Protect Pure Maths welcomes Fields Medal for UK mathematician James Maynard

Oxford University mathematician James Maynard has been awarded the Fields Medal, the mathematics equivalent of a Nobel prize, today (July 5).

He received the award for his contribution to analytic number theory and the understanding of prime numbers.

Professor Ulrike Tillmann, President of the London Mathematical Society and spokesperson for the Protect Pure Maths campaign said, “Professor Maynard is worthy winner of the Fields Medal, his work is brilliant and novel, he’s advanced our understanding of the world through his research and there’s no doubt that it will provide the foundations for further breakthroughs and applications that we haven’t even conceived of yet.

“It’s a feather in the cap of UK mathematics that one of our own has been recognised in this way.

“But if we are to remain a maths superpower the government must address the issues that the mathematical sciences are grappling with – particularly uncertainty over funding and a lack of diversity in the sector.”

The government pledged £300 million of extra funding for the mathematical sciences in January 2020. However, while around a third of that money has been provided so far, science minister George Freeman recently cast doubt over whether the rest would be delivered as promised.

Professor Tillmann added, “Events since January 2020 have clearly ravaged the government’s balance sheets. But the onset of Covid has only strengthened the case for more mathematical sciences funding. The graphs that modelled the pandemic, the cutting-edge science that generated a vaccine in short order and the logistics necessary to roll out the vaccine programme were all rooted in the mathematical sciences.

“Extra funding will open up extra opportunities to study mathematical sciences right through to postdoc level, widening access to those that currently don’t see themselves matching the model of what a mathematician looks like. We desperately need more women, people of colour and LGBTQ+ people to recognise themselves in the mathematical sciences.

“But if the balance of the £300 million is not delivered, it will be a betrayal of those that started years-long programmes of study, who will now be forced to scrabble for the funds that will allow them to see that work through to fruition.”

Learn more about James Maynard’s work here.

For more information about maths’ missing millions, read our explainer here. To write to your MP about the research funding, click here.