Australia's Chief Scientist Opens 10^th Australian Mathematical Sciences Institute Summer School. (January 10, 2012)

Professor Ian Chubb, Australia's Chief Scientist yesterday opened the tenth Summer School of the Australian Mathematical Sciences Institute at the University of New South Wales.

The Summer School is a 4-week program that brings together outstanding mathematics and statistics students from around Australia and offers them a range of courses in the mathematical sciences, as well as the opportunity to network with researchers and potential employers.

Professor Chubb reminded his student audience: "Maths is an enabling discipline. Engineering, physics, chemistry, geology, statistics are all dependent on mathematics. The sequencing of the genome was as much a triumph of mathematics as it was an achievement for biological science. It is fundamental to the commerce on which our society depends and is at the root of much modern medicine. And yet so many people struggle to see its relevance in their day to day lives – as I mentioned earlier."

The Chief Scientist didn't single out the nation's parliamentarians for special mention but he should have, their lack of interest and understanding of the fundamental importance of mathematics for the nation continues to have a strong negative influence on the teaching of maths and stats at all levels of education, and as a result a negative impact on the nation's commonweal. He pointed out that "demand in Australia for maths graduates has outstripped supply. Between 1998 and 2005, demand for mathematicians and statisticians in the Australian economy grew by 52% – an annual growth rate of 5.4%. Forecasts up to 2013, project an expected growth rate of 3.6%*. And yet in the period from 2001 to 2007 the number of enrolments in a mathematics major in Australian universities declined by approximately 15%".

Then Professor Chubb concluded with some news:  Late last year, I was asked by the Prime Minister to develop strategies to increase science and maths enrolments, so I have two months to come up with some good ideas. The advice is still being formulated – so if any of you have really, really good ideas, you can email them to me. But there are obvious things – like teaching maths/science/stats interestingly at school and university, scholarships, career advice (not every PhD has to take their Professor’s job to be a success), links with industry – the list is long. And the other part is to get the community behind us: to show people that maths is vital to improvements in their every day lives – all the time.

And if any reader of TFW thinks he or she has a quick panacea the contacts are:

Phone: +61 2 6276 1727
Fax: +61 2 6213 6558
Email: chief.scientist@chiefscientist.gov.au

Along with it you might also like to submit a patent application for a perpetual motion machine.

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*Group of Eight (2009). Review of Education in Mathematics, Data Sciences and Quantitative Disciplines. P6 http://www.go8.edu.au/__documents/go8-policy-analysis/2010/go8mathsreview.pdf