The Australian Mathematical Sciences Institute (AMSI) has partnered with societies and organisations across Australia to celebrate the important role mathematics and statistics play in today’s society.
The Australian program will be launched on 29 January 2013 by Australia’s Chief Scientist, and patron of the year Professor Ian Chubb and Professor Simon Levin of Princeton University. This event is sponsored by the Simons Foundation.
Professor Trachette Jackson from The University of Michigan gave the first in the MPE Australia Public Lecture series in Sydney on 8 January. She spoke about the essential role of mathematical biology in the 21st century.
WEBSITE
MPE Australia’s interactive website provides a forum for academics, university students, school children and the public to discuss, explore and celebrate everyday applications of maths and stats in the real world. With blogs on topics investigating the mathematics of body surfing, and the impacts of the Black Saturday smoke plume on global weather patterns there is something for everyone!
Throughout the year we’ll also be having a coffee with some of Australia’s top maths minds.
COMPETITIONS & ACTIVITIES
Online puzzles and resources for both primary and secondary school teachers will bring MPE to Australian classrooms. On Pi Day students will learn about the intricacies of this important number and in Science Week will learn how to use shadows to measure the circumference of the earth.
The first photography competition “Singling out Symmetry” has been launched. Each competition round will be announced via the website.
EVENTS
A series of MPE sponsored scientific workshops will also run throughout the year. Topics include the mathematics of transportation networks, ecology and statistics and modelling tumours.
MPE Australia 2013, a major mid-year scientific conference, will explore the themes a planet at risk and a planet organised by humans. We will bring together researchers from various fields to build research collaborations and explore the role of mathematics and statistics in extreme events, demographics, earth systems, invasive species, large data sets, complex networks and the role of data in the world.
These events, and more, will be advertised on the MPE Australia website.