Old News
Frank Calegari: Special public lecture
(Frank Calegari, from Northwestern University is visiting the University of Sydney from April 30th to June 4th.)
- Date: Tuesday 24 May 2011
- Light refreshments at 17:00, lecture commences at 17:30
- Venue: Old Geology Lecture Theatre (Ref D15 on campus map).
- Title: How to solve equations in rational numbers
For more details, see the seminars page
Inaugural Heyde Medal awarded to Anthony Henderson
In its media release of 8/12/2010 the Australian Academy of Science announced that the Christopher Heyde Medal for 2011 has been awarded to Anthony Henderson.
This inaugural award was for research in pure mathematics. The citation reads as follows:
Anthony Henderson has made fundamental contributions in representation theory, an area which concerns the algebraic patterns underlying collections of geometric transformations. He has invented geometric spaces which give new information about common symmetry types, and has introduced new methods for performing calculations in existing geometric spaces which take their symmetry into account. His work combines ideas from different areas of mathematics, and provides explicit formulas for use in a wide range of problems which involve observations on spaces with symmetry.
The purpose of the award, which honours the contributions to mathematics by Professor Christopher Charles Heyde AM, DSc, Hon DSc(Syd), is to recognise distinguished research in the mathematical sciences by a researcher under the age of 40. The award carries a prize of $10,000.
J B Douglas awards to Anna Campain and Joanna Wang
The NSW Branch of the Statistical Society of Australia held the annual J B Douglas Postgraduate Awards Ceremony at the Macquarie Graduate School of Management on November 25th. Two of the three $750 prizes awarded were won by Anna Campain and Joanna Wang, PhD students in the School of Mathematics and Statistics, University of Sydney.
Prestigious teaching award to David Easdown
David Easdown was presented with a 2010 NSW Quality Teaching Award for the tertiary sector at a ceremony at Government House, Sydney, on 5 November 2010.
These awards, under the auspices of the Australian College of Educators, and administered through the NSW Department of Education and Training, are among the most prestigious awards for teaching in Australia. The rigorous and comprehensive assessment process involves in-class observation by ACE experts, and interviews with students and professional colleagues, as well as refereeing.
See Teaching@Sydney for more details.
School of Mathematics and Statistics ARC success
Members of the School of Mathematics and Statistics have received funding from the Australian Research Council for the following new research projects, commencing in 2011.
- Algebraic interpretations of discrete integrable equations (Dr James Atkinson),
- Stable and Finite Morse index solutions and peak solutions of nonlinear elliptic equations (Prof Norman Dancer),
- Geometry and analysis of discrete integrable systems (A/Prof Holger Dullin, Prof Nalini Joshi),
- Flag varieties and configuration spaces in algebra (Prof Gus Lehrer),
- Graded representations of Hecke algebras (A/Prof Andrew Mathas and Prof Jonathan Brundan),
- Vertex algebras and representations of quantum groups (A/Prof Alexander Molev),
- Building models for complex data (Dr Samuel Müller and Dr Alan Welsh),
- Fast approximate inference methods for flexible regression (Prof Matt Wand, Dr John Ormerod and Prof Yongmei Michelle Wang),
- The geometry and combinatorics of loop groups (Dr James Parkinson and Dr Joel Kamnitzer),
- Lattices in locally compact groups (Dr Anne Thomas and A/Prof Inna Capdeboscq),
- A geometric theory for travelling waves in advection-reaction-diffusion models (Dr Martin Wechselberger Prof Graeme J Pettet and Prof Christopher K Jones),
- Topological and analytic aspects of the Kähler-Ricci flow (Dr Zhou Zhang).
Poster prize for Ellis Patrick
Ellis Patrick was awarded the student poster prize at the Australian Microarray and Associated Technologies Association Inc 2010 conference (AMATA 2010) held in Hobart from September 14th to 17th.
His poster was entitled "Optimising a Genomic Annotation for the Analysis of RNA-Seq Data".
