ICMS

In recognition of, and to support, the important contribution mathematics has to offer to the wider community, the International Centre for Mathematical Sciences (ICMS) organise a range of knowledge transfer (KT) activities, to engage both the public and industry. This section of the website provides more information about the KT services we offer to business, commerce, policy makers, the wider scientific community and the general public as well as information about upcoming ICMS KT events.

 

BUSINESS AND COMMERCE

Mathematics, through modelling, simulation and analysis, is an indispensable tool in business innovation and underpins the understanding and development of strategy and processes across all sectors of business. An important aim of ICMS is to facilitate knowledge transfer between mathematical scientists and organisations outside academia, so that mathematics may be widely exploited by, and bring benefits to, the widest possible community.

The main objectives of the KT activities are to identify where maths can help solve real industrial problems and link up companies facing these problems with appropriate expertise within the mathematics and computing community, thus facilitating the creation of collaborative projects. ICMS have run networking events as well as industry lead problem scoping sessions (see Former KT Activities for further details). ICMS has access to the strong, internationally renowned UK mathematics research base, as well as to the international experts who attend its popular and highly regarded workshops, ensuring that we have the right contacts to best help your business.

Some example case studies of how mathematics has been applied to assist businesses in a range of sectors are available and more information can also be found on the Industrial Maths Knowledge Transfer Network homepage or the EPSRC Research Highlights in Maths webpage.

If you would like to discuss how maths can help your business, or attend an ICMS event as a business participant, please contact the Knowledge Transfer Officer by email: Helen Bridle

To join our mailing list, please fill in the Application Form indicating your areas of interest. We will contact you when relevant events occur.

 

OTHER ORGANISATIONS (Government, Academics…)

Data analysis, signal processing, combining different models, dealing with uncertainty, sensitivity analysis to highlight key parameters, optimisation, developing, verifying and validating models; mathematics is essential to the other academic sciences. ICMS, in collaboration with Heriot-Watt University who held an EPSRC Bridging the Gaps grant, have assisted with the initiation of 15 collaborative projects between mathematicians and engineers, physicists or biologists. In the social sciences mathematics can help to model opinion formation, human behaviour and decision making, crowds and transport, wealth distribution and conflict resolution. Maths can be applied to analyse statistical information about a current situation and assess and predict the effects of policy changes.

Information about the applications of maths can be found on the Industrial Maths Knowledge Transfer Network homepage: or the EPSRC Research Highlights in Maths webpage.

If you would like to discuss how maths can help you in your work, or attend an ICMS event, please contact the Knowledge Transfer Officer by email: Helen Bridle

To join our mailing list, please fill in the Application Form indicating your areas of interest. We will contact you when relevant events occur.

 

PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT

Maths is both a fascinating and essential subject. Mathematics is behind the encryption that allows us to safely shop on the internet, offers us methods to analyse the huge volumes of data generated by biological and medical research hopefully resulting in the faster development of safer, more effective treatments and is critical in engineering for modelling design changes during product development. Maths assists in scheduling and routing deliveries and internet traffic, in optimising the connection of variable renewable energy sources to the electricity grid and in image recognition and generation software for a variety of applications including security, computer games and films. More esoteric aspects of maths include weird and wonderful subjects like monsters and moonshine, different infinities

For some more examples of maths applications see the EPSRC Research Highlights in Maths webpage.

ICMS run a series of public engagement activities including public lectures and Science Festival events. If you have suggestions or ideas for mathematical events that you would like to attend we’d love to hear from you. Contact the Knowledge Transfer Officer by email: Helen Bridle

If you would like to join our mailing list, please fill in the Application Form indicating that you are interested in public engagement activities. We will contact you via e-mail to advertise upcoming events and to allow you the opportunity for advance reservation of tickets. There will be no more than six e-mails per year.

 

ICMS BACKGROUND

ICMS is a mathematical research centre which brings together mathematicians and practitioners in science, industry and commerce for research workshops and other meetings.

