Workshops are an important mechanism for stimulating new ideas and collaborative projects. The wide span of connections in its scientific and industrial base enables the KTN to boost the effectiveness of workshops by bringing together a critical mass of participants with expertise and experience to ensure beneficial outcomes.

The KTN recognises the importance of workshops in promoting new activity, both in strategic terms (supporting innovation policy and planning) and tactically (meeting specific business challenges).

Strategy Workshops assist the business community and the Technology Strategy Board to develop strategic priorities either by contributing to thinking in themes already identified by the TSB, such as its Innovation Platform areas, or by gathering evidence for the strategic importance of innovation in new areas, such as Financial Services. Proposals for Strategy Workshops should demonstrate that mathematics has a central role to play, perhaps though analogy with the application of mathematics to similar challenges in other areas. Further, the questions to be answered should pose significant challenges, and it should be part of the purpose of the workshop to clarify how mathematics can help.

Science and Technology Workshops serve the KTN community in a more immediate way. The intention here is to push science and technology forward in alignment with industry needs. These workshops are steered by the industrial participants bringing challenges from new and existing application areas.

To find out more about KTN workshops or to discuss your ideas for forthcoming workshops, contact Dr Melvin Brown.

Examples of Impact

"Partnering with the KTN To host a workshop on challenges in Quantitative risk management for Insurance was a valuable opportunity for our department. The support of the KTN and the guidance provided in setting the workshop format and establishing appropriate industrial contacts were vital ingredients in the success of the event. The workshop has given us a keener appreciation of where the important problems lie and has helped us to considerably expand our industrial contacts in this area." - Prof Alexander J. McNeil, Department of Actuarial Mathematics and Statistics, School of Mathematical and Computer Sciences, Heriot-Watt University