MPS Weekly Update
19 March 2015
Dr Ali Taheri has supervised six Junior Research
Associate (JRA) projects and views the scheme as
providing an excellent opportunity for many of our
ambitious and talented undergraduates to familiarise
themselves with research.
Good evidence of the scheme’s success is that all of our JRAs are
now PhD students at Sussex or elsewhere. Ali says 'The most
memorable moments for me are definitely seeing their
indescribable passion, devotion and enthusiasm shining through our
meetings, as well as their immense sense of joy and reward in
learning and discovering new mathematics!'
Here are the views of some of his JRAs:
Charles Kind 'I undertook a project on estimates for the
wave equation and restriction theorems. The work not only
exposed me to new and exciting mathematics but also
gave me the opportunity to experience the life of a
researcher which ultimately led me to starting a PhD. The work and
poster I produced were of use to me in my p/g applications and
interviews and definitely separated me from the other applicants who
did not have this kind of experience. Oh, and you get paid!'
Hayley Wragg 'The JRA experience gave me an insight
into researching mathematics independently and
presented the differences between being taught
mathematics and researching it. I found that the research
required lots of self motivation and determination to gain a real
understanding of what was being studied. The research involved
studying embeddings and immersions of smooth manifolds and
their differentiable structures.’
George Morrison 'My final poster was entitled ‘Algebraic
and Analytical Number Theory'. I found the JRA
experience totally rewarding. It made my final year
dissertation much easier as I had already had a taste of
research and respected the process of it. To conclude, I consider the
JRA scheme wholly positive and encourage any diligent student to
apply.'
George Simpson 'I undertook two JRA projects –
’Kakeya sets and Banach-Mazur game’ and ‘Spectral
measures and Selberg trace formula on hyperbolic
manifolds’. The projects gave me access to giving talks
on advanced mathematics, new learning techniques and learning
important research skills. The JRA is a fantastic opportunity for those
interested in academic research and is an experience that you will
not regret or forget!'
www.sussex.ac.uk/study/money/scholarships/ug2015/find/
view/482
TONIGHT!!
Sussex Universe Series
Thursday 19 March 7pm-8pm
Chichester I lecture theatre
Prof Mark Hindmarsh
How long is a piece of cosmic
string?
ALL WELCOME –
NO NEED TO BOOK
The talk will be followed by wine
and nibbles.
Wednesday 25 March 1pm-2.30pm
Conference Centre,
Bramber House
Postgraduate teaching, supervision
& assessment
www.sussex.ac.uk/staff/
newsandevents/eventscalendar?
id=28220
Thursday 26 March 12pm-2pm
Library meeting room
Moving towards an open access
future
www.sussex.ac.uk/staff/
newsandevents/
eventscalendar?id=28534
Departmental seminars coming up this week 19 March-25 March
MASS
www.maths.sussex.ac.uk/
seminar
DOUBLE SEMINAR (in Pev 3 5C11)
Thursday 19 March 3pm
Dr Janosch Ortmann (University of Toronto)
KPZ universality, particle systems & polymer
models
4pm
Prof Grégoire Allaire (École Polytechnique)
A linearized approach to worst-case design in
parametric and geometric shape optimization
ADPE
www.sussex.ac.uk/Users/gk207/
APDE_Sussex.html
DOUBLE SEMINAR (in Pev 3 5C11)
Monday 23 March 2pm
Dr Annibale Magni (University of Münster)
Variational analysis of a reduced Allen-Cahn
action functional
3.15pm
Dr Pieter Blue (Edinburgh)|
Decay for fields outside black holes
Astronomy
www.sussex.ac.uk/astronomy/
newsandevents/calendar
Friday 20 March 3.15pm Arts C C133
James Bolton (Nottingham)
Re-ionisation with the Lyman-alpha line
EPP
https://epp.phys.sussex.ac.uk/epp/
Seminars_2014_15
Thursday 19 March 1pm in Pev 3 4C10
Dr Mike Partridge (CRUK/MRC Oxford Institute for
Radiation Oncology)
Physical challenges in modern radiotherapy
TPP
www.sussex.ac.uk/tpp/research/
seminars
Monday 23 March 4pm in Pev 3 4C10
Rhorry Gauld (Durham)
Using heavy quark pair physics measurements at
