African The Institute for Mathematical Sciences:
A collaborative project between the Universities of Cape Town, Stellenbosch and the Western Cape, and Cambridge University.
Location of the proposed site in Muizenberg, SA. AIMS would be located in the double-towered building on the left hand side of the picture.
Jan Van Bever Donker1, Fritz Hahne2, Keith Moffatt3, Daya Reddy4, and Neil Turok5
1: Dean of Science, University of the Western Cape, Private Bag X17, Belleville 7535, RSA. e-mail: [e-mail] Dean of Science, University of Stellenbosch, Matieland 7602, RSA. e-mail: [e-mail] Professor of Theoretical Fluid Dynamics, DAMTP, Silver Street, Cambridge, CB3 9EW, UK. e-mail: [e-mail] Dean of Science, University of Cape Town, Private Bag, Rondebosch 7701, RSA. e-mail: [e-mail] Author for correspondence: Chair of Mathematical Physics, DAMTP, Centre for Mathematical Sciences, Cambridge University, Wilberforce Road, Cambridge, CB3 0WA, UK. e-mail: [e-mail]
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Background
The African continent stands in desperate need of development and progress. Advances in science and technology - the internet, communications technologies, genetic engineering and novel fuel and transport technologies - will be the key to global wealth creation in the next decade. Unless Africa can create an indigenous pool of technical and scientific talent, it will be condemned to a continued existence on the margins, at the mercy of each new technological revolution. Mathematics is central to modern science and technology, yet there is a dearth of mathematically trained African graduates. To help rectify this we seek to establish a new institute, the African Institute for Mathematical Sciences (AIMS) in Cape Town, South Africa. The institute's focus will be a one-year residential postgraduate diploma , graduating approximately 20 African students per year. AIMS will be a joint project between the Universities of Cambridge, Cape Town, Stellenbosch and the Western Cape. It has the enthusiastic support of the four Vice Chancellors. The goal of AIMS will be to recruit the brightest science and mathematics students from across Africa, and provide them with a broad overview of cutting edge science as well as excellent basic mathematical research skills. With the encouragement of Sir Alec Broers, the Vice Chancellor, we are pursuing accreditation of the AIMS diploma by Cambridge University. The Faculty Board of Mathematics has given its formal approval. If approved by the University General Board, the ``Cambridge-AIMS diploma in Mathematical Sciences'' will be the first ever to be accredited by Cambridge at a remote institute. The diploma course taught at AIMS will act both as a feeder for more specialized postgraduate and research programs, in South Africa and abroad, and also to provide a strong science and technology background for students proceeding to careers in education, government or the private sector.
A Multi-disciplinary and Inter-disciplinary Course
The AIMS diploma will be based upon lecture courses given in tandem by invited overseas lecturers and local academics, reviewing many of the most exciting areas of science today, employing mathematics as the unifying thread. We envisage a topical and flexible curriculum responsive both to new developments and to the availability of excellent lecturers. Each course would consist of twelve lectures by an overseas academic plus twelve by a local academic. Examples of suitable courses might include: Bio-informatics: The human genome and what is needed to de-code it. Potential medical applications. Problems in Structural and Molecular Biology: Protein folding and structure, cell membranes, metabolic
pathways.
Ecological Mathematics: Population genetics and dynamics, ecosystems, evolutionary theory. Demographics: Predicting future needs for health, education, housing and transport. Financial Mathematics: Futures, Investment Strategies and Tools. Global Markets and Fiscal Policy. Computation: Algorithms and numerical analysis, including applications. Parallel computing. Novel schemes
including Quantum and Molecular computing.
Information Processing and Transfer: Web and grid technologies. Coding and encryption. Statistical
analysis of algorithms and protocols.
Wireless Communication: Mobile phones, satellite communications, future technologies including WAP. Nano-Technology: Micro-fabrication, atomic force microscopy, manipulation of atoms and molecules. Quantum limits. Cosmology and Astrophysics: Big bang, origin of the elements, galaxies, stars and planets. Black holes. Fundamental Physics: the standard model, accelerator physics and unification. Neutrino physics. Gravitation
and String theory.
Fluid dynamics: Geophysical fluids, atmospheric science, global warming. Nuclear and Plasma Physics: fission and fusion technologies for energy. Non-Linear Dynamics and Complex Systems: mathematical analysis and applications in
physical/chemical/biological systems.