Research project to study aerial dynamics of athletes
Associate Professor Holger Dullin, in collaboration with Dr Surya Singh from the Australian Centre of Field Robotics, Dr Peter Sinclair from the Faculty of Health Sciences and Dr Damien O'Meara from the NSW Institute of Sport, has obtained an ARC Linkage for a project entitled "Bodies in Space". The team summarize the project as follows:
By investigating how a change in shape of the human body can produce a change in spatial orientation, the project will bring a fundamental advance of knowledge in the intersection of applied mathematics, sports science and mechanical engineering. These knowledge advances will lead to a novel theory regarding the control of the aerial dynamics of athletes, specifically springboard and platform divers. When applied in collaboration with world class Australian athletes, this theory will result in innovative platform and springboard diving techniques and improved performance. The reach of new insights generated by this work extends to many other fields, including robotics, spacecraft dynamics and nano technology.
See also the University News story describing the project.
Congratulations to Leon Poladian and Libo Li
At the Faculty of Science Awards Night Leon Poladian received a Faculty of Science citation for Excellence in Teaching, and Libo Li won a Faculty Postgraduate Research Prize recognizing "outstanding postgraduate achievements, particularly during the early phases of candidature."
Prizes and Scholarships Presentation Evening
The School's annual Prizes and Scholarships Presentation Evening was held on Monday May 10th in the Darlington Centre. For a list of the award winners see the Prizes and Scholarships 2009-2010 page.
T.M. Cherry Prize 2010
Lewis Mitchell was awarded the T.M. Cherry Prize for the best student talk at the ANZIAM 2010 conference in Queenstown. Samuel Butler received honourable mention for his presentation.
Tenurable Lectureships in Pure Mathematics
The School advertised for two lecturers in Pure Mathematics, closing date 5/12/2010.
Tenurable Positions in Statistics and Applied Mathematics
The School advertised for a Lecturer or Senior Lecturer in Statistics (closing date 16/9/2010) and a Lecturer in Applied Mathematics (closing date 1/10/2010).
School of Mathematics and Statistics ARC success
The School of Mathematics and Statistics has received funding from the Australian Research Council for the following new research projects, commencing in 2010
- Constructive Module Theory for Algebras (Prof JJ Cannon, Prof J Carlson and Prof DF Holt),
- Transitions and singular behaviour in nonlinear partial differential equations (Prof EN Dancer, Pro Y Du and Dr S Yan),
- Quantitative and qualitative aspects of Asian and Australian options (Dr C Ewald),
- Stochastic methods in mathematical geophysical fluid dynamics (Dr G Gottwald)
- Statistical methods for analysing multi-source microarray data and building gene regulatory networks (Dr V Jayaswal),
- The canonical stratification of jet spaces (Dr L Paunescu),
Prizes and Scholarships Presentation Evening
The School's annual Prizes and Scholarships Presentation Evening was held on Monday April 27th in the Darlington Centre. For a list of the award winners see the Prizes and Scholarships 2008-2009 page.
Invited speaker, former Sydney Grammar Mathematics Master Bill Pender, said that universities should "take back their stewardship over school syllabuses". The text of Bill's speech is available.
Norman Dancer awarded D.Sc. by University of New England
The award of an honorary degree of Doctor of Science to Professor Norman Dancer has been announced in the University of New England News.
Success in ARC Future Fellowships Scheme
School of Mathematics and Statistics members Georg Gottwald and Jean Yang have been awarded Future Fellowships by the Australian Research Council.
Australian Learning and Teaching Council citation for David Easdown
Recognizing A/Prof Easdown's excellence in both undergraduate and postgraduate teaching.
See also the University News story.
Journal of Algebra honours John Cannon
A special issue of the Journal of Algebra is dedicated to Prof John Cannon and Prof Derek Holt.
Journal of Algebra honours Gus Lehrer
A special issue of the Journal of Algebra marks the 60th birthday of Prof Gus Lehrer.
