Pure mathematics hones the skills of abstraction, thinking hard and logically, and problem solving. These are skills many potential undergraduates want, and most potential graduate employers crave. It seems unwise for a university to send a clear signal it doesn't value them - AI undoubtably is a big part of the future, but it will be built with and on these skills.
D
Dominic Oakes
5 years ago
What about the connection between pure maths and AI?
A
Amrendra Gill
5 years ago
In the end we all are dead, so nobody has this right to declare anything redundant. There is nothing like pure and applied, they live in harmony and both are needed.
R
Rodrigue D-Cadja
5 years ago
Pure Mathematics is a fundamental asset, not just in Mathematics but for a collection of other disciplines. We need it!!!
E
Emily
5 years ago
Maths is the foundation of all science, and by no means redundant!
B
Bart Vlaar
5 years ago
This is a very worrying development. It does not seem thought through, especially given that government funding for mathematics is increasing. It is hard to see how this would save money in the long run. The pure maths group in Leicester is deservedly highly regarded in the UK and abroad and deserve the best from their VC.
I am really disappointed that a research led University could make what looks like a strategic error based on a somewhat out of date understanding of the mathematical landscape. Gauss and Turing will be turning in their graves. I have spent the last few years working with colleagues across the UK and with senior members of the research councils to shape a future for mathematics in which the labels "Pure" and "Applied" are used lightly, if at all, Sub-disciplines like graph theory, number theory, algebra, combinatorics and logic are becoming central to technology, not least in data science and AI, and the recent large increase in mathematics research and PGR funding was predicated in part on understanding that. (So-called pure mathematicians played a leading role in the discussions at Downing Street.) I know that Senior Management teams strive to make major decisions like this on the back of the best available information and would be happy to discuss the current mathematics (research funding) landscape with them if that would be helpful.
M
Míriam R García
5 years ago
Pura matematics are the core to ensure a future research identity in AI, computational modelling....
M
Mark Chaplain
5 years ago
Pure myopia from Leicester management. This is the 'Era of Mathematics' (Bond Report):
"Deloitte (2012) estimated that mathematics contributed over £200 billion annually to the UK economy in 2010, and that there were over 2.8 million individuals in employment directly due to mathematical science research in the UK, a figure that is still rising, with 6.9 million individuals in employment due to the wider ripple effects of mathematical science research in the UK. As increasingly mathematics-intensive industries, such as genomics and related medical sciences, grow in scale, so too will the contribution of mathematics to UK gross value added (GVA). Deloitte (2012) noted, ‘The total GVA contribution in the UK in 2010 of mathematical science research is £556 billion, or over 40% of total GVA.’"
"This report makes a very powerful case for investing in mathematics. This is the era of mathematics and its influence will become still more intense. It is a discipline in which the UK can shine and lead. Now is the time to invest in its future in the UK." - The Lord Stern of Brentford, Kt FRS FBA
https://epsrc.ukri.org/newsevents/pubs/era-of-maths/
A
Alex Martsinkovsky
5 years ago
Quos Deus perdere vult dementat prius
M
Mark Chaplain
5 years ago
A woefully inadequate, myopic vision from Leicester senior management.
This is the 'Era of Mathematics' #BondReport. If you want to consider mathematics in terms of "value for money" it is huge.
"Deloitte (2012) estimated that mathematics contributed over £200 billion annually to the UK economy in 2010, and that there were over 2.8 million individuals in employment directly due to mathematical science research in the UK, a figure that is still rising, with 6.9 million individuals in employment due to the wider ripple effects of mathematical science research in the UK. As increasingly mathematics-intensive industries, such as genomics and related medical sciences, grow in scale, so too will the contribution of mathematics to UK gross value added (GVA). Deloitte (2012) noted, ‘The total GVA contribution in the UK in 2010 of mathematical science research is £556 billion, or over 40% of total GVA.’"
https://epsrc.ukri.org/newsevents/pubs/era-of-maths/
S
Syed Sameed Ahmed
5 years ago
The decision by the VC is absolutely ridiculous
A
Alain goriely
5 years ago
As professor of mathematical modelling in Oxford, I can attest that pure mathematics is an ESSENTIAL component for success in applied mathematics.
C
Christophe Delaere
5 years ago
Fundamental research in Mathematics is the key to unlock the biggest challenges in applied science in all fields.
K
Karl Heisermann
5 years ago
Pure mathematics is the basis of each of the fields you purport to encourage with its removal. Train mathematicians, then let them find applications, or become a trade college. It is your choice.
