LMS SUMMER SCHOOL (Leeds Part 1)

Hello everyone!

As mentioned in my previous post, I was fortunate enough to be chosen to attend the LMS Undergraduate Summer School. It was held at the  School of Mathematics of the University of Leeds, for ten days. I took a break from my summer project and went there.

I managed not to miss any of the 3 trains needed to get from Cambridge to Leeds.

We were given accommodation on campus, at the Henry Price residences. The rooms were small, but very practical (similar to my room at Christ’s for my first and second year of uni). They were semi-ensuite, so I shared bathroom, with Maria, an italian student at the University of Exeter.

We were at most 50 students, from all over the UK. Most universities had one or two students in the program. However, I was pleased to see two more Cambridge mathmos, from Emma and Churchill. The school was aimed at top undergraduate students interested on pursuing a career on research. Most people were students starting their final (fourth) year of their integrated masters, but there were also people, like me, starting third year after the summer.

I was very happy that we had a very chilled environment. I was somehow expecting some sort of Cambridge-like competitive atmosphere, so the good vibes were a great surprise. Of course, I met amazing, passionate people, and had meaningful conversations with them. (Although we also spent a lot of time laughing). In particular, I hanged out mostlty with other international students (from Lithuania, Romania, Cyprus, Macedonia, India, China -of course!-, and a fellow Spaniard).

We had lectures and example classes through the day, finishing with a colloquium style-talk (like a talk of the Archimideans of the TMS). The contents were by far on the pure side (I’ve realised how good the maths tripos is in terms of applied content compared to other unis), but I still enjoyed most of it. Topics ranged from magnetic solitons, through lots of algebra, to combinatorial topology.

At this point, I should stop writing and illustrate this with some pictures…

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Just a few comments before I finish…

• I am very grateful to the LMS, the organisers from Leeds, and the Cambridge Maths Faculty for giving me this amazing opportunity. And thank you also to Dr Hunt for the reference.
• There is a second part, less mathsy, of my trip to Leeds, coming soon (so follow the blog not to miss it!)

If you like my blog, I am sure you’ll enjoy Michael’s: https://michaelng126.wordpress.com/. He’s one of the best friends I’ve made during my 2nd year and a mathematican at the top of my year.

Thanks for reading!