New Perspectives in Mathematics
UCLA Dean of Physical Sciences
Tony Chan lectures on the merits
of interdisciplinary math research.
Tony Chan, co-founder of the Institute for Pure and Applied Mathematics
at the University of California, Los Angeles met with members of the UF
Mathematical Sciences Committee on December 8 to give advice on creating
such an institute in Gainesville. He also presented a talk on the advantages
to and obstacles preventing interdisciplinary research in the mathematical
sciences.
“What each university should do depends on its local strengths,” Chan says. “Facilitating interdisciplinary research requires a cultural acceptance, a change in how things have been done in the past.”
The UF Mathematical Sciences Committee brings together faculty in the mathematical sciences in CLAS, the College of Engineering and the College of Medicine to identify emerging scientific fields that have strong mathematical components, promote education in these fields, encourage and support research collaborations and interdisciplinary projects, and explore ways to bridge the mathematical sciences and their applications.
The committee holds bi-monthly lectures for the UF mathematical community. The next talk will be held on February 15 in room 2205 of the New Physics Building, where Leo Kadanoff, the John D. MacArthur Distinguished Professor of Physics and Math at the University of Chicago, will present “The Good, the Bad and the Awful.”