Professor Rebecca Hoyle from Southampton spoke to the Isaac Newton Institute about the relevance of study groups during the COVID-19 pandemic, and the thinking behind the Virtual Forum for Knowledge Exchange in Mathematical Sciences [V-KEMS] initiative. Rebecca talked about the history of study groups, how V-KEMS came about, some of the recent activity and some of the challenges involved in working in this virtual forum.

Since March 2020, the Newton Gateway has been working with the International Centre for Mathematical Sciences (ICMS), Isaac Newton Institute (INI) and Knowledge Transfer Network (KTN) and various representatives from the mathematical sciences community in this Virtual Forum for Knowledge Exchange in the Mathematical Sciences (V-KEMS). The main aim has been to identify a range of virtual approaches to help address challenges from business and industry, the third sector, and other groups outside academia. These challenges may be long-standing or may have arisen directly as a consequence of the present disruption to UK society.

The interview can be heard here and more details about V-KEMS and its activity are on its website and twitter account.