B
Ben Geloun Joseph
5 years ago
Teaching and research in fundamental mathematics form the basis of research in exact science. It is for many, indeed, here, that we learn logic, the tools of reasoning, and rigor. To think that this is redundancy is like stepping back into the past. To deprive oneself of it amounts to accepting a slow decline of one's academic and research model.
What an ignorant idea, this must be stopped!
Pure mathematics hones the skills of abstraction, thinking hard and logically, and problem solving. These are skills many potential undergraduates want, and most potential graduate employers crave. It seems unwise for a university to send a clear signal it doesn't value them - AI undoubtably is a big part of the future, but it will be built with and on these skills.
What about the connection between pure maths and AI?
In the end we all are dead, so nobody has this right to declare anything redundant. There is nothing like pure and applied, they live in harmony and both are needed.
Pure Mathematics is a fundamental asset, not just in Mathematics but for a collection of other disciplines. We need it!!!
Maths is the foundation of all science, and by no means redundant!
This is a very worrying development. It does not seem thought through, especially given that government funding for mathematics is increasing. It is hard to see how this would save money in the long run. The pure maths group in Leicester is deservedly highly regarded in the UK and abroad and deserve the best from their VC.
https://le.ac.uk/about/governance-and-management/vc-office/vice-chancellor/remuneration
Linguistics is redundant
I am really disappointed that a research led University could make what looks like a strategic error based on a somewhat out of date understanding of the mathematical landscape. Gauss and Turing will be turning in their graves. I have spent the last few years working with colleagues across the UK and with senior members of the research councils to shape a future for mathematics in which the labels "Pure" and "Applied" are used lightly, if at all, Sub-disciplines like graph theory, number theory, algebra, combinatorics and logic are becoming central to technology, not least in data science and AI, and the recent large increase in mathematics research and PGR funding was predicated in part on understanding that. (So-called pure mathematicians played a leading role in the discussions at Downing Street.) I know that Senior Management teams strive to make major decisions like this on the back of the best available information and would be happy to discuss the current mathematics (research funding) landscape with them if that would be helpful.
Pura matematics are the core to ensure a future research identity in AI, computational modelling....
Pure myopia from Leicester management. This is the 'Era of Mathematics' (Bond Report): "Deloitte (2012) estimated that mathematics contributed over £200 billion annually to the UK economy in 2010, and that there were over 2.8 million individuals in employment directly due to mathematical science research in the UK, a figure that is still rising, with 6.9 million individuals in employment due to the wider ripple effects of mathematical science research in the UK. As increasingly mathematics-intensive industries, such as genomics and related medical sciences, grow in scale, so too will the contribution of mathematics to UK gross value added (GVA). Deloitte (2012) noted, ‘The total GVA contribution in the UK in 2010 of mathematical science research is £556 billion, or over 40% of total GVA.’" "This report makes a very powerful case for investing in mathematics. This is the era of mathematics and its influence will become still more intense. It is a discipline in which the UK can shine and lead. Now is the time to invest in its future in the UK." - The Lord Stern of Brentford, Kt FRS FBA https://epsrc.ukri.org/newsevents/pubs/era-of-maths/
Quos Deus perdere vult dementat prius
A woefully inadequate, myopic vision from Leicester senior management. This is the 'Era of Mathematics' #BondReport. If you want to consider mathematics in terms of "value for money" it is huge. "Deloitte (2012) estimated that mathematics contributed over £200 billion annually to the UK economy in 2010, and that there were over 2.8 million individuals in employment directly due to mathematical science research in the UK, a figure that is still rising, with 6.9 million individuals in employment due to the wider ripple effects of mathematical science research in the UK. As increasingly mathematics-intensive industries, such as genomics and related medical sciences, grow in scale, so too will the contribution of mathematics to UK gross value added (GVA). Deloitte (2012) noted, ‘The total GVA contribution in the UK in 2010 of mathematical science research is £556 billion, or over 40% of total GVA.’" https://epsrc.ukri.org/newsevents/pubs/era-of-maths/
The decision by the VC is absolutely ridiculous
As professor of mathematical modelling in Oxford, I can attest that pure mathematics is an ESSENTIAL component for success in applied mathematics.
Fundamental research in Mathematics is the key to unlock the biggest challenges in applied science in all fields.
Pure mathematics is the basis of each of the fields you purport to encourage with its removal. Train mathematicians, then let them find applications, or become a trade college. It is your choice.
Teaching and research in fundamental mathematics form the basis of research in exact science. It is for many, indeed, here, that we learn logic, the tools of reasoning, and rigor. To think that this is redundancy is like stepping back into the past. To deprive oneself of it amounts to accepting a slow decline of one's academic and research model.
I'm shocked, really.