African Institute for Mathematical Sciences: Difference between revisions

African Institute for Mathematical Sciences
Motto	Building Science in Africa
Type	Private, Boarding
Established	2003
Students	60 Students(2010)
Location	Muizenberg, Western Cape, South Africa; 34°06′26″S 18°28′14″E / 34.1072°S 18.4706°E
Scholarship	$10,000
Website	www.aims.ac.za
	File:AIMS web banner logo.png

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The African Institute for Mathematical Sciences (AIMS) is a tertiary education and research institute in Muizenberg, South Africa, established in September 2003. AIMS was formed as a partnership between the following universities: University of Stellenbosch, University of Cambridge, University of Cape Town, University of Oxford, University of Paris-Sud, and University of the Western Cape.

Founder

AIMS was founded by Neil Turok, director of the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics, but at the time Chair of Mathematical Physics at Cambridge University. Neil Turok is the son of Ben Turok, an ANC MP.

Programmes

Postgraduate Diploma

AIMS's flagship programme is a 10-month Postgraduate Diploma (PGD) in the Mathematical Sciences. The diploma is conferred by the three South African universities in the partnership. Students from Africa can apply for full scholarships, including travel, board & lodging, tuition, and a stipend. AIMS is committed to greater participation by women in science and a geographically representative student body from the African continent.

Visiting faculty have included David MacKay, Bernt Øksendal, David Aschman (Cape Town), Alan Beardon (Cambridge), Jordi Campos (Barcelona), Jesus Cerquides (Spanish National Research Council), Patrick Dorey (Durham), Pedro Ferreira (Oxford), Jan Govaerts (Leuven), Barry Green (Stellenbosch), Gordon Johnson (Houston), Dirk Laurie (Stellenbosch), Sanjoy Mahajan (MIT), Vincent Rivasseau (University of Paris), Bernd Schroers (Heriot-Watt), Robert de Mello Koch (Witwatersrand), and Tadashi Tokieda (Cambridge). They each teach three-week-long modules.

The goal of the programme is to produce students capable of doing a high quality research-based Master's degree. Special emphasis is placed on intuitive understanding, problem solving skills, collaboration, scientific writing skills, and computer modelling using Free Software such as SAGE, SciPy, and R.

AIMS offers a bursary for PGD alumni studying toward a Master's degree in South Africa.

Honours Degree in Biomathematics

AIMS, in conjunction with University of Stellenbosch, offers an honours degree in biomathematics for South African students.

Masters and Doctoral Studies

In the AIMS Research Centre students, often AIMS Alumni, study towards a MSc or PhD degree under supervision of a resident researcher in Mathematics in Biology and Mathematical Finance.

AIMS-NEI

AIMS was the subject of a talk^[1] by Neil Turok after he received the TED Prize in 2008^[2]. Neil Turok's TED wish was that, within his lifetime, an African Einstein would be celebrated.

The AIMS-NextEinstein Initiative (AIMS-NEI)^[3] is a plan to create 15 more AIMS centres across Africa. These centres aim to create educational conditions and scientific resources equivalent to the more developed continents in order to fulfil Neil Turok's TED wish.

The next two centres are in Senegal^[4] and Ghana^[5]. An earlier centre based at the African University of Science and Technology (AUST^[6]) in Nigeria was known as AIMS-Abuja^[7]^[8] for a while.

AIMS-NEI is a continuation of the work of the African Mathematical Institutes Network (AMI-Net)^[9].

Research Centre

AIMS hosts a research centre that opened in May 2008. Stephen Hawking visited the AIMS research centre and AIMS-NEI launch^[10]^[11]^[12]^[13]^[14].

The centre specialises in Mathematics in Biology, Industrial Mathematics, Mathematical Finance, and Astrophysics & Cosmology^[15]. Bursaries are offered for Master's and doctoral studies.

AIMS-SEC

AIMS hosts a School Enrichment Centre which offers free learning resources and professional development courses for South African mathematics teachers^[16].

Workshops and Conferences

AIMS regularly hosts short conferences or workshops in Mathematics and its applications, especially in Physics, Mathematical Finance, Epidemiology. Other topics include Scientific Modelling or System Administration using Ubuntu Linux as a platform.

Funding

AIMS is sponsored by international corporations, international development organisations, and the South African departments of Education and Science and Technology.

In February 2010 Google donated $1 million to AIMS^[17].

In July 2010 Canada committed $20 CDN million of federal funding to AIMS and the AIMS-NEI project^[18]^[19]^[20]. The funds will be administered by the International Development Research Centre and the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics.

In September 2010 AIMS-NEI was awarded US$ 2 million from Google's Project 10^100^[21].

Individuals donate to AIMS on GivenGain^[22].

References

External links

[1] TED talk about AIMS, by Neil Turok

[2] Neil Turok receives TED Prize

[3] AIMS-NextEinstein Initiative

[4] AIMS-Senegal

[5] AIMS-Ghana

[6] African University of Science and Technology

[7] Seeking an African Einstein

[8] AIMS Abuja Opens

[9] African Mathematical Institutes Network

[10] Stephen Hawking to visit AIMS Research Centre Launch

[11] Stephen Hawking in hunt for Africa's hidden talent

[12] Stephen Hawking meets Nelson Mandela for AIMS

[13] Stephen Hawking Meets Nelson Mandela

[14] Stephen Hawking seeks 'Einsteins of Africa'

[15] Cosmology at AIMS

[16] AIMS-SEC School Enrichment Centre

[17] Google donates $1 million to AIMS

[18] Canada gives $20M to expand AIMS across Africa

[19] PM announces Banting Postdoctoral Fellowships, support for Next Einstein Initiative

[20] Perimeter Institute & Canada Partner on Growing Science & Technology Capacity Globally

[21] Project 10^100

[22] Individuals donate to AIMS on GivenGain

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@@ Line 49: / Line 49: @@
 The AIMS-NextEinstein Initiative (AIMS-NEI)<ref>[http://www.nexteinstein.org AIMS-NextEinstein Initiative]</ref> is a plan to create 15 more AIMS centres across Africa. These centres aim to create educational conditions and scientific resources equivalent to the more developed continents in order to fulfil Neil Turok's TED wish.
-The next two centres are in Senegal<ref>[http://www.aims-senegal.sn/ AIMS-Senegal]</ref> and Ghana<ref>[http://www.aims-ghana.org/ AIMS-Ghana]</ref>. An earlier centre based at the African University of Science and Technology (AUST<ref>[http://aust-abuja.org/ African University of Science and Technology]</ref>) in Nigeria was for a while known as AIMS-Abuja<ref>[http://physicsworld.com/cws/article/news/34836 Seeking an African Einstein]</ref><ref>[http://www.tedprize.org/aims-abuja-opens/ AIMS Abuja Opens]</ref>.
+The next two centres are in Senegal<ref>[http://www.aims-senegal.sn/ AIMS-Senegal]</ref> and Ghana<ref>[http://www.aims-ghana.org/ AIMS-Ghana]</ref>. An earlier centre based at the African University of Science and Technology (AUST<ref>[http://aust-abuja.org/ African University of Science and Technology]</ref>) in Nigeria was known as AIMS-Abuja<ref>[http://physicsworld.com/cws/article/news/34836 Seeking an African Einstein]</ref><ref>[http://www.tedprize.org/aims-abuja-opens/ AIMS Abuja Opens]</ref> for a while.
 AIMS-NEI is a continuation of the work of the African Mathematical Institutes Network (AMI-Net)<ref>[http://www.nepadst.org/platforms/aminet.shtml African Mathematical Institutes Network]</ref>.