Communications team
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Contact: communications@newton.ac.uk
(above) Participants in the "Deterministic and stochastic fractional differential equations and jump processes" workshop, 21-25 February 2022
PODCAST(S) OF THE MONTH: delve into Quantum Leap Africa and hear an inspiring story of adversity overcome in this month's audio interviews.
(above) Dr Nira Chamberlain
In episode #36 of Living Proof, Dan Aspel and Christie Marr speak to Dr Nira Chamberlain. Dr Chamberlain has recently joined INI’s management committee, and his history up to this point is as interesting as it is inspiring.
Fresh from a two-year stint as the President of the Institute of Mathematics and its Applications he’s recently been awarded an OBE for services to Mathematics, he’s been named the “5th most influential black person in the UK”, “one of the UK’s most influential scientists”, and even “the world’s most interesting mathematician”. He’s got a fascinating story to tell about encouragement and discouragement along his journey to becoming a mathematician, and his involvement in the Black Heroes of Mathematics conference is of particular interest. There’s even time to discuss Aston Villa and “Goldilocks and the Three Bears” along the way.
00:00 – Introduction
01:05 – Welcome (using maths to solve “complex industrial and engineering problems”), recently vacating the presidency of the IMA
07:00 – Accolades, Stormzy and Lewis Hamilton
09:27 – “That is disgraceful!”
09:55 – Discouragement and prejudice: “you don’t need anybody’s permission to be a great mathematician”
18:25 – Being the linking point between the mathematical and industrial worlds
21:13 – “What is the probability of Aston Villa staying in the Premiership?” (it’s “0.02%”)
25:43 – Joining INI’s Management Committee
25:58 – All about the “Black Heroes of Mathematics” conference
37:45 – Working on the Queen Elizabeth aircraft carrier… “have you heard the story of Goldilocks and the three bears?”
(above) Professor Franca Hoffmann
In episode #37 of Living Proof, Dan Aspel and Christie Marr are joined by Professor Franca Hoffmann of the University of Bonn.
Professor Hoffmann has spent much of the past decade working with the African Institute for Mathematical Sciences, its Quantum Leap Africa initiative, and a host of other groups and NGOs across the African continent, all focused on the support and pursuit of higher mathematics. And yet, in her own words, she’s still “very junior” at her home institution herself. So how did she – whilst still an undergraduate – find such mutually beneficial opportunities working far from home across numerous cultures? And how could those in a similar position follow her footsteps and unlock new possibilities for themselves and others? Franca’s story answers these questions and more.
00:00 – Introduction
01:44 – Welcome (“when I was at high school, I didn’t think of myself as a mathematician at all… I just wanted to study everything”)
04:50 – Discussing the African Institute for Mathematical Sciences (“AIMS has enabled me to balance my passions in a very beautiful way”)
06:14 – (note: same building, not same room!)
10:25 – (note: the NGO was not entirely run by Ghanaians, but by people based in Ghana of various nationalities)
12:40 – How it began: “One day I got a message on Facebook saying ‘hey, do you want to come teach math in Africa?’”
17:20 – “The best thing is not to let yourself get confused with stereotypes. It is possible to put together a job that suits you. Any opportunity that allows you to discover where your strengths and passion are is great.”
20:40 – “Who that I know in Germany would get up at 4am to go to a math lecture?… I want to be able to share the opportunities that I have to people who are really deserving of them”
21:40 – Discussing Quantum Leap Africa
26:30 – “I’m still very junior in my career myself, so AIMS stepping up to me and saying ‘we’d like you to take care of this Doctorate training programme was a big step”
29:14 – Being a torchbearer (literally) for Imperial College at the 2012 London Olympics (“I thought it was spam, so I deleted the email!”)
32:08 – (note: the military veteran was Jaco Van Gass, who lost his left arm, part of his left leg and sustaining severe internal injuries in Afghanistan – not all four of his major limbs as said in this podcast)
36:50 – Impressions of INI programmes, interactions with other participants, the value of in-person conversation
VIDEO INTERVIEWS: learn why kinetic theory and fractional differential equations matter in this month's programme organiser interviews.
(above) "Frontiers in kinetic theory" programme organisers Jose Carrillo, Jingwei Hu and Jacob Bedrossian
(above) "Fractional differential equations" programme organisers Eulalia Nualart and Vassili Kolokoltsov
Since 2017, INI has recorded video interviews with the organisers of each scientific programme. The aim of these short films is to give an introduction to the subject, theme, aims and outcome of each programme, in the words of those who feel most passionately about them.
We're very pleased to say that we have this month published two such interviews, for the Frontiers in kinetic theory and Fractional differential equations. Our thanks to the organisers involved, and we hope they prove pithy and insightful!
Click the images above to access each interview directly via YouTube, or the button below to see the full collection of interviews via the INI website.
ABEL PRIZE: just three weeks until the annual award for "outstanding international mathematicians" is next announced
Established by the Norwegian Government in 2002, and since managed by the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters, the Abel Prize needs little introduction within the world of higher mathematics. However, it would be remiss of us not to remind our readers of its imminent arrival for 2022 (particularly as INI Director Professor Ulrike Tillmann is currently a member of the prize committee!).
The details of this year's ceremony are as follows:
The Abel Prize Announcement
The Abel Prize will be announced on March 23 at 12:00 GMT+1 at The Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters. The announcement can be seen as a live webcast at www.abelprize.no/.
The Abel Prize Week
The Abel Prize Week will take place in Oslo from May 23 - 25. For information about the main event, see: Abel Prize Award Ceremony.