ICMS supports mathematics research in a variety of ways. The core activity is the organisation of an internationally renowned workshop programme, covering all areas of mathematics (see http://www.icms.org.uk/forthcomingWorkshops). ICMS aims to create an environment in which mathematical sciences will develop in new directions and to encourage and exploit those areas of mathematics that are of relevance to other sciences, industry and commerce. ICMS is also committed to increasing the level of KT arising from its workshops, as well promoting and exploiting the latest research.

If you have an idea for a workshop or would like to discuss procedures for submitting a proposal please contact Irene Moore, Executive Secretary, ICMS, e-mail Irene.Moore@icms.org.uk

 

Upcoming KT activities include:

• An evening networking event as a part of the workshop on Mixture Estimation and Applications. On Wednesday 3rd March, an introductory talk covering several different applications (environmental, medical, genetic, industry, finance etc) will be held before a wine reception. Further details will soon be available on Mixture estimation and application
• Meet the Mathematicians 2010. A large schools outreach event held at the Royal Society of Edinburgh on Wednesday 7th April: http://www.meetmaths.org.uk
• Science Festival activities are being planned. Further information will be available in the New Year.
• A workshop on Uncertainty Quantification in scientific, engineering and industrial problems where the important phenomena can be modelled by systems of partial differential equations. Between 24th-28th May this workshop will look at how incomplete information can be applied to simulate outputs accounting for the uncertainty in the inputs and plans to directly engage with business, industry, policy makers as well as other academics. Applications include risk assessment, in both engineering design and policy making, validation and verification of models as well as sensitivity analyses in physical, biological, financial and social systems.
• A public lecture on string theory as a part of the workshop Hodge theoretic reflections on the string landscape
• Modelling hydroelasticity is important in many modern problems in industry and engineering, e.g. hydroelastic waves in the presence of ice cover in cold regions, springing and whipping analysis in the design of ultra large ships, dynamic behaviour of deep-water risers, sloshing in liquefied natural gas tanks with flexible insulation system, dynamic behaviour of very large floating structures such as floating airports. There are also bioengineering applications, e.g. the flow in blood vessels. Each day of the workshop will deal with a particular industrial application and invites will be sent to local industry when the programme is finalised (dates are 22nd-25th June). Further information will be available on Mathematical challenges and modelling of hydroelasticity
• A public lecture as well as engagement with policy makers is planned for a July workshop dealing with Reconstructing and understanding Climate Change over the last few Millennia and the Holocene

 

Former KT activities include:

2009

The links below lead to the ICMS webpage for the relevant workshop with details of the programme (often with copies of the talks available for download) as well as attendees. A report of the 2009 KT activities can be downloaded here: 2009 KT Report.

• Applications of Maths in the Energy Sector industry workshop involving the discussion of 3 problems from the energy sector presented by industry. One of these problems is now being worked on by mathematicians and engineers from Heriot-Watt University and the University of Edinburgh. Another of the problems has inspired the organisation of 2 further workshops to explore different aspects of marine energy, Marine and Tidal Energy workshops. This further activity has been financed out of EPSRC Bridging the Gaps funding.
• Public lecture: Malaria, Mosquitoes and Models by Charles Godfray from the University of Oxford during Stochastic Population Dynamics and Applications in Spatial Ecology
• Public lecture: Two Darwinian enigmas: the nature of species and the nature of life by Marc Van Regenmortel from University of Strasbourg during Emerging Modelling Methodologies in Medicine and Biology
• A range of activities at the Science Festival: http://www.icms.org.uk/activities/mathsmovies
• Afternoons dedicated to knowledge transfer and networking during EUROMECH Colloquium 497 - Recent Developments and New Directions in Thin-Film Flow, Emerging Modelling Methodologies in Medicine and Biology and Kinetic and Mean-field models in the Socio-Economic Sciences
• Early evening talks and a reception during both Matrix Group Recognition and Operator theory and its application

2008 and earlier

For several years ICMS have provided events as a part of the Edinburgh International Science Festival including:

• Film3 - a season of maths related film and discussion evenings.
• Maths at the Movies. Read blog report here.

In 2001 ICMS ran the Scottish Industrial Networking Initiative in Mathematical Sciences, which facilitated collaboration between companies and universities on industrially motivated mathematical or computational problems.
Further information: SINIMS | Report