Speakers

The Maths Summit will hear from those at the cutting edge of research, as well as from those working in industry, business and politics. Further speakers will be announced soon.

Dr Anne-Marie Imafidon MBE (Host)

Computer scientist, mathematician and social entrepreneur Anne-Marie Imafidon works to inspire women to study and pursue careers in science, technology, engineering, and maths. She hosted the Evening Standard’s Women Tech Charge podcast, and comments on technology, the changing nature of work, and the challenges both present to business and society.

A child prodigy aged eleven Anne-Marie passed her first two GCSEs, and at thirteen she was the recipient of a scholarship to the prestigious Johns Hopkins University in Maryland. She then went to Oxford, starting her master’s in mathematics and computer science at seventeen and becoming one of the university’s youngest ever master’s graduates.

Anne-Marie worked for Goldman Sachs, Hewlett-Packard, and Deutsche Bank in business analysis, enterprise collaboration and technology. She then founded, and continues to lead, Stemettes, a social enterprise dedicated to bringing girls and young women to STEM subjects.

A regular commentator in the media on diversifying access to STEM education, Anne-Marie is also the co-founder of Outbox, a pioneering incubator dedicated to businesses started by teenage girls.

Anne-Marie examines the vital importance of diversity in the tech sector, and how AI will impact the future workspace and workforce. Drawing on a wealth of experiences from running and starting social enterprises, she looks at how to take an idea and turn it into a reality, the use of social media in the process and the intersection between corporate social responsibility and workplace culture.

Anne-Marie has served as a board member on the Department of Culture, Media and Sport’s Digital Skills Partnership and is a trustee for the Institute of the Future of Work.

Dr Steve Brierley OBE

Steve Brierley founded Riverlane in 2016 to build the error correction stack for quantum computers. Driven by his conviction that fault-tolerant quantum computers will accelerate human progress, Riverlane partners with leading quantum hardware companies to make that happen sooner.

Steve has worked in quantum for over 20 years and is an expert advisor to the UK government. He holds a PhD in quantum information, spent a decade in the intelligence community and worked as a Senior Research Fellow at the University of Cambridge leading major research projects in quantum computing.

Professor Charlotte Deane MBE

Charlotte is Professor of Structural Bioinformatics in the Department of Statistics at the University of Oxford and co-director of the Systems Approaches to Biomedical Research Centre for Doctoral Training which she founded in 2009. From January 2024, Charlotte will be Executive Chair of the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC).

From 2022 to 2023, Charlotte was Chief AI Officer at Exscientia, a biotech with ~450 employees, where she led its computational scientific development.

She has held numerous senior roles at the University of Oxford including Head of the Department of Statistics and Deputy Head of the Mathematical, Physical and Life Sciences (MPLS) division. She was the Deputy Executive Chair of the UK’s Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council from 2019 to 2021. She served on SAGE, the UK Government’s Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies, during the COVID-19 pandemic, and acted as UK Research and Innovation’s COVID-19 Response Director. She was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2022 Birthday Honours for services to COVID-19 research.

At Oxford, Charlotte leads the Oxford Protein Informatics Group (OPIG), who work on diverse problems across immunoinformatics, protein structure and small molecule drug discovery; using statistics, AI and computation to generate biological and medical insight.

Her work focuses on the development of novel algorithms, tools and databases that are openly available to the community. These tools are widely used web resources and are also part of several Pharma drug discovery pipelines. Charlotte is on several advisory boards and has consulted extensively with industry. She has set up a consulting arm within her own research group as a way of promoting industrial interaction and use of the group’s software tools.

Professor Sir Ian Diamond FRSE

Professor Sir Ian David Diamond, FBA, FRSE, FAcSS, is the UK's National Statistician, Chief Executive of the UK Statistics Authority, Head of the Government Statistical Service (GSS) and Head of the Analysis Function (AF).

