| African Institute for Mathematical Sciences | |
|---|---|
| Motto | Building Science in Africa |
| Established | 2003 |
| Type | Private, Boarding |
| Students | 60 Students(2010) |
| Location | Muizenberg, Western Cape, South Africa |
| Scholarship | $10,000 |
| Website | www.aims.ac.za |
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.
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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.
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), Rob Beezer (University of Puget Sound), Jeff Sanders (United Nations University International Institute for Software Technology), 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.
AIMS, in conjunction with University of Stellenbosch, offers an honours degree in Mathematical Biology for South African students.
An honours degree in Mathematical Finance is being offered for South African students in conjunction with University of Stellenbosch and the University of Cape Town.
In the AIMS Research Centre students, often AIMS Alumni, study towards a MSc or PhD degree under supervision of a resident researcher in Mathematical Biology and Mathematical Finance.
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].
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 Mathematical Biology, Industrial Mathematics, Mathematical Finance, Astrophysics & Cosmology[15], and Computer Algebra. Bursaries are offered for Master's and doctoral studies.
AIMS hosts a School Enrichment Centre which offers free learning resources and professional development courses for South African mathematics teachers[16].
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.
Regular public lectures[17] on a wide range of topics are offered by eminent scientists at the forefront of research in their field.
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[18].
In July 2010 Canada committed $20 CDN million of federal funding to AIMS and the AIMS-NEI project[19][20][21]. The funds will be administered by the International Development Research Centre and the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics.
In September 2010 AIMS-NEI was awarded US$ 2 million from Google's Project 10^100[22].
Individuals donate to AIMS on GivenGain[23].
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