The Fields Institute in Canada has announced a new electronic research journal, which will publish case studies in industrial mathematics.

Aim and scope

Industrial mathematics and mathematical modelling have been creative branches of mathematics for many years now. The growth of commercial and industrial mathematics has stimulated numerous maths-in-industry Study Groups, graduate programs on industrial mathematics and the emergence of national and international networks such as MITACS in Canada and the Industrial Mathematics KTN in the UK. However, there are few research journals available to students who wish to learn relevant skills and for researchers to archive papers in which modelling is an essential part of the final product.

This new electronic journal will provide a much-needed venue for sharing ideas among academic and industrial researchers and a learning opportunity for newcomers and students. The case study and electronic format puts emphasis on the modelling process and is intended to make the journal accessible to a wide variety of readers. It will also provide a source of interesting mathematical problems for researchers in other areas of mathematics. The main differences between the proposed journal and existing ones are:

• the new journal will emphasize the modelling process and will carry the model through to a conclusion; the models must be motivated by real-world applications;
• the papers must record the essential ingredients of the iterative modelling process, namely problem identification, simplification, mathematical and computational analysis, and model verification; they must provide valuable insights for practitioners, give testable conclusions, and serve as useful sources of interesting mathematical problems.

Format and content

Math-in-Industry Case Studies (MICS) will be electronic and free of charge, published in one volume with approximately 20 papers per year in two categories: papers proposed by the editorial board and submitted papers. The first volume is expected in July 2007. Although MICS has been conceived as the result of the vibrant Canadian culture of mathematics-in-industry, it intends to publish contributions from around the world, highlighting the commonality of key methodologies and pinpointing areas where mathematical creativity will have most impact.

Editors

Alistair Fitt (University of Southampton), Editor-in-Chief
John Ockendon (University of Oxford), Editor-in-Chief
Huaxiong Huang (York University), Managing Editor

The Fields Institute

The Fields Institute is a centre for mathematical research activity - a place where mathematicians from Canada and abroad, from business, from industry and financial institutions, can come together to carry out research and formulate problems of mutual interest. Its mission is to provide a supportive a stimulating environment for mathematics innovation and education. The Fields Institute promotes mathematical activity in Canada and helps to expand the applications of mathematics in modern society.