Guest post: Michael Singer asks what YOU think about EPSRC

The following post has been contributed by Michael Singer. We’re keen to find out what the broad community of mathematicians in the UK (and beyond) think about recent EPSRC actions, recent reactions, and the whole situation more generally. Please comment below, and if you’d like to contribute a guest post, get in touch: b.totaro@dpmms.cam.ac.uk.

As visitors to these web-pages will be aware, some voices in the mathematical sciences community have publicly taken issue with various aspects of EPSRC’s current policies. I would like to invite more people to comment on the current situation, as I am well aware that formal letters of protest are not for everyone. In what follows, I wanted to pick up on some matters that continue to concern me. Although my views are probably pretty clear, I aim to describe things in fairly neutral terms and I invite people simply to add their comments as they see fit.

Although this blog has no formal role in communications between EPSRC and the mathematical sciences community, comments posted here could be useful for the Mathematics Strategic Advisory Team (SAT) which meets next in February 2012.

1. Fellowships

This has been a major focus of concern following the decision of EPSRC to confine applications initially to Statistics and Applied Probability. At the end of November the call was widened to include ‘Intradisciplinary Fellowships’ and Fellowships for ‘New connections between the mathematical sciences and ICT’.

Note that it remains the case that the only opportunity for researchers just out of their PhD is in statistics and applied probability.

At the same time, EPSRC has defended its decisions about these more directed calls for fellowships in two ways. First, it supports early-career researchers in reasonably large numbers as ‘researchers’ on standard research grants, and the number of fellowships is relatively small compared with the number of researchers on grants. Second, postdoctoral research fellowships are available from many other sources (such as ERC, EU-funded Marie Curie Fellowships, Leverhulme, Newton Fellowships, Royal Society, Universities and Colleges,…). EPSRC has also changed the ‘Doctoral Prize Scheme’ to allow EPSRC-funded PhD students to stay on for up to 2 years beyond the end of their PhD. The administration of these schemes is in the hands of Universities (it is wrapped up with the Doctoral Training Account (DTA)) and for the moment it remains unclear how many post-doctoral positions this will open up in the mathematical sciences.

I would have liked to provide precise data about the number of early-career researchers in the mathematical sciences currently enjoying different types of EPSRC funding, but this information is hard to obtain. It does appear, however, that in recent years, the maths programme has awarded around 25 standard research grants per year while 10 fellowships have gone to mathematicians. This might suggest that around 25–30% of EPSRC-funded researchers in mathematics come from the now-defunct fellowship programmes. (A technical remark here is that the postdoctoral research fellowship scheme, while it ran, was owned by the mathematics programme, whereas the Career Acceleration and Leadership Fellowships were run EPSRC-wide.)

2. Relations with the community

The 2010 International Review of Mathematical Sciences
reported that EPSRC had done many good things for the mathematical sciences since the previous review in 2006. It also pointed out that relations between EPSRC and the community were poor at the time of the report and that urgent steps needed to be taken to address this issue. (This was the Review’s second recommendation.) Various items on this webpage have picked up this theme including Frank Kelly’s letter of 9 December 2011. EPSRC published a response to the IRMS in November 2011, which starts to address the issue of communication. It also invites feedback by 21 December 2011.

3. Shaping Capability versus the IRMS recommendations

It seems to me that a major issue is that the 2010 IRMS report gave a very clear account of the strengths of the mathematical sciences in the UK and the actions required to keep the discipline vibrant and healthy. EPSRC has published its response to the IRMS (see above link) but in the meantime has taken some other decisions based on its ‘shaping capability’ goal.

I have expressed the view elsewhere that the shaping capability goal appears to have led to initiatives and other policy developments that are adversely affecting the mathematical sciences — not only that, they run counter to the IRMS’s broad recommendations. OK, that part was not entirely neutral. But what do you think?

Michael Singer
School of Mathematics
University of Edinburgh

Job: Oxford, lectureship in pure mathematics; closing 17-Feb-2012

UNIVERSITY LECTURERSHIP IN PURE MATHEMATICS IN ASSOCIATION WITH A TUTORIAL FELLOWSHIP AT UNIVERSITY COLLEGE

Oxford University has just advertised this post, with the statement “Preference will be given to applicants working in Algebra or related areas in Geometry and Topology”.

