How it works
At the beginning of the week, a representative from each
company invited (5-7 companies in all) presents their industrial problem to the
participating mathematicians (approximately 60 or so).
The academic participants
then allocate themselves to the groups who work full-time on each problem over
the next three days. By the last day, each group of mathematicians must ensure
that their ideas are developed enough to collate them into a final presentation
to the other study-group participants.
The collaboration does not necessarily
end at this point as the mathematicians must also write an article for the
proceedings, which can act as a formal record of the work done for the invited
company. This provides the possibility of encouraging further research, leading
to new links between industry and academia.