Nerd Nite Brighton

Sorry about our tardiness getting the word out on the street about this month’s Nerd Nite which is everything to do with numbers and maths. Our talks and speakers:

1. Probability: making sense of an uncertain world – Prof Enrico Scalas

Most popular science books totally ignore probability so it can be a bit of a mystery to the general public. This is a shame becaise it is essential for our understanding of the world and is at the foundation of all applied sciences. It is also an active field of research with many open problems. Enrico will unravel probability using a coin and a pair of dice following the historical path paved by Pascal and Fermat. He’ll also try to reply to a gambling question posed by Pascal’s friend Antoine Gombaud, a.k.a. Chevalier de Méré.

Enrico Scalas is currently Professor of Statistics and Probability and Head of the Department of Mathematics at the University of Sussex. He works on the applications of probability to physics, economics and finance. He is author of more than 100 papers and 2 books.

2. Chaos and synchrony: the maths of life – Dr Yuliya Kyrychko

Complex systems are everywhere. They arise in a variety of natural and artificial settings such as electrical power grids, computer communication networks, transportation systems, global financial institutions, neurons in the brain and the social media used by millions every day.

Yuliya will use real world examples to discuss how we can use mathematical modelling to understand the dynamics of such systems, and what we can learn from their emergent behaviour. We will see how these systems can be completely disordered and unpredictable, or fully synchronised.

Dr Yuliya Kyrychko is a Senior Lecturer in Mathematics at the University of Sussex. Originally from the Ukraine she completed her PhD in Mathematics from the University of Surrey before moving to the Department of Engineering Mathematics in Bristol. In 2007 she was awarded the EPSRC Postdoctoral Fellowship to work on modelling of structure responses in earthquake situations, the only such award in the history of the Faculty of Engineering in Bristol to date. In 2010, she moved to Sussex as a Lecturer in Mathematics, and was promoted to Senior Lecturer in 2014. Her interests lie in the area of mathematical modelling of real-world phenomena, nonlinear analysis and delay equations.

3. The mathematics of infectious diseases – Dr Konstantin Blyuss

Mathematics can help us understand how infectious diseases spread and damage organisms. Konstantin will take you on a journey exploring how maths can model infectious disease behaviour both at the level of the population and from the perspective of how microorganisms evade the human immune system.

Having obtained his MSc in theoretical physics in Ukraine and a Diploma in Germany, Dr Konstantin Blyuss came to do his PhD at the University of Surrey in 2000. This was followed by positions in Exeter and Oxford and lectureships in mathematics in Keele University and the Bristol Centre for Complexity Sciences before coming to the University of Sussex in 2010. Konstantin works in the area of applied mathematics with a particular interest in nonlinear dynamics and its applications to epidemiology and immunology.
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And the usual cake, beers, quizzing, drinking, laughing, silliness, etc

With live dynamic real-time hosting by Dr Mick Taylor

Doors 7.30pm for an 8pm start
£4 regular nerds, £3 NUS/65+ nerds

Tickets from our lovely hosts at Otherplace at the Basement on Kensington Street.

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