Mathematics never has been, is not, and never will be redundant. Stop arbitrarily cutting costs and employ as well as pay researchers what they are worth. It makes the world a better place.
A
Anna Rosinska
5 years ago
Without mathematics, all these new subjects the university wants to 'invest in', wouldn't exist.
J
James
5 years ago
This move show a serious undervaluing of this department and the contributions being made in particular fields. The result would be to stunt the growth of mathematics in general as well as the university.
R
Robin Kaarsgaard
5 years ago
Pure mathematics is what drives breakthroughs in data science and AI, plain and simple. If this is not clear to the VC, I urge them to resign and leave the position to someone who does.
A
Amlan Banaji
5 years ago
This would be an act of self-harm by the university. Solidarity to staff whose jobs are under threat.
V
Vitaly Moroz
5 years ago
A disgrace for this country and its academic institutions
A
Abel Castorena
5 years ago
I am disagree in dissapear the Math deparment at Leicester university
M
Marton Balazs
5 years ago
... and then why do you think you'll be able to hire any serious researcher in the next 20 years?
M
Mitchell Buckley
5 years ago
With such a poor explanation and without a more detailed plan, this decision reveals that the university leadership is thoughtless, reckless, and short-sighted.
G
Gerard Watts
5 years ago
Hard to fathom how anyone thought this was a good idea.
D
Dr Alastair Litterick
5 years ago
As a pure mathematician myself, it is clear that no-one involved with this decision has the faintest idea of what either "pure maths" or "AI, computational modelling, digitalisation and data science" involve, otherwise they would know that trying to conduct world-leading research in the latter without the former is like trying to build a supercar on a lathe in your shed.
M
Morgan Robson
5 years ago
Absolutely abserd.
A
Allan Dobbins
5 years ago
Mathematics, in its various pursuits, both pure and applied, is essential to any university. My mentor (a nonmathematician) once said that one can't have a great university without a great mathematics department. Even if a university has less lofty aspirations, mathematics has links to many other areas of intellectual pursuit, and advances in mathematics often eventually have an impact in other fields of inquiry.
D
Dr Nicolai Kraus
5 years ago
This is certainly not in the interest of scientific progress. I suspect that the university VC's proposal is solely motivated by short-term profit optimisation, as pure maths has currently not as much external funding as the other mentioned areas. From a more long-term point of view, this is a desaster which will damage research and the reputation of the university.
J
Jacob Denson
5 years ago
What a short sighted move, saving money during the pandemic at the cost of the reputability of the entire university's research programme.
J
Joseph Razavi
5 years ago
It is a disgrace in itself to destroy a (world renowned) maths department. It is inane to the point of tragedy to do so in the name of "AI, computational modelling, digitalisation and data science" at a time when everyone knows these fields are increasingly relying on technical parts of pure maths.
W
Walter Tholen
5 years ago
No good applications without fundamentals! The ancient Greeks understood this better than those decision makers today who still haven’t understood the pivotal long-term role of mathematics in all of the sciences, and beyond.
F
Francesco Bottacin
5 years ago
I don't know what kind of problems the University of Leicester may be facing, but if someone thinks that ceasing research in pure mathematics has anything to do with "shaping for excellence", they are deeply mistaken!
S
Samuel Dean
5 years ago
As a pure mathematician who has worked in data science in industry, I think this that the VC fundamentally misunderstands the nature of AI/data science, and so if the university needs to move toward that goal, they should resign, and pure mathematicians there should be offered protection. As has already been mentioned, pure mathematics (category theory, linear algebra, topology, etc.) are fundamental to data science. If a student is not brought up in an environment where they can learn pure mathematics well (i.e. from the best practitioners), they will never be able to solve any but the most trivial problems of data science.
Such short-sightedness.
Mathematics never has been, is not, and never will be redundant. Stop arbitrarily cutting costs and employ as well as pay researchers what they are worth. It makes the world a better place.
Without mathematics, all these new subjects the university wants to 'invest in', wouldn't exist.
This move show a serious undervaluing of this department and the contributions being made in particular fields. The result would be to stunt the growth of mathematics in general as well as the university.
Pure mathematics is what drives breakthroughs in data science and AI, plain and simple. If this is not clear to the VC, I urge them to resign and leave the position to someone who does.
This would be an act of self-harm by the university. Solidarity to staff whose jobs are under threat.
A disgrace for this country and its academic institutions
I am disagree in dissapear the Math deparment at Leicester university
... and then why do you think you'll be able to hire any serious researcher in the next 20 years?
With such a poor explanation and without a more detailed plan, this decision reveals that the university leadership is thoughtless, reckless, and short-sighted.
Hard to fathom how anyone thought this was a good idea.
As a pure mathematician myself, it is clear that no-one involved with this decision has the faintest idea of what either "pure maths" or "AI, computational modelling, digitalisation and data science" involve, otherwise they would know that trying to conduct world-leading research in the latter without the former is like trying to build a supercar on a lathe in your shed.
Absolutely abserd.
Mathematics, in its various pursuits, both pure and applied, is essential to any university. My mentor (a nonmathematician) once said that one can't have a great university without a great mathematics department. Even if a university has less lofty aspirations, mathematics has links to many other areas of intellectual pursuit, and advances in mathematics often eventually have an impact in other fields of inquiry.
This is certainly not in the interest of scientific progress. I suspect that the university VC's proposal is solely motivated by short-term profit optimisation, as pure maths has currently not as much external funding as the other mentioned areas. From a more long-term point of view, this is a desaster which will damage research and the reputation of the university.
What a short sighted move, saving money during the pandemic at the cost of the reputability of the entire university's research programme.
It is a disgrace in itself to destroy a (world renowned) maths department. It is inane to the point of tragedy to do so in the name of "AI, computational modelling, digitalisation and data science" at a time when everyone knows these fields are increasingly relying on technical parts of pure maths.
No good applications without fundamentals! The ancient Greeks understood this better than those decision makers today who still haven’t understood the pivotal long-term role of mathematics in all of the sciences, and beyond.
I don't know what kind of problems the University of Leicester may be facing, but if someone thinks that ceasing research in pure mathematics has anything to do with "shaping for excellence", they are deeply mistaken!
As a pure mathematician who has worked in data science in industry, I think this that the VC fundamentally misunderstands the nature of AI/data science, and so if the university needs to move toward that goal, they should resign, and pure mathematicians there should be offered protection. As has already been mentioned, pure mathematics (category theory, linear algebra, topology, etc.) are fundamental to data science. If a student is not brought up in an environment where they can learn pure mathematics well (i.e. from the best practitioners), they will never be able to solve any but the most trivial problems of data science.