AM for Terry Gagen
In the recently announced Queen's Birthday Honours, A/Prof Terry Gagen has been made a Member (AM) in the General Division of the Order of Australia. The citation reads as follows:
Associate Professor Terence Matthew Gagen, Sydney, NSW. For service to higher education in the field of mathematics and as an educator, researcher and mentor through the National Mathematics Summer School.
Science Faculty Awards to members of School
At the Faculty of Science Prizes and Scholarships Ceremony held on 14 May,
- Dr Anthony Henderson received a Citation for Excellence in Teaching,
- Neil Saunders received the Dean's Award for Citizenship,
- Justin Wishart received a Postgraduate Research Prize for Outstanding Achievement.
Norman Dancer honoured by Australian Academy of Science
Professor Norman Dancer has been awarded Hannan Medal for 2009. The award recognizes Professor Dancer's achievements in the areas of nonlinear analysis and nonlinear differential equations, and the affect his ideas have had on nonlinear analysis internationally.
See the AAS website for more information on the Hannan Medal.
A disturbing set of numbers
An article on the current state of mathematics education, by Professor Nalini Joshi, appeared in The Australian on Februrary 18th.
Nalini Joshi becomes president of the Australian Mathematical Society
Professor Nalini Joshi's inauguration as president of the Society took place at the Society's Annual General Meeting held on December 11th 2008. Professor Joshi, who will serve a two-year term as president, said "I would like to entice more younger mathematicians to join the Society – especially those who join banks, government organisations or companies where they continue to do mathematics and modelling that is so essential to our economy, security and well-being."
Richard Finlay wins a J.B. Douglas Postgraduate Award
These prizes are awarded by the NSW Branch of the Statistical Society of Australia, for the best presentations by postgraduate students. (Richard Finlay has subsequently been awarded a PhD: his thesis was entitled "The variance gamma module with long range dependence".)
Richard's talk was entitled "Option pricing with a long range dependent VG model".
School of Mathematics and Statistics ARC success
Congratulations to A/Profs Ruibin Zhang and Andrew Mathas who have been awarded Australian Professorial Fellowships commencing in 2009. In addition, Dr Sanjiban Santra will be returning to the School in 2009 to take up an Australian Postdoctoral Fellowship, and Dr Anthony Henderson, Professor Nalini Joshi, Dr Mary Myerscough and Dr Jean Yang have been awarded grants under the Discovery Projects scheme.
The titles of the projects are as follows:
- "The geometry of exotic nilpotent cones". Chief Investigator: Dr A. Henderson.
- "Integrable Lattice Equations", Chief Investigator: Prof N. Joshi.
- "Pyramids and decomposition numbers for the symmetric and general linear groups". Chief Investigators: A/Prof A. Mathas and Dr A. Henderson.
- "House hunting honey bees: speed-accuracy trade-offs in collective decision-making". Chief Investigators: A/Prof M Beekman and Dr M. R. Myerscough.
- "Blow-up phenomena in semilinear elliptic partial differential equations". Chief Investigator: Dr S. Santra.
- "Statistical and computational methods using a multiscale approach for protein". Chief Investigators: Dr J. Y. Yang and Dr J. W. Arthur.
- "Noncommutative geometry in representation theory and quantum physics". Chief Investigator: Prof R. Zhang.
SUMS problem competition results released
The results of the 2008 SUMS problem competition have been released: see http://www.maths.usyd.edu.au/u/SUMS/.
Neil Saunders wins prize for best student talk
Postgraduate student Neil Saunders has been awarded the GB Preston prize for the best student talk at the 2008 Algebra Conference of Victoria. His talk was entitled "Minimal permutation degrees of irreducible Coxeter groups."
This is the second time Neil has won this prize – he also won it in 2006!
Jennifer Chan receives a Chinese National Science Award
Jennifer Chan is one of the members of a team that received a National Science Award for 2008 from the Ministry of Education in the People's Republic of China. The award is for her work on Geometric Processes.
