About:

ICMS’s Mathematics for Humanity programme supports mathematical scientists working to make the world a better place, and it’s increasingly understood that mathematicians have an essential role to play in addressing the world’s most pressing social, economic, and environmental problems.

But for many early-career mathematicians, it can be hard to know where and how to find purpose-focussed careers.

They often feel that the career pathways open to them are limited to:

• Academia. While this path offers clear intellectual stimulation, the focus on advances in the field of mathematics results in a career that is often removed from direct immediate social impact.
• Commercial business. This path promises personal gain and economic impact, but positive social impact is often an afterthought – and can be altogether lost in a singleminded focus on profit.

• IDEMS Founding Director David Stern, a PhD mathematician who worked in academia and commercial businesses, but found his true purpose in working on the incredibly complex challenges that come with trying to address social problems across variable low-resource contexts and underserved communities. 
• IDEMS early-career mathematical scientist team members who are now working in transdisciplinary collaborations with global experts and local communities to build maths-based systems and software to address a range of social problems. Work includes developing the mathematical modelling-based software to predict the spread of invasive species and their impact on global and regional food systems, developing the complex digital infrastructure to deploy a global parenting intervention designed to reduce child abuse, and work with local farmer cooperatives in West Africa to develop research methods and supporting technology infrastructure. 
• IDEMS Director Kate Fleming, who brings both commercial experience working with traditional tech companies and the perspective of being a non-mathematical scientist founder of a digital platform for social impact, and the challenges and rewards of developing innovation that requires complex mathematical skills and collaboration.  

In addition to sharing our individual stories and experiences, the IDEMS team will help workshop participants understand how existing skills can be tapped into and refocused towards aspects of their individual interests and passions in contributing toward the societal challenges of our time. 

About IDEMS:

Social enterprise technology company IDEMS collaborates with innovative expert researchers and local communities around the world to develop pioneering digital interventions and infrastructure designed to work in – and scale across – low-resource contexts for responsible, sustainable global impact.

IDEMS was founded by mathematical scientists, and the team comprises PhD mathematical scientists, social scientists, and applied technologists working in long-term, transdisciplinary research-and-development collaborations with public health, climate, agroecology, and education experts leading impact innovation in their fields.

Please visit here for more information about the workshop. 

Workshop Schedule: 

Monday & Tuesday: IDEMS team discussion and planning day - member of IDEMS only. 

Wednesday & Thursday: Workshop - all participants.

Friday: Reflection day - member of IDEMS only.