ERA results for mathematical sciences in Australia

The 2010 ERA (Excellence in Research Australia) results were released by the ARC on 31 January 2011. Comprehensive reports are available from the ARC ERA 2010 webpage. Forty-one tertiary institutions submitted research outputs to be evaluated. Out of these, 17 did not receive an assessment in the mathematical sciences. This means that these 17 institutions [...]

Access to mathematics is vital for equity

In an opinion piece “Access to mathematics is vital for equity” for Australasian Science, Jan Thomas writes on how shortages of mathematics teachers has led to lack of access for many students, particularly (but not exclusively) in rural and low-income areas, to a quality mathematics education. [Via the Funneled Web.]

The State of Mathematical Sciences in Australia

Hyam Rubinstein wrote an opinion piece recently on the Funneled Web on “The State of Mathematical Sciences in Australia“, highlighting the strengths and weaknesses of Australian mathematics today.  Strengths include internationally recognised research excellence, and a strong tradition in mathematics competition; weaknesses include severe shortages of maths and stats-trained graduates in the workforce (both in [...]

Rebuilding the mathematical sciences

In an article today for ScienceAlert entitled “Rebuilding the mathematical sciences“, Hyam Rubinstein writes on the recent decline in mathematics education in Australia, and on how to rebuild it, in particular promoting the National Maths Strategy recently completed by the Australian Mathematical Sciences Institute. (Thanks to Jan Thomas for the link.)

The National “Numeracy” Review

[This post is authored by Judy Mousley - Ed.] I was asked by Terry to write a guest article for the blog in my capacity as President of MERGA, but the words below have been written in a personal capacity. I encourage other MERGA members to add their thoughts, as those below are certainly not [...]

Maths Matters

[This opinion piece is being submitted to the "Maths Matters" column of the Gazette of the Australian Mathematical Society.] On 17 March 2008, the University of Southern Queensland (USQ) at Toowoomba announced proposals to cut staff at the Department of Mathematics and Computing (which consists of the disciplines of mathematics, statistics, and computing) by almost [...]

Mathematics at Flinders

In the last two decades at Australian universities, departments have primarily been funded using formulae that are based to a large extent on the number of Australian and foreign students that are enrolled in their majors, or are taught by their service courses. As such, there is a tremendous pressure on administrations and departments to [...]

Put a little science in your life

There is an excellent op-ed piece by Brian Greene in the New York Times today entitled “Put a little science in your life“. It discusses the importance of science, not only in addressing the modern world’s challenges, but also in empowering individuals with a means of understanding the world around them. By a random coincidence, [...]

USQ, the supply of mathematics skills, and mathematics teacher training

A number of colleagues, both in Australia and abroad, have queried with me our reasons for taking such a strong position on the threats to dramatically cut mathematics at USQ. I should give a little background here, directly connecting the challenges facing USQ and a number of other universities (the University of New England is [...]