Pitman Medal to John Robinson
Congratulations to Professor John Robinson, who has been awarded the Pitman Medal for 2008. The medal is awarded by the Statistical Society of Australia, in recognition of outstanding achievement in, and contribution to, the discipline of Statistics.
See the story in the University of Sydney News.
Daniel Daners and James Kennedy receive Science Faculty awards
Congratulations to Daniel Daners who is the recipient of a Faculty of Science award for excellence in teaching, presented at the Faculty's Prizes and Scholarships evening held on 8th May. These awards recognize the contributions of staff in the Faculty to high quality teaching and enhancing the student learning environment.
Congratulations also to James Kennedy, who has been awarded a Faculty of Science Postgraduate Research Prize. These prizes recognise outstanding postgraduate student achievements, particularly during the early phases of candidature. Up to 8 prizes are awarded annually.
School Prizes and Scholarships Evening
The School's annual Prizes and Scholarships Ceremony was held on April 28th, from 5.45 pm to 8 pm, in the Forum Restaurant at the Darlington Centre. See the list of prizewinners (with some photos taken on the evening).
Lecturers in Pure Mathematics appointed
Dr Florica Cirstea and Dr James Parkinson have been appointed to Lectureships in Pure Mathematics. Dr Cirstea, who currently holds an Australian Postdoctoral Fellowship, will take up her lectureship at the end of April 2009. Dr Parkinson, who is currently in Graz, Austria, will take up his lectureship on 1 January 2009.
Senior Lecturer in Statistics appointed
Dr Uri Keich, currently at Cornell University, has accepted the offer of a Senior Lectureship in Statistics.
Stewart Wilcox helps resolve long-standing conjecture
Former USyd honours student Stewart Wilcox – now a PhD student at Harvard – has helped prove a conjecture made in 1953 by Marshall Hall Jr and L. J. Paige. Stewart provided the key step that reduced the problem to the sporadic simple groups.
Prof Joshi elected Fellow of the AAS
Prof Nalini Joshi has been elected a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science, in recognition of her work on the mathematical structure of nonlinear integrable systems. See the AAS website for the full list of new Fellows.
New appointments
The School welcomes two new appointees: Dr Samuel Müller and A/Prof Holger Dullin. Dr Müller, who joins the School's Statistics department, is from the University of Bern (via ANU and UWA); A/Prof Dullin, who joins the Applied Mathematics department, was previously at the University of Loughborough.
Level B/C/D Positions in Statistics and Financial Mathematics
The School advertised three positions, at Lecturer, Senior Lecturer or Associate Professor level. Applications closed 24/10/2008.
Vacation Scholarships
See the Vacation Scholarships web page for more information. (Applications for the December 2008 – February 2009 vacation closed on 26/9/2008.)
University of Sydney Postdoctoral Fellowships
Up to 10 awards (across all disciplines) will be offerred in 2009. Full information is available
at
http://www.usyd.edu.au/research/fellowships/.
Note that all applicants should contact the
Head of School before August 8th.
nGAME seeks Research Associate, Technical Officer and Administrative Officer
(Applications closed 27/4/2008)
Special Public Lecture by Fields Medallist Terence Tao
Structure and Randomness in the Prime Numbers, 7 February 2008, 5:30–6:30pm, in the General Lecture Theatre. More details are available.
ANZIAM 2008 at Katoomba
The Australasian Applied Mathematics Conference, ANZIAM 2008, was held in Katoomba from 3rd to 7th February 2008. See the website http://www.maths.usyd.edu.au/ANZIAM2008/ for more information.
Tenure track positions in Pure Mathematics advertised
(Applications closed 20/1/2008)
Executive officer sought for Access Grid project
(Applications closed 20/1/2008)
Recent Advances in Asymptotic Probability and Statistics
The School of Mathematics and Statistics hosted a workshop entitled Recent Advances in Asymptotic Probability and Statistics, with Time Series Applications, on 10th to 12th December 2007.
Death of Peter Wilson
With great sadness we report that Emeritus Professor P. R. Wilson passed away on the morning of Sunday 11 November 2007.