Sir Ian is the former Principal and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Aberdeen. His previous roles include Chief Executive of the Economic and Social Research Council, Chair of the Research Councils UK Executive Group, Deputy Vice-Chancellor at the University of Southampton and Chairman of the Social Security Advisory Committee.

Sir Andrew Dilnot CBE

Andrew Dilnot is Warden of Nuffield College, Oxford. He is the non-executive chair of the Oxford University Press Finance Committee. He chaired, with Michael Blastland, the 2022 Review of Impartiality of BBC coverage of taxation and public spending, was Chair of the Geospatial Commission from 2018-2020, Chair of the UK Statistics Authority from 2012 to 2017, and was the Chair of the Commission on the Funding of Care and Support, which reported in 2011. He was Principal of St Hugh’s College, Oxford, from 2002 to 2012 and a Pro Vice Chancellor of Oxford University from 2005 to 2012. He was Director of the Institute for Fiscal Studies from 1991 to 2002. He was the founding presenter of BBC Radio 4’s series on the beauty of numbers, ‘More or Less’.

Andrew has served on the Social Security Advisory Committee, the National Consumer Council, the Councils of the Royal Economic Society and Queen Mary and Westfield College, as a trustee of the Nuffield Foundation, as chair of the Statistics Users Forum of the Royal Statistical Society and as chair of the advisory board for the REAL Centre at the Health Foundation, and is currently chair of the Nuffield Medical Trustees. He holds Honorary Doctorates from City University and The Open University, and a City and Guilds Fellowship. He is an Honorary Fellow of the British Academy and of St John’s and St Hugh’s Colleges in Oxford.

Rt Hon Michelle Donelan MP

Michelle Donelan was appointed Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology on Thursday 20 July.

She was first appointed Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology on 7 February 2023. She was previously appointed Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport from September 2022 to February 2023.

She was previously appointed Secretary of State for Education from July 2022 and was Minister of State for Higher and Further Education from September 2021 to July 2022.

Michelle also served as Minister for Universities at the Department for Education in 2020, as well as Government Whip (Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury) from July 2019 to February 2020. She was also Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Department for Education covering the maternity leave of Kemi Badenoch MP from September 2019 to February 2020.

Pamela Dow

Pamela is the founding COO of Civic Future, a charity building new talent pipelines and training for politics and public life.

Prior to this she was a Senior Civil Servant, most recently in the Cabinet Office, having founded and led the Government skills campus and first ever civil service training curriculum. In a career spanning the private, public and social sectors, Pamela has supported major public service reforms, notably in education, criminal justice, and digital technology. She began her career as a consultant and lobbyist in the private sector. Pamela is a Governor and member of the Council of Management of the Ditchley Foundation.

Professor Alison Etheridge OBE FRS

Alison Etheridge is Professor of Probability in the University of Oxford. After graduate study split between the universities of Oxford and McGill, she worked at the universities of Cambridge, Berkeley, Edinburgh and Queen Mary London, before returning to Oxford. She has extensive experience of academic leadership. For example she is a Council member of both EPSRC and of the Royal Society, as well as Chair of the Council for the Mathematical Sciences.

Katherine Fidler

Katherine Fidler is science and technology editor at Metro.co.uk, having previously worked at The Times, The Sunday Times and the Racing Post. Katherine started her academic career in the field of equine veterinary science, but has recently pivoted to focus on biodiversity, wildlife and ecosystems.

George Freeman MP

George Freeman is the Conservative MP for Mid Norfolk, and has held a number of roles within Government since he was first elected in 2010. Most recently he was the Minister for Science, Research and Innovation in the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology from 2021 until November 2023.

George was previously Minister of State in the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) from October 2022 to February 2023, as well as Parliamentary Under Secretary of State in BEIS from September 2021 to July 2022.

He served as Minister of State at the Department for Transport from July 2019 to February 2020, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Life Sciences at the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills and the Department of Health from July 2014 until July 2016. He also served as Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Minister of State for Climate Change from 2010 to 2011.

