An investment In Australia's future: why the mathematical sciences matter

A Forum to discuss the findings and recommendations of the National Strategic Review of Mathematical Sciences research in Australia, conducted by the National Committee for the Mathematical Sciences of the Australian Academy of Science

The Forum was held on Wednesday 7 February 2007 at the Shine Dome, Australian Academy of Science, Gordon Street, Canberra. The review report, Mathematics and Statistics: Critical Skills for Australia's Future, was completed in December 2006. The Forum presented an opportunity to review its findings and consider the way forward. The program included speakers addressing:

• Australia's research enterprise and mathematical sciences
• Business, industry and government agencies and mathematical sciences
• Meeting the needs for mathematics and statistical expertise  &mdash   education in mathematics and statistics in schools and universities

The program for the forum can be downloaded as a PDF file here.

The forum was officially opened by

• Honourable Pat Farmer MP, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Education, Science and Training.

The forum included included presentations by the following speakers. Where summaries of the presentations have been provided by speakers, a download link is provided.

• Senator Kim Carr, Shadow Minister for Industry, Innovation, Science and Research
• Professor Hyam Rubinstein, Chair, National Committee for the Mathematical Sciences, Australian Academy of Science
• Dr Ian Marschner, Director of Biometrics, Pfizer Australia: "Why the mathematical sciences matter: an industry perspective" (download visuals from presentation - 676KB)
• Professor Garth Gaudry, Director, International Centre of Excellence for Education in Mathematics
• Professor John Rice, President, Australian Council of Deans of Science
• Mr Peter Laver, Vice-President, Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering: "Post-school education in mathematics and statistics" (download visuals from presentation - 24KB)
• Mr John Vines, Chief Executive, Association of Professional Engineers, Scientists and Managers: "Addressing the shortage of maths and science teachers - a proposal to re-train experienced professionals" (download visuals from presentation - 120KB)
• Professor William Dunsmuir, Statistical Society of Australia
• Mr Peter Haggstrom, Director, Head of Technical Services, Deutsche Asset Management (Australia) Limited: "The role of the mathematical sciences in finance" (download visuals from presentation - 1.2MB)
• Dr Melanie Bahlo, Bioinformatics Division, Walter and Eliza Hall Institute
• Dr Frank de Hoog, CSIRO
• Ms Susan Linacre, Acting Australian Statistician, Australian Bureau of Statistics: "Why the mathematical sciences matter: the ABS experience" (download visuals from presentation - 9.8MB)
• Dr Jeff Kepert, Research Centre Data Assimilation Group, Bureau of Meteorology: "Why the mathematical sciences matter to meteorology" (download visuals from presentation - 13.5MB)
• Professor Ian Sloan, President International Council for Industrial and Applied Mathematics
• Professor Jonathan Manton, Executive Director, Mathematics, Information and Communication Sciences, Australian Research Council: "Mathematics in Australia: an ARC perspective" (download visuals from presentation - 260KB)
• Ms Kate Hurford, Associate Director, Domestic and International Policy, Engineers Australia: "Closing remarks" (download text of speech - 128KB)

The Forum was organised on behalf of the National Committee for the Mathematical Sciences by Professor Hyam Rubinstein (Chair of the National Committee), Professor Peter Hall (President of the Australian Mathematical Society), Associate Professor Barry Hughes (Executive Director of the Review) and Ms Jan Thomas (Executive Officer, Australian Mathematical Sciences Institute).

Sponsors were ANZ Bank, BHP Billiton, CSIRO Mathematical and Information Sciences, Defence Science and Technology Organisation, Australian Academy of Science, Australian Bureau of Statistics, Australian Mathematical Society, Statistical Society of Australia, Federation of Australian Scientific and Technological Societies, Association of Professional Engineers, Scientists and Managers Australia, Australian Council of Deans of Science, Institute of Actuaries of Australia.

Inquiries
Jan Thomas          jan.thomas@amsi.org.au    03-8344-1774
Hyam Rubinstein   joachim@unimelb.edu.au   03-8344-5548