Category Archives: Education

Education, General, General Mathematics

2013 Mathematical Art Exhibition Awards

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The Mathematical Art Exhibition Award “for aesthetically pleasing works that combine mathematics and art” was established in 2008 through an endowment provided to the American Mathematical Society by an anonymous donor who wishes to acknowledge those whose works demonstrate the beauty and elegance of mathematics expressed in a visual art form. The awards are US$400 for Best photograph, painting, or print; $400 for Best textile, sculpture, or other medium; and $200 for Honorable Mention. The Mathematical Art Exhibition of juried works in various media is held at the annual Joint Mathematics Meetings of the American Mathematical Society (AMS) and Mathematical Association of America (MAA).

http://www.ams.org/news?news_id=1753

Here are the winners for this year.

circles
“Bended Circle Limit III,” by Vladimir Bulatov was awarded Best photograph, painting, or print.

boxes
“Inlaid Wooden Boxes of Makoto Nakamura’s Tessellations,” by Kevin Lee, Normandale Community College, Saint Paul, MN, was awarded Best textile, sculpture, or other medium.

necklace
“Tessellation Evolution,” by Susan Goldstine, St. Mary’s College of Maryland, received Honorable Mention.

For larger pictures and further details follow the link below.

Link
2013 Mathematical Art Exhibition Awards (Tuesday January 15th 2013 )

Education, General, General Mathematics

London Mathematical Society Review 2011-2012

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LMS

The London Mathematical Society Annual Review for 2011-2012 is available here (opens pdf).

As a side remark, I am not actually a member, I must rectify that soon.

About the LMS

The London Mathematical Society (LMS), founded in 1865, is the UK’s learned society for mathematics. The Society has as its purpose the advancement, dissemination and promotion of mathematical knowledge in the UK and worldwide.

www.lms.ac.uk

Education, Physics

IOP response to House of Lords Science and Technology Committee for inquiry topic recommendations

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There is growing concern about the impact that reduced funding and support for postgraduate education, especially taught Masters Programmes, will have for the UK’s science and innovation base in terms of producing highly trained people that will have the skills and knowledge requisite for academic research and to meet the demanding needs of industry. We essentially have a system in place that is transferring the costs of postgraduate education to UK students which will have implications for the participation levels of UK-domiciled students.


Request for inquiry topic recommendations (18 January 2013)

Education

No recovery in the number of university applications

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The worrying trend of falling university applications continues, according to the most recent statistics published by UCAS. We urge the Government to step in with a national campaign to promote the value of university for potential students currently considering their options, whether they are about to leave school or considering a university course later in life.

Pam Tatlow, Chief Executive of the university think tank, million+

University applications for fulltime courses for the academic year 2013/14 submitted by 17 December were published by UCAS on 3 January.

Highlights

  1. The published figures highlight that there is an overall fall in applications compared to 2012/13 of -5.6%, and a fall of -6.5% in England.
  2. Excluding early applications which were submitted by 15 October for Oxbridge, medicine, dentistry and veterinary courses, applications are down by 7.2%, and 7.6% in England.
  3. Admissions in 2012/13 were already down on previous years, with 54,000 fewer people starting university courses compared to 2011/12.

You can find out more here.

Links

Million +

University applications ‘not recovering’ ahead of deadline, BBC News

Education

The University of Buckingham suspends accreditation for courses at the Victoria University in Uganda

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The University of Buckingham,  which is the only private research and teaching university of the United Kingdom, is to stop accreditation of courses run at the Victoria University in  Kampala, Uganda.

This is in direct response to proposed legislation against homosexuality in Uganda. Homosexuality is already against the law in Uganda, but the new bill would increase the punishment, including the possibility of a life sentence.

Under both UK and Ugandan law discrimination on a variety of grounds is prohibited; however there are fundamental differences between the two nations’ respective laws regarding equality and diversity, which cannot be reconciled. After seeking legal guidance from both UK and Ugandan lawyers, Victoria University and University of Buckingham have concluded that as the laws of Uganda and UK presently stand, Victoria University cannot comply with both sets of laws.

Victoria University Press Release 8 Jan 2013

Links
Victoria University Press Release 8 Jan 2013

BBC News

Education, Physics

IOP Special Report on India

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As we are all aware India has one of the fastest growing and largest economies in the world. The economy of India is the tenth-largest in the world by nominal GDP and the third largest by purchasing power parity (PPP) (see here).

Indian scientists are not short of money. They have a space program (Indian Space Research Organisation) as well as a nuclear arsenal.

On that note, Great Britain will be phasing out financial aid to India by 2015, instead focusing on technical assistance (BBC News). To me personally, that makes sense and will be of benefit to both Indian and British scientists.

The IOP Report
The Institute of Physics (IOP) have written a report on India.

For today’s leading physicists in India, money for research is thankfully not in short supply. But as this Physics World special report makes clear, what India currently lacks is a critical concentration of highly capable scientists who can really make the country a world leader in research and boost the nation’s innovation. This special report shows, however, that India is starting to tap the country’s true potential through a series of bold educational initiatives and novel research facilities. I hope you find this report stimulating and please do e-mail your comments to pwld@iop.org.

Matin Durrani, Editor of Physics World

Link

report

Special Report India

Physics World’s special report discovers that India is starting to tap the country’s true potential through a series of bold educational initiatives and novel research facilities.

Education

University applications down

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According to Ucas admissions figures,   13,000 fewer applications were received  up to mid-November as compared with last year.  This represents a drop of  8% compared with the same point last year.

The government should now finally admit that its higher education policies are having a significant impact on application behaviour.

We have always said that students and their families aren’t walking calculators capable of working out how much they are likely to repay based on hypothetical future earnings. Regardless of the repayment terms and the small print, students were always going to be deterred by £9,000 tuition fees.

Liam Burns, president of The National Union of Students

Data about previous years can be found at the Ucas website here.

Links

BBC news report