Pure Mathematics: Number theory, knot theory, gauge theory, geometry. This unusually broad program will help students make an informed choice as to their future speciality. It will encourage inter-disciplinarity, cross-fertilization of ideas and breadth of vision, countering the common modern tendency to over-specialization. AIMS will be a residential centre, engendering a true `hot-house' intellectual atmosphere where students and lecturers will interact in a focused yet congenial environment, reminiscent of the best summer schools. We know of no such program of comparable breadth presently run at any university worldwide. Its inception in South Africa will excite considerable interest and may well stimulate similar courses at Universities around the world. In addition to African students for whom bursaries will be provided, AIMS would very likely attract a substantial contingent of fee-paying students from overseas, who will further enhance the educational experience.
Mathematical and Computing Research Skills
The second and equally vital component of the AIMS Diploma will be the development of mathematical problem-solving, computing and and writing skills. There will be lecture courses covering advanced mathematical methods and basic mathematical physics at an advanced undergraduate level, including: Differential equations: ODE's, linear operators, methods of solution. Introduction to PDE's. Complex Methods: Calculus of Residues, Integral Transforms, Stationary Phase method. Linear Algebra: Matrices and Determinants, Rotations, Symmetries and applications. Quantum Mechanics: Advanced Quantum Mechanics including applications. Advanced Mechanics: Lagrangians and Hamiltonians. Fields and Fluids.
Electromagnetism and Relativity: Electric and Magnetic Fields, Waves, Special Relativity. In addition to these core courses there would be: 1. Problem sheets, examples classes and project work. These will be organized by the overseas and local lecturers for each course, with support from AIMS in providing local postgraduate and postdoc tutors. 2. Hands-on training in the use of computers and computational tools for research and problem-solving, including Maple, Mathematica, Matlab and elementary programming in Fortran and C. Elementary linux, unix, and web related software including html, flash, mpeg, and archival research on the web. AIMS will recruit local tutors to oversee this work. Computing projects will be adapted from the CATAM program at Cambridge. 3. An essay of 8-12,000 words to be supervised by the local course lecturer, on one of a list of topics approved in advance by the academic oversight committee. Course lectures will be held in the mornings, and tutorials, examples classes and computer training in the afternoons. Both would take place during local term time with 12 weeks per semester. In total 12 courses would offered (six per semester), held during October-March i.e. the southern hemisphere summer months. Each course would consist of 12 lectures by an overseas academic and 12 by local lecturers. Two or three courses would run concurrently, so that a student would attend 12-18 lectures per week. The months of April-June would be spent preparing for the final examination and completing the essay. We envisage that most students will remain in residence at AIMS for the entire year, thus private study will continue outside of term time. We are fully cognisant of the fact that we shall be dealing with students from diverse backgrounds and with greatly differing levels of prior education. Special tutorials focused on remedying deficiencies in basic mathematical skills will be arranged. English language and writing tutorials will also be provided. The success of the course will hinge on the quality of the lecturers. We will recruit internationally respected researchers capable of giving brief, clear and informative overviews of their respective fields. We have had an enthusiastic response from a large number of first-rate scientists in each of the above-listed fields and many expressed a willingness to come to AIMS for a month, on an expenses-only basis during the normal academic term. Lecturers from local institutions will be carefully selected to give complementary parallel courses on each topic. The institute will fundraise to pay a research grant to local lecturers to recompense them for their teaching at AIMS, which they would perform on a consultancy basis. The collaborative teaching effort will strengthen links between South African academics and their international colleagues.
Course Location
The course will be held in a specially equipped residential institute with computer, library and lecture hall facilities. Such small institutes are increasingly the model worldwide for centres of excellence. With a small staff and low overheads, they are highly cost effective. AIMS will provide accommodation and cafeteria facilities for both students and overseas lecturers, allowing for maximal interaction in a collegiate setting.
A suitable building has been offered rent-free for at least ten years, by the Muizenberg Millenium Education Trust, a non-profit organization funded by residents of Muizenberg, a small sea-side town half an hour south of Cape Town. It is a beautiful art-deco style hotel, with 80 rooms, as well as a large lecture theatre and dining hall. It is structurally sound but requires substantial refurbishment to convert it into a high quality educational facility. In the estimated budget below, we have listed these costs. There is ample room for expansion, and we are currently considering starting an advanced research program, with postdocs and longer term faculty, which would begin simultaneously with the diploma course. We are also seeking funding for several staff positions AIMS, at including an academic director, a managing director, a computer officer and a secretary as well as catering, cleaning, janitorial and security staff. Due to low salary costs in South Africa, and the current weakness of the Rand, the institute will, we believe, represent an extraordinarly cost-effective investment for outside sponsors. Again, the estimated costs are listed below. The location is one of outstanding natural beauty with excellent beaches and other amenities making it an attractive proposition for visiting lecturers and their families. Nearby, Kalk Bay has a large number of excellent restaurants and cafes: similar development is now beginning in Muizenberg itself. Being conveniently located for public transport (next to the train station), the area is rapidly improving in part due to the Southern Peninsula College, the George Whitefield Theological college and the new Capricorn technology park.
