The Newton Gateway to Mathematics is very pleased to announce that it has been approved to be the UK representative within EU-MATHS-IN - a European network that aims to establish connections between stakeholders working in industrial mathematics.
 
Background:
 
EU-MATHS-IN was created in 2013 as a follow on to the ESF-funded Forward Look on Mathematics in Industry report. The main recommendations of this report were 1) that the countries of Europe needed to work together in this area in order to compete on a global scale and 2) that a ‘European Institute of Mathematics for Innovation’ should be set up to facilitate this interaction and to provide an international body which could apply for infrastructure grants from the European Commission.
 
When EU-MATHS-IN was created, the UK opted to make the Smith Institute our national network because of its extensive list of contacts in both academe and industry and as it served as the Knowledge Transfer Network for Industrial Maths at that time. Robert Leese was the first representative, followed by Joanna Jordan and then William Lee from Huddersfield.
 
Discussions have taken place with Wil Schilders, EU-MATHS-IN President, about how representation might be better embedded across the mathematics community in the UK. The Gateway was approached to take on this role, as it is well placed - with an established Governance structure of 30 people who sit on the Gateway’s Advisory Board and Scientific Advisory Panel, who can help facilitate this and make the relevant connections. Members of the Advisory Board and Scientific Advisory Panel believe that the Gateway has the convening power that is needed and are willing to support the Gateway to help disseminate and collate information, make relevant links with industry and promote EU-MATHS-IN broadly across the UK.
 
As a consequence, a proposal was submitted to the EU-MATHS-IN Board who approved this and the Gateway will now work with William Lee, the Gateway Advisory Board, Gateway Scientific Advisory Panel and wider networks to facilitate development of stronger links, collation and generation of impact case studies and discussion events where appropriate.
 
Post Brexit, UK representation continues to be welcomed from our European partners, in view of the UK’s record for engagement between mathematical sciences and industry, and indeed it was felt to be even more important now.
 
Next Steps:
 
Further discussion will now take place about how the Gateway will act as the Hub for the UK and administer and facilitate UK representation.
 
This will include:

• Communication of impact
• Updating  the current website hosted by the Smith Institute
• Collating further case studies
• Facilitating events and discussion fora where appropriate
• Ensure complementary activity, not duplication, with ECMI.  

 
The Newton Gateway to Mathematics was key in establishing the Virtual Forum for Knowledge Exchange in the Mathematical Sciences (V-KEMS) in March 202O. It has worked across the UK Mathematical Sciences Community to help to identify a range of virtual approaches to help address challenges from business and industry, government, the third sector, and other groups outside academia. Much of V-KEMS activity has focused on the development and delivery of Virtual Study Groups – a number of which have input directly to advice being developed by officials who have been working with Government in response to COVID-19. Case studies from this activity would be useful to share with European partners.