He was appointed government adviser on Life Sciences in July 2011, co-ordinating the government’s Life Science and Innovation, Health and Wealth Strategies (2011), and the Agri-Tech Industrial Strategy (2013). He was appointed the Prime Minister’s UK Trade Envoy in 2013.

Before being elected to Parliament, George had a 15-year career across the life sciences sector.

Professor Rachel Bearon

Professor Rachel Bearon is Executive Dean of the Faculty of Faculty of Natural, Mathematical & Engineering Sciences and Professor of Mathematical Biology at King’s College London. Prior to this she was Head of the Department of Mathematical Sciences at the University of Liverpool. Her research concerns the spatial and temporal dynamics of biological systems, ranging from bacterial chemotaxis, cancer cell motility and phytoplankton in turbulence, to modelling cell-signalling pathways, intracellular protein dynamics and drug transport. Rachel is a Fellow of the Institute of Mathematics and its Applications and has been on its Council (2017-2023). She is a founding trustee of the Academy for Mathematical Sciences and serves on the Exec Committee for its set-up phase.

Dr Jessica Enright

Dr Enright is a senior lecturer at the University of Glasgow. Her research interests include the mathematics of networks and games, and she is particularly interested in applications in infectious disease, contagion processes, and epidemiological and economic systems. She is the general secretary of the Edinburgh Mathematical Society, a Member-at-Large of the London Mathematical Society’s Council, and on the management board of the Virtual Forum for Knowledge Exchange in Mathematical Sciences.

Dr Howard P. Haughton

Dr Howard P. Haughton is a widely recognised expert in quantitative financial risk and works as a consultant in this field. He holds a PhD in Mathematical Computer Science and has held senior roles in risk and capital markets at notable institutions, including Deutsche Bank and Merrill Lynch. Notably, he's served as Chief Risk Officer and co-Head of Treasury at a Building Society, where he established the organisation's Risk and Treasury management policy and departments. He's also held executive positions at a leading brokerage firm in the Caribbean.

Dr Haughton serves on the Board of the Institute of Mathematics and Its Applications (IMA), is a member of its Professional Affairs Committee and is the EDI champion for the IMA. He is also on the advisory board of the Academy for the Mathematical Sciences. He is a visiting senior research fellow at King’s College London conducting research across multidisciplinary subjects including quantitative finance, artificial intelligence, formal aspects of computer science and mathematical modelling of social issues including EDI.

Professor Catherine Hobbs

Professor Catherine Hobbs CMath FIMA is Chair of the Heilbronn Institute for Mathematical Sciences, University of Bristol. As Chair of the research Institute, she works with the mathematics community and Government to apply mathematical knowledge and skills to real life problems as well as nurturing the mathematical sciences pipeline from schools through to high level research.

Catherine is also currently Vice President of the London Mathematical Society and Honorary Secretary (Education) of the Institute of Mathematics and its Applications. She is on the Executive Committee of the proto-Academy for the Mathematical Sciences, where she leads on Policy.

Professor Terry Lyons

Professor Terry Lyons is the Wallis Professor Emeritus and Professor of Mathematics at the University of Oxford. He is currently PI of the DataSıg program (primarily funded by EPSRC), and of the complementary research programme CIMDA-Oxford. He was a founding member, and then Director (2011-2015) of, the Oxford Man Institute of Quantitative Finance; he was the Director of the Wales Institute of Mathematical and Computational Sciences (WIMCS; 2008-2011). He came to Oxford in 2000 having previously been Professor of Mathematics at Imperial College London (1993-2000), and before that he held the Colin Maclaurin Chair at Edinburgh (1985-93).

Dr Richard Pinch

Richard is a retired civil servant, whose career has been divided between academic research in pure mathematics and its application to cybersecurity. He was the founding head of research at the Heilbronn Institute, and has served on advisory boards at EPSRC, NGM, INI, ICMS and on the REF. He has also served as Vice-President (Professional Affairs and Industry) at the IMA. He continues mathematical research as a consultant.

