Department of Mathematics, University of Manchester

The Department of Mathematics at the University of Manchester is one of the largest unified mathematics departments in the United Kingdom, with over 90 academic staff and an undergraduate intake of roughly 400 students per year (including students studying mathematics with a minor in another subject) and approximately 200 postgraduate students in total.^[1][2] The School of Mathematics was formed in 2004 by the merger of the mathematics departments of University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology (UMIST) and the Victoria University of Manchester (VUM). In July 2007 the department moved into a purpose-designed building─the first three floors of the Alan Turing Building─on Upper Brook Street. In a Faculty restructure in 2019 the School of Mathematics reverted to the Department of Mathematics. It is one of five Departments that make up the School of Natural Sciences, which together with the School of Engineering now constitutes the Faculty of Science and Engineering at Manchester.

Organization

The current head of the department is Andrew Hazel. The department is divided into three groups: Pure Mathematics (Head: Gareth Jones), Applied Mathematics (Head: Sergei Fedotov), and Probability and Statistics (Head: Korbinian Strimmer). The director of research is Mark Kambites.

The Manchester Institute for Mathematical Sciences (MIMS) is a unit of the department focusing on the organising of mathematical colloquia and conferences, and research visitors. MIMS was headed by Nick Higham. Other high-profile mathematicians at Manchester include Martin Taylor and Jeff Paris.

Since its formation, the department has made some influential appointments including the

Research

As might be expected from its size (about 30 academic staff in Probability & Statistics, 30 in Pure Mathematics and 45 in Applied Mathematics), the department has a wide range of research interests, including the traditionally pure areas of

The department of Mathematics entered research into three units of assessment. In Pure Mathematics 20% of submissions from 27 FTE category A staff were rated 4* (World Class) and 40% 3* (Internationally Excellent). In Applied Mathematics 25% of submissions from 28.8 FTE category A staff were rated 4* and 35%, 3*. And in Statistics and Operational Research, 20% of submissions from 10.9 FTE category A staff were rated 4* and 35%, 3*.[3]

History

At the time of merger the two departments that came together to form the school were of roughly equal sizes and academic strengths, and already had a substantial record of collaboration including shared research seminar programmes and fourth year undergraduate and MSc programmes.

Many famous mathematicians have worked at the precursor departments to the department.

In 1885 Horace Lamb, famous for his contribution to fluid dynamics accepted a chair at the VUM and under his leadership the department grew rapidly. Newman wrote:

'His lecture courses were numerous, and his books provide a record of his methods. Many of his students were engineers, and they found in him a sympathetic guide, one who understood their difficulties and shared their interest in applications of mathematics to mechanics.'

In 1907 famous analyst and number theorist

During 1912–1913 the pioneer of weather forecasting and numerical analysis

Although Manchester was later to be known as the birthplace of the electronic computer, Douglas Hartree made an earlier contribution building a differential analyser in 1933. The machine was used for ballistics calculations as well calculating railway timetables.

Mordell was succeeded by the famous topologist and

Up until the 1950s, UMIST's Mathematics Department taught largely service courses for the engineering and applied science courses, and despite stars such as Richardson, Mordell and in 1958–1963 group theorist Hanna Neumann, did not have a strong focus on research. Neumann was later to be the first woman appointed to a Professorial Chair of Mathematics in Australia.

With the rapid expansion of higher education and the starting of an undergraduate mathematics degree this changed, and by 1968 the 15-storey

Another renowned topologist, Frank Adams, succeeded Newman in the Fielden Chair, which he held from 1964 to 1970.

The VUM Mathematics tower was demolished in 2005, with most of the staff moving to temporary buildings, the pure mathematicians to one named after Newman and the applied to one named after Lamb. The history of the department entered a new phase in July 2007 with the move to the Alan Turing Building. The department was known as the School of Mathematics until a 2019 faculty-wide restructuring.^[5]

In 2013, the Sir Horace Lamb Chair was founded in memory of Sir Horace Lamb.^[6] The chair was inaugurated in May 2013 with the appointment of Professor Oliver Jensen, who already held a personal chair in the school.

See also

• Mathematics section in People Associated with the University of Manchester
• Richardson Professor of Applied Mathematics
• Fielden Professor of Pure Mathematics
• Beyer Professor of Applied Mathematics

References and notes