Introduction

Study Groups with Industry provide a forum for industrialists to work alongside established academic mathematicians, postdoctoral researchers and postgraduate students on problems of direct relevance to business. They have forged links that have led to many long-term collaborations.

Study Groups with Industry are an internationally recognised highlight of UK applied mathematics. They have been held annually in the UK for 40 years, and are now part of a European series and a wider International programme. In fact, Study Groups are now also held annually in the USA, Canada, Denmark, the Netherlands, China and Australia.

The success of the Study Groups' derives from their unique format - drawing upon the ability to explore and efficiently compare different modelling approaches, and to select and develop the most promising ones.

European collaboration is achieved by the overseas participation in the UK Study Groups, particularly of younger researchers. Many of the most committed UK participants are in demand as invited international experts at Study Group overseas.

The format

Each Study Group last for a week and is focussed on 6-8 industrial problems. On the first day, each problem is presented by the industrial scientist who is most closely associated with it. The academic participants (generally about 70 in number) then allocate themselves to the groups who will work on each problem. Each group has available a dedicated room for its work. One of the KTN's Technology Translators acts as coordinator, ensuring that the various ideas that emerge are properly developed and collated into a final presentation on the last day of the meeting.

Subsequently, a report containing the results, comments, ideas and suggestions on each problem is written to provide a formal record for both the industrial and academic participants, and these are assembled to form the Study Group Final Report. This role is fulfilled by the KTN's team of Technology Translators.

Study Groups are an effective means of stimulating new collaborative work, and many problems develop into longer-term projects.

Procedure for participation in UK Study Groups

The KTN management team work alongside the local organisers of the UK Study Groups, to ensure a good mix of problems and a good match with the available academic expertise. Companies that are interesting in the possibility of presenting a problem should, in the first instance, contact either Dr David Allwright, or the local organiser. There is a problem presentation fee of £5,000 which helps to defray the costs of the meeting.

Academic participation is open to all members of the mathematics community, including postgraduate students, for whom Study Groups provide an excellent training in industrially oriented research.

Further information

The KTN for Industrial Mathematics coordinates the planning of Study Groups held in the UK, and the reports from the UK Study Groups back to 2001 are available on this site. In partnership with Cambridge University Press and the Oxford Centre for Industrial and Applied Mathematics (OCIAM), the Industrial Mathematics KTN has established the Mathematics in Industry Information Service, which is building up a wider electronic archive of reports from international Study Groups.