Welsh maths institute recruiting in big numbers

A range of academic jobs are being generated by the new Wales Institute for Mathematical and Computational Science, writes Tony Tysome.

The institute, a collaborative venture by Cardiff, Swansea, Aberystwyth and Bangor universities, is backed by £5 million from the Higher Education Funding Council for Wales. It is advertising for candidates to fill seven new chairs.

The chairs, which are advertised in this week's Times Higher , will be expected to lead collaborative research in the five subject clusters that the institute will focus on. The targeted areas are mathematical analysis, stochastic processes and stochastic analysis, mathematical physics, computational modelling, and statistics and operational research.

Once appointed, the chairs will help to shape criteria for the appointment of 20 research fellows on contracts of between two and four years working in the same subject areas.

The institute will also be searching for an outreach officer, who will be expected to co-ordinate work in schools and colleges to promote the study of maths and computer science.

Professors and fellows will also be expected to spend some time on outreach work.

The creation of the institute was described this week as "a bold step" by Nigel Weatherill, pro vice-chancellor for research at Swansea University.

He said that the venture was part of an effort to build research and teaching capacity in maths and computer science across Wales and to attract funding from industry and commerce.

The institute will also be seeking a director in due course and the post is expected to be advertised in The Times Higher in the near future.