Dr Richard Pinch

Professor Julia Gog OBE

Professor Julia Gog is the Professor of Mathematical Biology, at DAMTP, Faculty of Mathematics at the University of Cambridge, and the David N. Moore Fellow in mathematics at Queens’ College Cambridge. Julia’s research is in the spread and evolution of infectious disease, particularly influenza. Julia contributed to the scientific advice to the UK government during the COVID-19 emergency, as a member of the modelling group SPI-M, and as a participant of SAGE. Julia is co-lead of the JUNIPER consortium which brings together epidemiological research across several UK universities (maths.org/juniper). Julia is also a keen supporter of mathematics outreach and is the Director of the Millennium Mathematics Project.

Julia was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2020 Birthday Honours for services to academia and the COVID-19 response. Julia was awarded a Whitehead prize by the LMS in 2017, is an Honorary Member of the Mathematical Association since 2020, and winner the Royal Society’s Rosalind Franklin Award 2020 and the IMA’s Hedy Lamarr Prize 2023.

Lucy-Marie Hagues

Lucy is the CEO of Capital One UK and is responsible for the overall strategic direction and general management of the business. Lucy grew up as one of six children, in Oldham and her generation is the first of her family to go to university.

Lucy joined Capital One in August 2000 from Girton College, Cambridge, where she studied engineering. She joined as part of the graduate programme and has worked in analytical and leadership roles across the UK business.

Prior to her role as CEO, Lucy was Chief Marketing Officer. She played a critical role in the development of several award-winning product initiatives, including the QuickCheck credit card eligibility checker.

Rt Hon Robert Halfon MP

Robert Halfon was appointed Minister of State (Minister for Skills, Apprenticeships and Higher Education) at the Department for Education on 26 October 2022.

He was previously Minister of State (Minister for Apprenticeships and Skills) at the Department for Education from 17 July 2016 to 12 June 2017.

Robert was elected Conservative MP for Harlow on 6 May 2010.

Professor Catherine Hobbs

Professor Hobbs is Chair of the Heilbronn Institute for Mathematical Sciences, University of Bristol. As Chair of the research institute, she works with the mathematics community and government to apply mathematical knowledge and skills to real life problems as well as nurturing the mathematical sciences pipeline from schools through to high level research.

Professor Hobbs is also currently Vice President of the London Mathematical Society and Honorary Secretary (Education) of the Institute of Mathematics and its Applications. She is on the Executive Committee of the proto-Academy for the Mathematical Sciences, where she leads on Policy.

Anne Keast-Butler

Anne Keast-Butler is the Director of GCHQ, the UK’s Intelligence, Cyber and Security Agency. She was appointed in 2023 and is the 17th person to hold the role.

Prior to her appointment, Anne was Deputy Director General MI5. She was the Director General for all operational, investigative and protective security work. This has included MI5’s – and allies’ - preparation for, and response to, Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine.

Immediately prior to this role, Anne was Director General Strategy, with responsibility for all the enabling functions that support MI5’s operational activities.

Prior to this, Anne spent two years on secondment to GCHQ as Head of Counter Terrorism and Serious Organised Crime, and has also spent part of the last decade on secondment in Whitehall. Whilst there, she helped to launch the National Cyber Security Programme.

During her thirty years in the national security field, Anne has held a number of key operational roles in MI5 and is a passionate advocate of diversity, flexible working and nurturing talent.

Professor Jon Keating FRS

Professor Jonathan Keating FRS read Physics at the University of Oxford and did a PhD in Theoretical Physics at the University of Bristol. He is now the Sedleian Professor of Natural Philosophy at the University of Oxford and a Fellow of the The Queen's College, Oxford. Prior to this, he was the Henry Overton Wills Professor of Mathematics at the University of Bristol. He is a former President of the London Mathematical Society and is currently Treasurer and Vice-President of the Royal Society. His research interests centre on mathematical physics, and in particular on random matrices and their applications.

