Maths on the Move

This month we had the pleasure of meeting some young female mathematicians who were just finishing up their summer research projects with the  Philippa Fawcett Internship Programme  and the  Cambridge Mathematics Placements programme . On our way to the writing workshops we were running with these women, we walked past six inspiring portraits of female mathematicians from Cambridge. These form par...

In this podcast, first published in August 2020, we hear from machine learning pioneer Yoshua Bengio , who believes that creating a true artificial intelligence will only be possible once machines have something that babies are born with: the ability to interact with the world, observe what happens, and adapt to the consequences of their actions. Yoshua Bengio (Photo copyright: Heidelberg Laureate...

Artificial intelligence and machines that train themselves might sound like a plot from a science fiction movie, but these things are already part of our everyday lives. How can a machine learn to distinguish a picture of a cat from a picture of a dog?   At the  Heidelberg Laureate Forum in 2019, Chris Budd , Professor of Applied Mathematics at the University of Bath, talked us through the basics...

To celebrate the Commonwealth Games happening this week in the UK we are visiting one of the venues, the velodrome in the Lee Valley VeloPark in London.  The velodrome, with its striking curved shape, was built for the London 2012 Olympics.  In the run up to the 2012 Olympics, we talked to structural engineers Andrew Weir and Pete Winslow from Expedition Engineering , who were part of the design t...

June Huh has won one of this year's Fields Medals at the International Congress of Mathematicians. The Fields Medal is one of the most prestigious prizes in mathematics. It is awarded every four years "to recognise outstanding mathematical achievement for existing work and for the promise of future achievement". Up to four mathematicians up to the age of 40 are awarded a Fields Medal each time. Ju...

Hugo Duminil-Copin has won a 2022 Fields Medal for his work transforming the mathematical theory of phase transitions in statistical physics. Fields Medals count among the highest honours in mathematics and are awarded every four years at the International Congress of Mathematicians (ICM) to researchers up to the age of 40. Hugo Duminil-Copin (Photo Matteo Fieni, used with permission) In this podc...

James Maynard has won a 2022 Fields Medal for "spectacular contributions to number theory". Fields Medals count among the highest honours in mathematics and are awarded every four years at the International Congress of Mathematicians (ICM) to researchers up to the age of 40. James Maynard (Photo by Ryan Cowan, used with permission) In this podcast, which comes to you from the opening day of the IC...

Hello from Helsinki! We are very pleased to be bringing you coverage direct from the 2022 International Congress of Mathematicians (ICM) – one of the highlights of the mathematical calendar. The ICM takes place every four years and it's usually the biggest maths conference of them all, attracting thousands of participants, and also sees the awards of some very prestigious prizes, including the fam...