Sydney students win prizes for best student talks
At the Annual Meeting of the Australian Mathematical Society Neil Saunders was awarded the B.H. Neumann prize, jointly with Norman Do from the University of Melbourne. Neil's talk was entitled "The Minimal Permutation Degree for a Class of Finite Complex Reflection Groups". Tegan Morrison was given an honourable mention for her talk entitled "Tronquee Solutions of Higher Order Painleve Equations".
And Shona Yu won the G.B. Preston Prize for her talk "The Cyclotomic Birman-Murakami-Wenzl Algebras" at the Algebra Conference of Victoria.
School of Mathematics and Statistics ARC success
Australian Research Council funded projects commencing in 2008 conducted by members of the School of Mathematics and Statistics:
- Prof John Cannon, Prof RP Brent and Dr D Stehlé: "Integral lattices and their theta series".
- Prof Norman Dancer: "Finite Morse index solutions of nonlinear partial differential equations".
- A/Prof Andrew Mathas: "Modular representations of cyclotomic algebras".
- Dr Alex Molev: "Quantum algebras: their symmetries, invariants and representations".
- Dr A Argyros, Dr Leon Poladian and A/Prof F Ladouceur: "Fabrication and design of spun and chiral microstructured fibres".
- Prof I Shparlinski, Dr C Doche and Dr David Kohel: "Mathematics of Elliptic Curve Cryptography".
BH Neumann Award to Dr Bill Palmer
Bill Palmer is a recipient of a BH Neumann Award for 2007, awarded by the Australian Mathematics Trust.
Lectureship in Statistics advertised
(Applications closed 5/11/2007)
University of Sydney Postdoctoral Fellowships
(Applications now closed.)
Up to 10 awards will be offerred in 2008. Full information is available
at
http://www.usyd.edu.au/research/fellowships/postdoc.shtml.
Note that all applicants should contact the
Head of School well in advance of the final closing date.
The timeline is as follows:
- 27 July – final day for eligibility exemptions or clarifications to the Research Office;
- 10 August – final day for applicants to contact Head of School;
- 14 September – closing date for full applications and referee reports to Research Office.
Nalini Joshi to be President of Australian Mathematical Society
Professor Nalini Joshi is President-Elect of the Australian Mathematical Society.
GL07 Conference
Geometry and Lie theory: a conference marking Gus Lehrer's 60th birthday, held in July 2007. See the conference web page for more information.
Prizes and Scholarships Presentation Evening
The School's annual Prizes and Scholarships Ceremony was held on the evening of Monday 30th April 2007.
Eugene Seneta honoured by Australian Academy of Science
Emeritus Professor Eugene Seneta and was presented the Hannan Medal for 2007 at the Australian Academy of Science's annual three-day celebration of science and scientific research, Science at the Shine Dome, held on 2nd, 3rd and 4th of May 2007.
Conference marking Professor Gavin Brown's 65th birthday
On 5th and 6th of March 2007 the School of Mathematics and Statistics hosted a conference called "Expansions, inequalities and approximations", in honour of the mathematical achievements of the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Sydney, Professor Gavin Brown.
For more information, see the conference web page.
Hannan Medal for 2007 awarded to Eugene Seneta
The Australian Academy of Science has awarded the Hannan Medal for 2007 to Emeritus Professor Eugene Seneta, in recognition of his outstanding contributions to research in statistical science.
Death of Max Kelly
With great sadness we report that Emeritus Professor G. M. (Max) Kelly passed away on January 26th, 2007. See his obituary.
Mathematics and Statistics ARC success
Several members of the School of Mathematics and Statistics have obtained funding from the Australian Research Council for research projects commencing in 2007.
- Prof John Cannon and Prof Derek Holt*: "Constructive representation theory and its applications".
- Dr Yihong Du*, Prof Norman Dancer and Dr Shusen Yan*: "Sharp transitions in partial differential equations and related problems".
- Prof Gus Lehrer and A/Prof Ruibin Zhang: "Invariant theory, cellularity and geometry".
