How Study Groups Work

Problem Solving

ESGI provides a forum for:

• Exploiting the expertise of leading applied mathematicians to find solutions to industrial problems
• Clarifying and clearly formulating a problem
• Bringing new perspectives and fresh ideas
• Brainstorming on mechanisms and methodologies
• Finding state-of-the-art solution procedures

The university participants (faculty members, postdoctoral researchers and doctoral students) give their time freely, and come from a wide spread of UK universities, with some overseas visitors. This gives a wide range of expertise, and scope for several different approaches to be applied to each problem.

Wider Benefits to Industry

Past industrial participants have found that ESGI has:

• Found solutions and insights into existing industrial problems
• Established lasting and productive working links with research applied mathematicians
• Raised and investigated research issues of long-term significance
• Expanded employment opportunities and company profiles with postgraduate students
• Stimulated greater awareness in the wider community of the power of mathematics in providing solution paths to real-world problems

Workshop Structure

The week-long workshop attracts over 80 mathematicians from a wide range of backgrounds to work on the selected industrial problems.

On the first day the industrial participants outline their problems and their objectives.

The next three days are devoted to brainstorming, modelling and solving the problems closely guided by the industrial representative. Participants are free to apply their expertise to any of the projects.

On the Friday the progress and recommended routes forward are presented.

Full reports of the Study Group work on the problems are produced after the meeting. (reports from the 40th and 43rd ESGI's are available.)