Full details can be found at

http://www.maths.ox.ac.uk/node/17487

from which the Further Particulars may be downloaded directly. These include a full list of the substantial allowances and benefits offered by the College in addition to the basic stipend.

NOTE THAT THE DEADLINE IS SHORT: APPLICATIONS MUST BE RECEIVED BY 17 FEBRUARY.

JOB: Bristol, postdoc in analytic number theory or algebraic geometry; closing 9:00am [presumably GMT] 30-Mar-2012

From Tim Browning:

Bristol University has an open position of Research Associate in Pure Mathematics, tenable from 1 October 2012 for a period of one year. Candidates should have completed a PhD in Pure Mathematics and should have a background in analytic number theory or algebraic geometry. The successful candidate will be expected to teach undergraduate courses and at least one tutorial, in addition to working with Dr. Tim Browning on his research.

For more details, see

http://www.bris.ac.uk/boris/jobs/feeds/ads?ID=107031

JOB: Berlin, short-term algebraic geometry postdoc; closing 10-Feb-2012

From Gavril Farkas:

A short term postdoc position in algebraic geometry is available at the Humboldt University in Berlin between 1.06-31.12.2012. Interested candidates should apply by emailing me the usual application materials before February 10. The position comes with no teaching duties and is financed from the DFG Sonderforschungsbereich “Space-Time-Matter”.

For details about the algebraic geometry group at the Humboldt University please see:

http://www-irm.mathematik.hu-berlin.de/~farkas/alggeomgroup/

JOB: Hannover, algebraic geometry postdoc; closing 1-Mar-2012

The Institute of Algebraic Geometry invites applications for a position as a

Postdoc (Salary Scale 13 TV-L (100%))

to be appointed on April 1, 2012 or later. The position is limited to two years with the possibility of an extension.

Responsibilities and duties
The successful candidate should have a good research track record in Algebraic Geometry. He/she is also expected to
contribute to the teaching of the department.
To qualify for the position, applicants must hold a PhD in Mathematics with above-average success in Algebraic Geometry,
preferably with a topic in singularity theory of topology of complex manifolds.

As an equal opportunities employer, Leibniz Universitaet Hannover wishes to support women in the context of statutory
requirements. For this reason suitably qualified women are specifically invited to apply. Equally qualified applicants
with disabilities will be given preferential treatment.

For further information, please contact Prof. Michael Loenne, telephone: 0511 / 762 – 5380, email:
loenne@math.uni-hannover.de) who will be pleased to assist you.

Please send your application with a curriculum vitae and a description of your research interests compiled in a single
pdf document to sekretariat-c@math.uni-hannover.de. The closing date is March 1, 2012. Late applications will be reviewed
until the position is filled.

In addition, please arrange for two letters of recommendation, to be sent by email to the same email address.

—————

For more details about the Institute of Algebraic Geometry please consult

http://www.iag.uni-hannover.de/en/.

Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Universität Hannover

Delpy in the House of Lords, 11.35 am Tuesday 29 November

EPSRC published its annual report on 24 November.

The Science and Technology Committee of the House of Lords will question David Delpy, Chief Executive of EPSRC, and John Armitt, Chair of EPSRC, on Tuesday 29 November at 11.35 am. The questioning, scheduled for one hour, will be on EPSRC’s recent change to peer review, making National Importance an assessment criterion in addition to research excellence.

Location: Room 4, Palace of Westminster

I’m going to try to attend, and if you’re near enough London and have the time, I urge you to come too. There’s no substitute for a large turnout in convincing the press and legislators that the issues involved are important and that lots of people care about them. You can also see the hearing, live or archived, on Parliament TV.

More questions in the House of Lords

In various letters to scientists, David Willetts and Adrian Smith have been deploying the Haldane principle as a reason that the BIS cannot exercise proper governance or intervene to rectify the problems with the EPSRC’s implementation of its Shaping Capability agenda. What should be a shield for independent science has become a weapon used against it.

Lord Lucas is having none of this, and has put the following questions to the Government. They were asked on 26 October, and answers are required by 9 November.

