The Scottish Mathematical Sciences Training Centre

The Scottish mathematical sciences departments have a history of collaborative graduate training going back to the first Edinburgh Mathematical Society postgraduate conference in 1995 (these popular events at The Burn, near Edzell, are now held annually). Since then, we have also initiated a comprehensive joint programme of mathematically relevant generic skills, paid for by institutional Roberts’ funds. But we still did not realise exactly what we had let ourselves in for when we were awarded an EPSRC grant to set up the Scottish Mathematical Sciences Training Centre (SMSTC)! It is one of the six Taught Course Centres funded by EPSRC’s Mathematical Sciences Programme (a full list is available at http://www.epsrc.ac.uk/ ResearchFunding/Programmes/Maths/Training/Courses.htm), to address the issue raised in the 2004 International Review of UK Research in Mathematics that: New PhD’s from the UK usually have less breadth and experience than their peers from other countries. The SMSTC’s remit is to address this by providing broad courses for first year PhD students in fundamental areas of mathematics and statistics. It is a collaborative venture with lectures taught “live” by video-conference, and this article is a brief description of our first year of operation.