The eminent French mathematician Jean-Pierre Bourguignon is to become the next President of the European Research Council (ERC) based in Brussels. Bourguignon will take up the role in January 2014.

From 1994 until August 2013 Bourguignon was director of France’s Institute for Advanced Scientific Studies in Bures-sur-Yvette and will take over from Helga Nowotny, who has been ERC President since 2010. The position will also include the responsibilities of secretary-general.

The Institute of Mathematics and its Applications (IMA), London Mathematical Society (LMS), the Royal Statistical Society (RSS) and Mathematics in Education and Industry (MEI) are delighted to be able to continue working together to deliver Mathematics Teacher Training Scholarships for a second year.

The winners of the 2013 SET Awards were announced at a ceremony in Kensington Town Hall attended by students, academics and business leaders. A record numbers of entries were received for the 2013 awards.

The Award for the Best Mathematics Student, judged by the Institute of Mathematics and its Applications and the London Mathematical Society, went to William Perry, University of Oxford, for his work on spin two-dimensional local field theories. According to the judges the entries for this year’s mathematics category were of an extremely high standard.

The number of A-level mathematics entries across the UK is up 2.7% on last year, with 88,060 students sitting the exam.

Figures released today by the Joint Council for Qualifications also show that:

The London Mathematical Society (LMS), as part of the Council for the Mathematical Sciences (CMS), took part in the launch to mark the publication of a ground-breaking report by Deloitte on the economic benefits of mathematical science research in the UK. The Council for the Mathematical Sciences sponsored the prestigious launch at the House of Commons on Tuesday 4 June 2013, hosted by Andrew Miller MP, Dr Julian Huppert MP and Stephen Metcalfe MP

Professor Gwyneth Stallard, Chair of the LMS Women in Mathematics Committee, and Professor of Pure Mathematics at the Open University, and Dr Eugenia Cheng, Senior Lecturer in Mathematics at the University of Sheffield appeared on BBC Radio 4’s Woman’s Hour.

Professor Stallard and Dr Cheng discussed the reasons for the low numbers of female mathematics professors in UK mathematics department and what might be done to improve their chance of success. A recording of the interview is available here

The BBC broadcast a programme on Radio 4 on Sunday 11 March 2013, presented by the distinguished historian Professor Lisa Jardine, about the outstanding achievements of Mary Cartwright, the first female President of the LMS. You can listen to the programme here and an article based on the programme is available on the BBC website

Frank Kelly, Professor of the Mathematics of Systems, Statistical Laboratory, University of Cambridge and Master of Christ's College Cambridge, has been appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2013 New Year Honours for services to mathematical sciences.

This is a very prestigious honour and the London Mathematical Society (LMS) would like to extend its warmest congratulations to Professor Kelly.

Education Secretary Michael Gove has announced a new partnership with the Institute of Mathematics and its Applications (IMA) in collaboration with the London Mathematical Society (LMS) and the Royal Statistical Society (RSS). The LMS will work together with IMA and RSS to offer around 150 scholarships, worth £20,000 each, to graduates with a 2:1 or a first-class degree wanting to train as a mathematics teacher.