LHCb to improve/test SM predictions
Tuesday 24 March 4pm in Pev 3 4C10
Joachim Brod (Johannes Gutenburg Uniiversity)
TBA
Thursday 19 March 10.30am-11.30am
Barlow Room, the Library
Research Funding Coffee Morning:
Knowledge Exchange and Impact
www.sussex.ac.uk/staff/newsandevents/
eventscalendar?id=29400
Monday 23 March 2.30pm-3,30pm
WEBINAR: Practical tips to improve your
academic writing
www.sussex.ac.uk/staff/newsandevents/
eventscalendar?id=29483
Thursday 19 March 4pm-5pm
Barlow Gallery, the Library
Cloud confusion: backing up your work
www.sussex.ac.uk/staff/newsandevents/
eventscalendar?id=28708
Tuesday 24 March 10am-12.30pm – location tbc
Managing your research data
www.sussex.ac.uk/staff/newsandevents/
eventscalendar?id=27950
Monday 23 March 10am-1pm Jubilee G35
Practical tips to improve your academic writing
www.sussex.ac.uk/staff/newsandevents/
eventscalendar?id=28267
Monday 23 March 12pm-5pm Jubilee 155
Effective Researcher – intensive half-day
workshop
www.sussex.ac.uk/staff/newsandevents/
eventscalendar?id=29057
What’s your experience of sport at Sussex? How
active are you? And what kind of activities would
you like to see on offer? Share your views and you
could win a £50 Amazon voucher.
NB Survey closes on 23 March.
www.sussex.ac.uk/sport/newsandevents?
id=29467
Thanks to your generous donations last Thursday, the School
Office raised £231 for the local homeless charity, Crossover.
Left to right: the Baking Belles and Beaux in their jimjams; various precious much-loved teddies, Soo Corbett,
Basil Brush and other furry friends; a cornucopia of culinary creations
As part of One World Week, Dr Anotida Madzvamuse was invited to take part in an
afternoon discussion entitled ‘Feet on the Ground: case studies for working in Africa’. The
overall theme of the event was sharing personal experiences of working in Africa, whether
in health, technology or education.
Anotida is a co-founding member of the Masamu Programme, a tri-collaborative effort
between Auburn University, the Southern Africa Mathematical Sciences Association
(SAMSA) and the University of Sussex. Supported by the London Mathematical Society,
through its African Initiative programme of Mentoring African Research in the Mathematical
Sciences (MARM), the MARM programme has allowed Anotida and mentees to initiate
research and teaching collaborations between the University of Sussex, the University of Nairobi and the
Masinde Muliro University of Science and Technology (MMUST) in mathematical modelling of tropical
diseases such as malaria, infectious diseases such as HIV/AIDS and population dynamics.
UK SKIES SET TO DIM IN
DECADE’S DEEPEST SOLAR ECLIPSE
Tomorrow a total eclipse of the Sun, visible from
the North Atlantic Ocean, will take place.
Observers in the UK and Ireland will see a partial
solar eclipse, with up to 97% of the Sun blocked
out. This will be the deepest eclipse in the UK
since 1999 and until 2026.
Total solar eclipses take place when the Earth,
Moon and Sun are almost precisely aligned and
the shadow of the Moon touches the surface of the
Earth. At mid-eclipse, observers within the lunar
shadow briefly see totality, where the silhouette of
the Moon completely covers the Sun, revealing the
beautiful outer solar atmosphere or corona.
www.ras.org.uk/news-and-press/2599-uk-skiesset-to-dim-in-decade-s-deepest-solar-eclipse
The partial phase of the
total eclipse of 2006,
rotated to match the
appearance of the March
2015 total eclipse from the
south of England
Image: Dr Darren Baskill
LOCAL EVENTS
Saturday 21-Sunday 22
March 10am-5pm
(£3 entry)
Stanmer House
The Sussex Guild’s
Contemporary Craft Show
thesussexguild.co.uk/
sussex-guild-events/
Sunday 22 March
Madeira Drive
Pioneer pre-1925
motorcycle run
Until 10 April
Monday-Saturday 10am-5pm
Gallery, Brighton University,
Grand Parade
Elements of Architecture
‘Wall of windows’
The history of windows in the UK dating back to
the 1600s.
If you have any items for inclusion in the next
MPS weekly update, please contact
Dorothy Lamb E [email protected] by
12 noon at the latest on Wednesday before
Thursday publication.