Activities
Mega Maths Festival (7 – 11 July 2025)
The Institute for Mathematical Sciences and Applications (IMSA) hosted a full day’s programme as part of the Mega Maths Festival – the first-of-its-kind International Mathematics in Education Conference held in partnership with the Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET), the University of the Western Cape (UWC), and the African Institute for Mathematical Sciences (AIMS South Africa).
The theme of the day, “High-level Mathematical Sciences Supporting South Africa’s National Priorities”, was chosen to raise awareness that advanced mathematical sciences have a significant role to play in addressing many of South Africa’s national priorities as highlighted in various Government policies. Highlighting the socio-economic impact of advanced mathematical sciences is an important endeavour to describe the potential impact of such research in addressing national priorities.
The keynote address was delivered by Prof Wil Schilders, President of The International Council for Industrial and Applied Mathematics, who travelled from the Netherlands to speak on the impact of mathematical sciences research on local economies in Europe. His talk highlighted a number of issues which were directly relevant to the theme of the day, providing an overview of the common findings of these reports from these economies as well as subsequent developments, and impact of the lessons for South Africa. Former Deputy-President of South Africa, Dr Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka also made a surprise appearance at the event and was introduced to Prof Schilders.
IMSA ended the day with a formal announcement of a R10 million grant from the FirstRand Empowerment Foundation (FREF) for staff development at historically disadvantaged institutions (HDIs).
Intsebenziswano Mathematics Indaba
A Landmark Moment – The first ever historic meeting of the London Mathematical Society (LMS), South African Mathematics Society (SAMS) and Southern Africa Mathematical Sciences Association (SAMSA) was held from 1 – 5 September. It featured mathematical research discussions, examining existing collaborations and identifying future opportunities, as well as strategic discussions on how the three societies could strengthen knowledge exchange between mathematicians in the UK and Southern Africa. It also included engagement with stakeholders in government and industry to help shape a shared vision for the future.
The meeting was initiated by the three societies and organised by the Institute for Mathematical Sciences and Applications (IMSA). Sponsors of the meeting included IMSA, LMS, NITheCS, SAMS and Wits University.