Professor Jens Marklof FRS

Jens Marklof is Professor of Mathematical Physics at the University of Bristol, and President of the London Mathematical Society. Marklof graduated from Hamburg (Dipl-Phys 1994) and Ulm (PhD 1997), and held research fellowships at Princeton University, Hewlett-Packard, the Isaac Newton Institute in Cambridge, the Institut des Hautes Etudes Scientifique and the Laboratoire de Physique Theorique et Modeles Statistiques near Paris. He joined Bristol in 1999 as a University Lecturer and served as Head of the School of Mathematics and Dean of the Faculty of Science. His areas of expertise include dynamical systems and ergodic theory, quantum chaos, and the theory of automorphic forms. In 2015 Marklof was elected to the Fellowship of the Royal Society.

Catherine McKinnell MP

Catherine McKinnell MP is the Shadow Minister for Schools and has been the Labour MP for Newcastle upon Tyne North since 2010. Catherine previously served as Chair of Parliament’s Petitions Committee from 2020 to 2023. In her time in Parliament she has also served as Shadow Attorney General, Shadow Solicitor General, a Shadow Treasury Minister and Shadow Childrens Minister, as well as sitting as a member of the Treasury and Education Select Committees. Prior to being elected to Parliament, Catherine was an employment solicitor in Newcastle, and studied history at Edinburgh and Law at Northumbria University.

Professor Rachel Bearon

Dr Jessica Enright

Dr Howard P. Haughton

Professor Catherine Hobbs

Professor Terry Lyons

Dr Richard Pinch

Bobby Seagull

Bobby Seagull is a teacher, broadcaster, and writer. After a career as an investment banker at Lehman Brothers, Bobby switched trajectories and became a teacher, a passion that started with a scholarship to Eton College. He writes regularly for the Financial Times and the i and has published two books: Monkman and Seagull Quiz Book and The Life-Changing Magic of Numbers. In 2016-17, Bobby captained the Emmanuel College team on University Challenge where he met his future broadcasting partner Eric Monkman as a member of the rival Wolfson College team. Bobby went on to co-host Monkman and Seagull’s Genius Guides for BBC Two in 2018 and Monkman and Seagull’s Genius Adventures in 2020.

In 2021, Bobby featured in E4’s The Real Dirty Dancing, before taking part in popular gameshows such as Richard Osman’s House of Games, Pointless Celebrities, and Countdown’s Dictionary Corner. Beyond his television work, Bobby is an accomplished keynote speaker, and has hosted events for Pearson Education, Manchester City Football Academy, and The British Library. He has partnered with brands such as Argos, IBM and IKEA and has delivered keynotes speeches for the likes of TEDx, the British Chambers of Commerce, National Numeracy, and numerous schools across the UK.

Most recently, Bobby appeared in the latest series of Celebrity Hunted for Channel 4 and Pilgrimage for BBC Two.

Professor Emily Shuckburgh OBE

Professor Emily Shuckburgh OBE is a world-leading climate scientist and science communicator, who is the director of Cambridge Zero, the University of Cambridge’s ambitious climate change initiative.

Emily is a mathematician and Professor of Environmental Data Science at Cambridge’s Department of Computer Science and Technology (CST). She leads the UK national research funding body’s (UKRI) Centre for Doctoral Training on the Application of AI to the study of Environmental Risks (AI4ER) and is a director of the Centre for Landscape Regeneration (CFLR).

Professor Shuckburgh worked for more than a decade at the British Antarctic Survey (BAS) where her work included leading a UK national research programme on the Southern Ocean and its role in climate.

A Fellow of the British Antarctic Survey, the Royal Meteorological Society (RMS) and Darwin College, Emily Shuckburgh has also undertaken research at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and École Normale Supérieure (ENS).

