This is posted on behalf of Jan Thomas and Peter Hall: please see
below for contact addresses in case of queries or comments. Thank
you in anticipation of your patience if you have received this already.
-----
It is now 3 months since the
National Strategic Review of Mathematical Sciences Research in
Australia was completed. The Review reinforced the findings of
the Review completed by SSAI in 2005.
This message comes on behalf sub-group of the Review Working
Party that has been involved in trying to get a response from the
government - Hyam Rubinstein, Peter Hall, Barry Hughes and
myself.
We are concerned about the limited response the Review has
received.
It has therefore been decided that an open letter will be
sent to the Prime Minister. The letter is on the web address below and
posted below. See:
See http://www.review.ms.unimelb.edu.au/OpenLetter.html
It will greatly assist if signatures are put into the
spreadsheet that can be downloaded from the web site. The
spreadsheet does not contain all the signatures so far collected but
shows illustrative examples. We need:
Title
First Name
Second name
Family name
Position
Country
Who should sign? Anyone who is concerned about the state
of mathematical sciences in Australia. Signatures from business,
industry and overseas colleagues are especially welcome.
Thanks
Jan
An Open Letter to
the Prime Minister of Australia
Australia has had an international reputation for excellence in
research and teaching in mathematical sciences and has produced many
fine mathematicians and statisticians. This reputation was further
enhanced when Professor Terry Tao was awarded the Fields medal in
2006.
The findings of the recent National Strategic Review of Mathematical
Sciences Research in Australia, completed in December 2006, are
therefore deeply disturbing. Australia cannot continue to make this
kind of contribution from its shrinking research base and narrow
concentration of research fields.
The Review found
that the shortage of mathematical modellers and statisticians is so
severe that it inhibits work of business and industry, such as mining
and biotechnology companies and financial institutions, and government
agencies including the Australian Antarctic Division, the Australian
Bureau of Statistics and CSIRO. The shortage brings pause to
foreign companies' plans for investment in
Australia.
The collapse of Australia's mathematical sciences departments also
prevents them from educating the mathematics teachers that are so
desperately needed by the nation's schools.
The three distinguished international reviewers, Professor Jean-Pierre
Bourguignon, Dr Brenda Dietrich and Professor Iain Johnstone, found
"the nation's tradition and capability to be on a truly perilous
path".
Even more disturbing is that, in the short time since the Review, the
already seriously depleted base of mathematical sciences in Australian
universities is being further eroded with a number of universities
currently reducing staff through voluntary or forced redundancies.
We have noted your commitment, quoted in the Review, that "in
this ever more competitive global economy, Australia's science,
engineering and technology skills need to match the best in the
world". Science, engineering and technology skills depend on
mathematical sciences.
We, the undersigned,
urge the Australian government to take urgent action and immediately
address the priority areas identified in the Review.
--
Jan Thomas
Executive Officer Australian Mathematical Sciences Institute
Past Vice-President, Federation of Australian Scientific and
Technological Societies
61-3-8344 1774 (office)
041 900 6205 (mobile)
61-3-9349-4106 (Fax)
Australian Mathematical Sciences Institute
111 Barry Street
C/- The University of Melbourne, Victoria 3010
AUSTRALIA
Find out about the Australian Mathematical Sciences Institute at
www.amsi.org.au