Lord Lucas to ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Verma on 20 October (WA 96), what mechanisms exist to enable scientists to call research councils to account, and what is the role of elected politicians in that process. HL12814

Lord Lucas to ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Verma on 20 October (WA 96), whether the Haldane Principle operates through checks and balances, with the goal of identifying and nurturing the best research for the benefit of the nation. HL12815

Lord Lucas to ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the statement in The allocation of science and research funding, 2011/12 to 2014/15, published by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills in December 2010, that “It is important that Ministers, where they are involved in making strategic decisions on the funding of research, take account of advice from a wide variety of expert sources including academia and industry, both nationally and internationally”, what is the role that ministers have to play in that process. HL12816

Lord Lucas to ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the representations from the Royal Society of Chemistry, the Council for Mathematical Sciences, the Royal Academy of Engineering, and the Institute for Engineering and Technology asking the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) to “pause” its Shaping Capability policy, whether there is a mechanism to allow this request to be discussed outwith the administrative machinery of the EPSRC; and if not, why not. HL12817

Dear Professor Delpy

The following is the response — sent today — from Arieh Iserles, Richard Thomas and me to David Delpy’s letter (6 Oct) about the letter signed by 25 leading UK mathematical scientists to the Prime Minister (20 Sept). Links to these documents can be found on the website EPSRC Funding Crisis: Mathematical Sciences.

---

24 October 2011

Professor David Delpy FRS FREng FMedSci
Chief Executive
Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council
North Star Avenue
Swindon SN2 1ET

Dear Professor Delpy,

Thank you for your response to our letter to the Prime Minister regarding the future of the Mathematical Sciences in the UK.

We are glad that you would like more communication between EPSRC and the mathematical community. Until now, communication has consisted of EPSRC briefing us on your decisions, rather than letting us have input and establishing a dialogue.

The EPSRC maths team is now visiting UK maths departments to talk about your fellowship decisions and Shaping Capability. We are told at these meetings that we cannot discuss the statistics decision, as it has already been made, and we cannot discuss future decisions about other subjects in the mathematical sciences, because they have not yet been made.

Nevertheless, the first topic that we must discuss with EPSRC is your July decision to limit fellowships in the mathematical sciences to statistics and applied probability. Statistics is an important mathematical science in which UK universities have had trouble maintaining their current strength. Mathematical scientists would like to help EPSRC address this issue. But your restriction on fellowships is the wrong approach. All the UK’s learned societies in the mathematical sciences, as well as the International Review of the Mathematical Sciences panel, have written to you to criticise EPSRC’s fellowship decision.

You say that you have limited fellowships to statistics and applied probability only ‘in the first instance’ and that you have not yet made your final decision. But by delaying further decisions until the end of 2011, you have effectively ruled out fellowships for most of this year’s cohort of young mathematical scientists, since the international mathematics job market closes around that time. Only those left without a position in the rest of the world will be able to apply for EPSRC fellowships. The additional ‘flexibility’ you mention may be useful in the future, but does not solve the problems caused this year.

You mention that EPSRC research grants can be used to fund postdocs, but the truly worldleading people we want to retain and attract for the UK need their independence and their own fellowship to pursue their great ideas. The best young mathematicians do not want to work to someone else’s research plans. They are free to go to the world’s best universities instead. It is essential to the fabric of UK mathematics that we can compete in this market. The lifeblood of mathematics is exceptional individuals, not heavily managed groups.

More generally, our experience with EPSRC has been that the organisation consistently fails to understand how mathematics works, and how it can contribute to society at large. EPSRC cannot grasp the opportunities that mathematics offers unless it listens to mathematicians.

Recent changes at EPSRC have emphasised fewer, bigger grants and more centralised control. Mathematicians have told EPSRC over and over that these approaches do not suit mathematics, but we are told that these are top-down EPSRC-wide policies and therefore not up for discussion. You are converting a science that is, by its very nature, distributed, innovative and highly adaptive into one that is centralised, prescriptive and bureaucratic.

We are glad that you mention the importance of EPSRC’s contacts with ‘potential grant holders’. But EPSRC often measures the quality of an area of mathematical research, or of an individual researcher, by the amount of EPSRC funding it has received. Combined with EPSRC’s preference for large grants, in which EPSRC staff play a major role in early discussions, there is a real risk of unfairly directing funding to those have received EPSRC funding in the past, compared to those who have received funding from the EU, or for that matter those who have done brilliant work without outside funding.