Directors, Academic Oversight and Steering Committees
The authors of this proposal form the current board of directors, comprising the three Deans of Science at UCT, Stellenbosch and UWC (Reddy, Hahne and van Bever Donker), along with Professors Moffatt and Turok. Moffatt is Professor of Fluid Dynamics and has recently completed a term as director of the Isaac Newton Institute, a world centre for mathematical sciences. Turok holds the Chair of Mathematical Physics at Cambridge and specialises in theoretical physics and cosmology. He will act as chair of the board of directors. Cambridge University will, through the Faculty Board of Mathematics, establish an academic oversight committee to oversee the quality of the course. This will include approving the list of lecturers to be invited each year, and subsequently monitoring problem sheets, examination papers and essay topics as well as checking on the accuracy of the assessment. Finally, we are establishing an Advisory Board which will be responsible for drawing up proposed lists of lecturers and courses, and identifying academics wishing to spend time at AIMS. The following South African academics have been involved in early discussions. Peter Dunsby. Senior Lecturer in Applied Mathematics at the University of Cape Town
Research interests include general relativity, cosmology and relativistic astrophysics. Extensive lecturing experience. Holds a number or research grants including one funded through a bilateral agreement between South Africa and Sweden.
Hendrik Geyer. Professor of Theoretical Physics, University of Stellenbosch.
Chairman of the Physics Department and Director of the Institute of Theoretical Physics. Research interests include bosonization and supersymmetry in quantum many-body physics and quantum field theory. Initiated recent graduate projects on quantum information and self-organized criticality. Principal grant holder for the NRF supported Chris Engelbrecht series of summer schools in theoretical physics. Member of the SA Institute of Physics Council.
Ben Herbst. Professor of Applied Mathematics, University of Stellenbosch.
Research interests include pattern recognition. Recent research on an automated signature verification system. Member of South African Mathematics Olympiad Committee.
David Pugh. Lecturer in Molecular Biology, University of the Western Cape
Research focuses on the determination of the structure and function of proteins involved in cancer, using Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy and X-ray crystallography. Other research interests include ab-initio protein structure prediction, protein folding and modelling of intracellular processes. David has given graduate lecture courses in quantum mechanics, classical mechanics, nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, digital signal processing, protein folding, mathematical methods of structural biology, C programming and Mathematica, and undergraduate courses in Mathematics, Applied Mathematics, Physics and Biochemistry.
Schedule
The board of directors was formally established at a meeting at the AIMS building in Muizenberg on December 20, 2001. Our second meeting was held at Stellenbosch University on January 30, 2002. A memorandum of understanding is in construction and will be signed shortly. We plan to inaugurate the AIMS diploma in September 2003. The planned schedule is as follows:
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5. 6.
7. 8.
Approval of AIMS as a joint project by the four Universities. Approval of the AIMS diploma by the Cambridge University Faculty Board of Mathematics (January 2002). Establishment of AIMS governance structure, charitable status, appointment of trustees and opening of bank account. Applications to SA Department of Science and Technology and UNESCO submitted (January-February 2002). Fundraising effort started including applications to Vodafone Trust, Gates Trust, and others (early 2002). Sponsorship of local businesses (e.g. Pick n Pay) and charities sought. Establishment of legal constitution and management structure. The current plan being explored is that AIMS will come under the aegis of CHEC, a charitable trust whose purpose is to enable collaborative projects between the five higher education institutions of the Western Cape (early 2002). Renovation of building started including lecture halls, offices, accommodation and kitchen facilities (early-mid 2002). Recruitment of overseas and local Lecturers with input from local steering committee (early mid 2002). Selection of academic director for first year of AIMS (mid-2002). Invitations sent out for AIMS Launch (September 2002). Preparation of course brochure and prospectus (September 2002). Course advertising material distributed. Recruitment of AIMS manager (mid-late 2002), to start employment in April 2003. Selection of students (March 2003). Management and office structure established at AIMS (April 2003). Moffatt to visit and advise/oversee.
9. Hiring of local tutors (April-May 2003). Purchase of computers 10.Students arrive. AIMS Launch event (September 2003).
and office equipment.
Entrance Requirements
We aim to send out a course brochure in October/November 2002, and to complete the selection of students by March 2003. The minimum entry requirements shall be: (a) A high upper second class honours degree from one of the faculties of science or engineering from a recognised institution of higher education. (a) Strongly positive letters of recommendation from academic staff familiar with the students work. We anticipate intense competition for places, necessitating a rigorous se...