- Mr Peter O'Sullivan: "Categorical splitting theorems in algebraic geometry".
- Prof John Robinson, Prof Neville Weber and Dr Qiying Wang: "Asymptotic expansions and large deviations in probability and statistics: theory and applications".
- Dr Jean Yang: "Statistical methods and tools for integrative microarray analysis".
A.A. Markov, Markov Chains, and Google
A public lecture by Emeritus Professor Eugene Seneta FAA, Thursday 24 August 2006, 6pm in the Eastern Avenue Lecture Theatre, University of Sydney. More details are available here.
Vacation Scholarships 2006 - 2007
Talented undergraduates are invited to apply for vacation scholarships in mathematics or statistics. See the vacation scholarships web page for more information. (Applications now closed.)Andrew Mathas awarded Australian Mathematical Society Medal for 2006
Congratulations to Andrew Mathas on the award of the Australian Mathematical Society Medal for 2006. The medal is awarded each year for distinguished research in the mathematical sciences, and is presented at the opening session of the Annual Meeting of the Society. Here is the citation from the medal presentation ceremony.
Ben Wilson gives best talk by a student
Ben Wilson has been awarded the BH Neumann prize for the best talk by a student at the Annual Meeting of Australian Mathematical Society. There were 36 student talks altogether, and the judges praised their quality. Ben's talk was entitled "Highest-weight theory for Lie algebras of truncated currents".
Emeritus Professor Seneta awarded 2006 Moyal Medal
Eugene Seneta, Emeritus Professor of Statistics, has been awarded the Moyal Medal for 2006. The Moyal Medal recognizes distinguished contributions to research in mathematics, physics or statistics.
More information abut the Moyal Medal can be found at http://www.maths.mq.edu.au/medal/overview.html.
Prof Cannon awarded 2006 Jenks Prize for Excellence in Software Engineering
Prof John J. Cannon has been awarded the 2006 Richard Dimick Jenks Prize for Excellence in Software Engineering applied to Computer Algebra, for the creation of Magma.
More information about the prize can be found on the prize web site at http://www.cis.udel.edu/~caviness/jenks/.
PDE conference in Prof Dancer's honour
The University of New England is hosting a conference entitled "Recent Advances in Nonlinear Partial Differential Equations" marking the 60th birthday of Professor Norman Dancer. For further information, see the conference web page.
John Mack recognized in Queen's Birthday Honours
Congratulations to John Mack who has been appointed as a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) in the Queen's Birthday Honours List.
The citation reads "For service to mathematics education, particularly in the area of curriculum development, to the arts, and to a range of academic professional organisations."
Prizes and Scholarships
The list of students awarded prizes or scholarships for Mathematics and Statistics based on work completed in 2005 is now available here.
Public Lecture: Ramanujan's Life and Notebooks
Srinivasa Ramanujan was born in Southern India in 1887 and died there in 1920, aged 32. He had only one year of college, but his mathematical discoveries, made mostly in isolation, have made him one of the last century's most influential mathematicians.
An account of Ramanujan's life will be presented in a public lecture by Professor Bruce Berndt of the University of Illinois, at 5:00 pm on Thursday October 27 2006, in the Eastern Avenue Lecture Theatre (grid reference K19 on the campus map).
Professor Berndt is the Australian Mathematical Society's Mahler Lecturer for 2005.
Recent appointments
- Dr Jennifer Chan, formerly of the Department of Statistics and Actuarial Science of The University of Hong Kong, has recently commenced as a lecturer in Statistics.
- Dr Rafał Kulik, formerly of the University of Wrocław, has recently commenced as a lecturer in Statistics.
- Dr Emma Carberry, formerly a C.L.E. Moore Instructor at MIT, has recently commenced as a lecturer in Pure Mathematics.
- Dr Clio Cresswell has joined the School as a Senior Lecturer, on a one year appointment shared by the College of Sciences and Technology, the Faculty of Science and the School. Clio will be involved with the development of the new BST degree, and with high school outreach.