You say that you are not trying to ‘pick winners’. Unfortunately, this is precisely what you are doing. You say that you are ‘focusing the research base around areas where the UK is an acknowledged leader in order to protect our international reputation’. But, as the International Review panel and other organisations have told you, the way to protect the UK’s international reputation in the mathematical sciences is to fund the best research across all the mathematical sciences. It is a waste of public money not to fund the best research.

Your staff, who by EPSRC policy can have no training in mathematics whatsoever, are being forced to decide the level of funding to areas of mathematics whose names they can hardly understand. This farcical and damaging state of affairs is no reflection on them, and indeed must make their working conditions difficult, but rather is an indictment of EPSRC policy.

Our perception is that EPSRC views mathematical scientists as self-interested opportunists who need to be managed centrally and who cannot be trusted to choose strategic priorities and imperatives. In fact, mathematical scientists want what is best for their science. There is considerable evidence that scientists can work effectively to make the best use of the funds available. In the U.S. National Science Foundation, the mathematical sciences programme is run with outstanding success by mathematical scientists who have had an academic career.

We welcome your request to have better communications with mathematical scientists. We want the planning of research funding to draw on the best scientific advice available. EPSRC will naturally draw on other sources of advice, such as the many businesses that rely on mathematical sciences graduates. But EPSRC must allow the UK’s leading mathematical scientists and learned societies to play a central part in planning research funding in the mathematical sciences. If that happens, we can make much better use of public money.

Yours sincerely,

Arieh Iserles, University of Cambridge
Richard Thomas, Imperial College London
Burt Totaro, University of Cambridge

A written question in the House of Lords

An exciting development: Lord Lucas is interested in how the government is responding to the problems we’ve identifed with EPSRC’s treatment of the mathematical sciences, and he put a written question on 11 October in the House of Lords, answered on 20 October. It seems possible that we have his intervention to thank for the relative promptness of the response.

Unfortunately, David Willett’s response is disappointing and, I must say, baffling in its interpretation of the Haldane principle as a reason that bureaucrats in Swindon must be left unsupervised to do what they will to this country’s research base.

Links to both the original 20 September letter and David Willetts’s 17 October response on behalf of the government are on the webpage EPSRC Funding Crisis: Mathematical Sciences.

From Hansard:

Higher Education: Mathematical Sciences

Question
Asked by Lord Lucas

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what was their response to the letter from the Department of Mathematics of the University of Cambridge, dated 20 September, and headed “the future of the Mathematical Sciences in the UK”. [HL12334]

Baroness Verma: I will arrange for a copy of the Government’s reply to be placed in the Library of the House.

LMS ballots have been sent; ballots due 10-Nov-2011

If you’re a member of the London Mathematical Society, you should have received your ballot for the 2011 election. Completed ballot papers must be returned to the LMS by Thursday 10 November 2011.

If you haven’t received your ballot, and you think you should have, please get in touch with Fiona Nixon, the LMS executive secretary, at fiona.nixon@lms.ac.uk.

You can see the list of candidates on the LMS website.

Candidates were allowed 200-word personal statements. These were sent with the ballots, but don’t seem to have been posted anywhere by the LMS. You can see my statement as part of an earlier post on this blog.

If you’re not a member of the LMS, but are a UK-based mathematical scientist, please think about joining. The value of LMS activities is felt by all UK-based mathematicians, members and nonmembers alike, but the LMS needs members if it’s to be most effective.

The small, flexible, low-bureaucracy grants that the LMS provides — to members and nonmembers alike — are becoming especially important as the research councils move towards longer, larger, highly “shaped” funding streams. On the policy front, the LMS — both directly and through the Council for Mathematical Sciences (which the LMS part funds) — has been very active and persistent in questioning EPSRC policy and practice and in putting the views of mathematical scientists to the policymakers. On the educational front, this year the LMS brought Emmanuel Candes to the UK to offer a one-week course on compressed sensing. This course was open to members and nonmembers alike, and drew over 100 young UK scientists from mathematics, statistics, and engineering departments. The lectures are now available on video, so everyone can benefit. Next year, the LMS will bring Alexei Borodin here for lectures on probability and its applications in representation theory.

Isn’t this an organization that you want to be part of?