Leading University of Nottingham mathematician Professor Ivan Fesenko has been advising government on its approach to research in mathematics.
Ambitious government investment of up to £300 million, announced today, will fund experimental and imaginative mathematical sciences research by the very best global talent over the next five years.
The UK is very rich in potential maths talents, they are one of our national treasures, we need to detect them and nurture them. The new funding of UK maths at this unprecedented scale will enable us to unlock the potential of our people and make our country a global mathematics and science superpower.
With around £60 million funding available per year, the investment will double funding for new PhDs, as well as boost the number of maths fellowships and research projects – increasing the pool of trained mathematicians in the UK and providing more freedom for researchers to develop new ideas.
This funding will make sure the UK remains at the cutting-edge of maths research, underpinning real-world technological developments, from smoother traffic flow, crime prevention, safer air travel, and smarter phone technology to the use of Artificial Intelligence and creating greener energy systems.
The funding forms part of the government's ambitions to considerably boost research and development spending and establish the UK as a global science superpower, changing the way people live, work and travel.
To ensure the UK is the best place in the world for research and development, the government is launching a major review of research bureaucracy and methods, including unnecessary paperwork, arduous funding applications and research selection processes. This will free up and support the best researchers to focus on groundbreaking, ambitious and meaningful research that goes on to cure diseases or improve our transport networks.
