PRESS RELEASE : UK offer £6 million to organisations to help creation of a new UK National Academy dedicated to maths [May 2024]

The press release issued by the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology on 7 May 2024.

Organisations are now invited to apply to set up a new National Academy focused on Mathematical Sciences.

Organisations have been invited to apply for the chance to set up a new National Academy for Mathematical Sciences to champion the immense value of maths, create future jobs, and turbocharge the UK economy.

An open competition offering grant funding of up to £6 million over the next three years has been launched today and will run from today until 4 June 2024.

As technology evolves faster than ever mathematical sciences are critical to the jobs of the future – like AI, nuclear and compute – that will set the UK on a path to a brighter future that rewards hard work, celebrates ambition, and gives young people the skills they need to get on in life.

Today’s announcement builds on the Prime Minister’s ambition for all young people to study maths up to age 18 via the Advanced British Standard, ensuring they are equipped with the knowledge and skills to thrive in the modern economy.

The new Academy will mark mathematical sciences as a major priority in skills development and seek to emulate the success of the existing UK National Academies, in other scientific fields, such as the Royal Society and the Royal Academy of Engineering which encourage innovation.

Ambitious requirements for a successful applicant have been drawn up and agreed following weeks of engagement with over 100 key voices in business, academia and beyond. Over the next three years, the incipient National Academy focussed on Mathematical Sciences will be expected to:

• Provide credible, expert and timely advice on maths to government, policy makers and industry, helping to shape the agenda on the subject.
• Increase public support and engagement in mathematical sciences – communicating the importance of the subject in growing jobs and the economy, and in driving discovery in science and technology and how that can make us all healthier and better off.
• Publish a strategy setting out a clear vision for the mathematical sciences sector in the UK – engaging voices from across the maths community and establishing skills gaps in maths.

In the longer term, it is expected to:

• Work to improve and develop mathematical skills across the UK, with particular focus on supporting the UK’s competitiveness in advanced maths skills that support industries that will underpin future growth, such as artificial intelligence and data science and the government’s critical technologies.
• Leverage private and third sector funding – although the successful applicant will be funded by the government to up to £6 million initially, it will not be a government body or agency and should seek complementary sources of private and third-sector funding.
• Collaborate internationally, recognising that the mathematical sciences community stretches oversees and plays an essential role in addressing global challenges.

Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, said:

This new National Academy for Maths is a big step in transforming our national approach to maths.

It will lead the way in arming our society with the skills and knowledge to lead the globe in jobs of the future – like AI and compute – to discover the Alan Turing of tomorrow.

Part of the plan to prize numeracy for what it is – a key skill every bit as essential as reading.

Science, Innovation and Research Minister, Andrew Griffith, said:

Maths is at the root of so much in our lives, from groundbreaking discoveries that keep us healthy to the engineering we rely on to do our jobs and get us from A to B.

As technology becomes even more central to our modern world, it is a skill that will only become more crucial in jobs of the future, from artificial intelligence to data science and beyond.

The new National Academy focused on Mathematical Sciences will help raise the profile of Maths in the UK and help the sector in making the impassioned case for such an important subject.

The sector has demonstrated strong and broad support for a leading organisation that can support those in maths to speak with a unified voice on key interests and make the case to the public that maths is fundamental to scientific discovery and at the heart of our economy and prosperity.

Notes to editors

The incipient National Academy for Mathematical Science will become the fifth UK national academy. The others are the Academy of Medical Sciences, the British Academy, the Royal Academy of Engineering and the Royal Society.