- Dr Anthony Henderson will commence as a lecturer in Pure Mathematics at the completion of his current postdoctoral fellowship,
- Dr Leon Poladian will become a senior lecturer in Applied Mathematics at the completion of his current ARC Professorial Fellowship,
- Dr Martin Wechselberger, formerly of the Mathematical Biosciences Institute at Ohio State University, has recently commenced as a lecturer in Applied Mathematics,
- Dr Jean Yang, formerly of the Lung Biology Center of the University of California, San Francisco, has taken up a Lectureship in Statistics (Bioinformatics).
SUTMEG Seminar
The Sydney University Tertiary Mathematics Education Group held a seminar on the morning of Tuesday 6 December 2005, in Carslaw Lecture Theatre 173. The speakers were Deborah Hughes Hallett (University of Arizona & Harvard) and David Easdown (University of Sydney). See also the SUTMEG Web Page.
Prof Dancer listed as "highly cited"
The ISI Web of Knowledge lists Professor Norman Dancer as a highly cited researcher. One of Professor Dancer's papers, with co-author Shusen Yan, heads the list of most viewed articles in the journal Calculus of Variations and Partial Differential Equations.
Two new appointments in Statistics
Dr Jennifer Chan, currently a lecturer in the Department of Statistics and Actuarial Science of The University of Hong Kong, has accepted appointment as a lecturer in Statistics. Dr Chan obtained her M. Phil. at the Chinese University of Hong Kong and her PhD at the University of New South Wales.
Dr Rafał Kulik has also accepted appointment as a lecturer in Statistics. Dr Kulik, who obtained his PhD at the University of Wrocław in 2002, currently holds a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Ottawa as well as an academic position at Wrocław.
Public lecture
From Babylon to Silicon Valley, an illustrated history of mathematics. Professor Bill Casselman, Eastern Avenue Lecture Theatre, 27th July 2005.
College award to David Easdown
Senior Lecturer Dr David Easdown has been awarded the 2005 College of Sciences and Technology Award for Excellence in Higher Degree Supervision.
Simon Singh talk a smash hit
It is a long time since an audience in the Stephen Roberts Lecture Theatre has enjoyed a lecture so much. Simon Singh, author of the best sellers Fermat's Last Theorem and The Code Book, as well as the recently published Big Bang, entertained, amused and informed a packed house for 50 minutes, conclusively demonstrating that good science is not dull.
In thanking Simon on behalf of the University, Senate member and Sydney media identity Adam Spencer urged academics to do more to publicize their work. Sadly, most of us are not as good at it as Simon Singh!
Sydney Applied Mathematics graduate promoted to Professor at Kent
Dr Elizabeth Mansfield, who took her PhD at the University of Sydney in 1991, has recently been promoted to Professor in the Institute of Mathematics, Statistics & Actuarial Science at University of Kent, UK. Her supervisor at Sydney was A/Prof Ted Fackerell (now retired).
BIG BANG – the history of the universe in 60 minutes
A public lecture by Simon Singh, 24th May 2005, Stephen Roberts Lecture Theatre.
Prizes and Scholarships Evening
The School's annual Prizes and Scholarships presentation ceremony was held on 26th April 2005. The full list of winners of the various awards, with photos taken on the evening, is available. And there are some extra photos as well.
Article by Professor Seneta is one of the "most downloaded"
The journal Historia Mathematica reports that Professor Eugene Seneta's paper "Mathematics, religion and Marxism in the Soviet Union in the 1930s" is one of their most frequently downloaded papers.
Web Quizzes using LaTeX
Senior Lecturer Andrew Mathas has won a Faculty of Science Teaching Award for a system he has developed for producing interactive web based quizzes. This system is now being used within the School of Mathematics and Statistics and also by the Faculty of Business and Economics.
More information is available on the manual page.
4000 Years of Mathematics in Images
A public lecture by Professor Bill Casselman, Stephen Roberts Lecture Theatre, 3 August 2004.