Professor Rachel Bearon, Head of the Department of Mathematical Sciences, responds to the announcement of funding to support the creation of a new National Academy focused on Mathematical Sciences:
“I am delighted by the announcement made in the Government’s Autumn Statement for support to establish a National Academy focussed on mathematical sciences.
This is wonderful news which will turbocharge the efforts already underway to bring together the broad mathematical sciences community together to the benefit of all. As a founding trustee of the Academy for the Mathematical Sciences, I am looking forward to helping shape the next stage of work to define how the Academy will operate.
The Mathematical Sciences underpin a huge amount of activity with economic & societal benefit. Within Higher Education, quality maths education in school is crucial for accessing STEM degrees, and increasingly many areas of research require a sophisticated level of mathematical understanding.
Within the UK, we have a long tradition of excellent research in the mathematical sciences, and this continues to be true here at the University of Liverpool.
However, the potential of UK mathematical science has been hampered by fragmentation between different parts of the mathematical community, and between academics, teachers, policymakers and industry.
The new Academy will transform this landscape, bringing together a unified community of mathematical scientists that spans education, academia, industry and the public sector.”