Emily is an advisor on climate to the UK Government and a Friend of COP26. She is co-author with HM King Charles III and Tony Juniper of the Ladybird Book: Climate Change and was awarded an OBE for services to science and the public communication of science in 2016.

Dr Simon Singh MBE

Simon went to Imperial College London to study physics, before completing a PhD in particle physics at Cambridge University and at CERN, Geneva. In 1996 he directed Fermat’s Last Theorem, a BAFTA award-winning documentary about the world’s most notorious mathematical problem which aired in America and was then nominated for an Emmy. His book, also titled 'Fermat’s Last Theorem', became the first book about mathematics to become a No.1 bestseller in the UK.

After his second book, ‘The Code Book, a history of codes and codebreaking’ he presented The Science of Secrecy, a 5-part series for Channel 4. The stories in the series ranged from the cipher that sealed the fate of Mary Queen of Scots to the coded Zimmermann Telegram that changed the course of the First World War. His other books include 'Big Bang', 'Trick or Treatment?' and 'The Simpsons and Their Mathematical Secret.' Simon has also become closely involved with the Libel Reform Campaign, and helps lobby for a fairer libel law.

As well as solo lectures, Simon has also taken part in several bigger shows, including Theatre of Science with Professor Richard Wiseman, Nine Lessons… with Robin Ince and the 2011 Uncaged Monkey Tour with Brian Cox, Ben Goldacre and Robin Ince. He has also helped to start education projects such as UAS which encourages university science departments to work more closely with schools, and the Enigma project which conducts maths/cryptography workshops in schools with a genuine Enigma cipher machine.

Sir Adrian Smith PRS

Adrian Smith is a mathematician with expertise in Bayesian statistics and his comprehensive publications on diverse areas of Bayesian statistics have had a major impact on statistical practice in a wide range of disciplines and application areas.

Adrian is Chair of the Board of the Diamond Light Source. Between 2008-2012, he was Director General, Knowledge and Innovation in the Department of Business, Innovation and Skills and has previously worked with the UK Higher Education Funding and Research Councils.

He was a board member of the UK Atomic Energy Authority from 2016 to 2022 and in 2017, he carried out a review of the maths curriculum for 16-18 year olds for the Treasury and Department for Education. He recently stepped down as Institute Director and Chief Executive of The Alan Turing Institute. In the 2011 New Year Honours list, he was awarded the title of Knight Bachelor.

Professor Sir David Spiegelhalter OBE FRS

Professor Sir David Spiegelhalter FRS OBE is Emeritus Professor of Statistics in the Centre for Mathematical Sciences at the University of Cambridge. He was previously Chair of the Winton Centre for Risk and Evidence Communication, which aimed to improve the way that statistical evidence is used by health professionals, patients, lawyers and judges, media and policy-makers. He was very busy over the Covid crisis. He presented the BBC4 documentaries “Tails you Win: the Science of Chance”, the award-winning “Climate Change by Numbers”. His bestselling book, The Art of Statistics, was published in March 2019, and Covid by Numbers came out in September 2021. His career highlights include appearing on Desert Island Discs in 2022, and in 2011 coming 7th in an episode of BBC1’s Winter Wipeout.

He was knighted in 2014 for services to medical statistics, was President of the Royal Statistical Society (2017-2018), and became a Non-Executive Director of the UK Statistics Authority in 2020. He is @d_spiegel on Twitter, and his home page is http://www.statslab.cam.ac.uk/~david/.

Photo credit: Amanda Benson

Dr Katie Steckles

Katie Steckles is a mathematician based in Manchester, who gives talks and workshops and writes about mathematics. She finished her PhD in 2011, and since then has talked about maths at universities, schools events, festivals, on BBC radio and TV, in books and on the internet.

Piers Stobbs

Piers has over 25 years experience building algorithmic systems to solve challenging problems across multiple industries and geographies. He is currently VP of Science at Deliveroo driving the successful utilisation of data and AI for better decision making.

Prior to this, Piers was Chief Data Officer at the digital car start-up, Cazoo, which reached a £1b revenue run rate in 3 years. Before this he was Chief Data Officer at MoneySupermarket, a listed FTSE 250 company. He also spent time heading data science at dunnhumby in the grocery sector, and as a quant in hedge funds.

Piers also sits on the Technology Advisory Board of Our Future Health, UK and is a member of the Royal Statistical Society’s AI and Data Science committee, authoring a monthly newsletter on AI. He was selected to the Data Activators 100 in 2022: the leading Chief Data Officers globally and was winner of 2020 Digital Masters Award - [Excellence in Data]

Professor Rachel Bearon

Dr Jessica Enright

Dr Howard P. Haughton

Professor Catherine Hobbs

Professor Terry Lyons

Dr Richard Pinch

Sir Martin Taylor FRS

Martin Taylor is a mathematician who has conducted valuable work on algebraic number theory. Amongst his most significant contributions to the field is the proof of Fröhlich’s conjecture, which connects the symmetries of algebraic integers with a family of analytic functions known as Artin L-functions.

A separate insight led him to the invention of a powerful mathematical tool known as the group logarithm, which has allowed for an improved understanding of the symmetries of polynomial functions and led to breakthroughs in the field of algebraic topology.

Outside of his academic research, Martin has devoted much of his time to work within the science community, improving the way science and mathematics are taught to students aged 5–19. He chaired the Advisory Group which produced the Royal Society’s report ‘The scientific century’ (2010), and he also chaired the Royal Society committee for their report ‘Vision for science and mathematics education’ (2014).

From 1998 to 2000, Martin was the President of the London Mathematical Society, and in 2004 was appointed Vice-President and Physical Secretary of the Royal Society, a position he held until 2009. In 2009, he was knighted in the New Year Honours for his services to science. Martin was Warden of Merton College, Oxford, from 2010 to 2018.

Martin is currently Chair of the Royal Society’s Advisory Committee on Mathematics Education.

David Thomas OBE

David Thomas OBE is the CEO of Axiom Maths, a charity dedicated to identifying and nurturing the next generation of great mathematicians. He has been a maths teacher, a secondary school headteacher, and a government advisor. He co-founded Oak National Academy to support schools during the Covid-19 pandemic, and received an OBE for services to education in 2020.

Professor Charlotte Watts CMG FMedSci

Professor Charlotte Watts is Chief Scientific Adviser and Director for Research and Evidence at the UK Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO). She is seconded from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, where she is Professor of Social and Mathematical Epidemiology.

Charlotte is the most senior scientist in FCDO, with responsibility for providing scientific advice to the Foreign Secretary, Ministers, the Permanent Under-Secretary and Executive Committee, including during the COVID-19 pandemic and other emergencies. She heads the Research and Evidence Directorate, that brings together leadership of FCDO’s expert geopolitical and development advisors, FCDO’s significant research and technology development investments, and jointly oversees (with the Department of Science, Innovation and Technology) the UK’s overseas science and innovation diplomatic network.

Charlotte has a PhD in mathematics, with further training in public health. In her academic career, prior to joining UK Government, she made important contributions in infectious disease epidemiology, HIV prevention, and violence research, including showing that domestic violence is preventable. She is a Fellow of the UK Academy of Medical Sciences and Foreign Associate Member of the US National Academy of Medicine. In 2019 was appointed a Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George in the Queen's Birthday Honours.

Tom Whipple

Tom Whipple is science editor at The Times. He has been covering science for the paper since 2012. He writes news, features, reviews and commentary across the paper, as well as appearing regularly on Times Radio. Tom joined The Times shortly after graduating with a degree in mathematics. During the course of his job he has visited the tunnels below Cern and the top of Mont Blanc above it. He has been inside the world's hottest sauna and the world's most irradiated nature reserve. He has interviewed Stephen Hawking and Jedward.