Mathematics outreach and public engagement

Find out how we're bringing mathematics to life through engaging activities, inspiring talks and partnerships with schools, teachers, the public and industry.

Our offering

Join us in celebrating the incredible potential of mathematics. Whether you’re a student, a teacher, or simply curious about the world around you: there’s something for everyone.

Book a university or school visit

We run a variety of free talks and hands-on activities for schools designed to spark curiosity and excitement. Our goal is to inspire young minds and show them the endless possibilities mathematics can unlock.

A visit to the university typically includes at least one talk in a large amphitheatre. Students work on activities in small groups, supported by our team members.

We also arrange short visits to local schools, which include a talk or activity.

For university visits, we’re currently only taking bookings for June.

Attend a public event

We aim to engage communities with the role mathematics plays in shaping our world.

Visit us during an Open Day to find out more about student life in Mathematics, hear talks on current research, meet our staff and students and explore our amazing campus.

Attend a Sussex Universe public lecture, bringing together world-class academics and experts from diverse STEM fields.

Our industry partnerships

We also collaborate with industry partners to tackle real-world challenges. Our researchers use mathematics to tackle real-world challenges and make a positive impact on society.

Find out more about what we do at Sussex:

Agriculture

Insights from mathematical models developed at Sussex have been implemented in Ukraine (the world’s largest producer of sunflower seeds and in the top six producers of potatoes, wheat, barley and corn globally) with the following impact:

Improvement of farming practices in the Prydniprovsky region of Ukraine, resulting in increased crop viability by 7-12% and reduction in pest control costs by 15-20%. The region contains almost 20% of the total Ukrainian sown area of agricultural crops and occupies a third of the country’s steppe.

Development by Ukrainian biotech companies of natural biostimulants which have been used throughout Ukraine, increasing yields of wheat (by 11-21%), barley (9-18%) and sunflowers (19-63%), tomatoes (20-66%), potatoes (10-12%) and cucumbers (23-26%). These biostimulants reduce the need for environmentally harmful pesticides, and are proving to be a successful alternative for use in organic farming.
Flooding

Mathematics research at Sussex has improved the operations of Ambiental, a UK company that provides computational flood risk assessments. Specifically, the results have halved the amount of time the company needs to produce an assessment for clients.

This doubling of productivity has enabled Ambiental to launch new products and expand its market share, now reaching 50% of the UK flood insurance market and growing its business overseas.
Public health

Research by the Mathematics Applied to Biology Group at Sussex has supported COVID-19 control measures at the levels of (1) national policy (in Ukraine) and (2) regional healthcare management in East and West Sussex, and Brighton & Hove (in the UK). Sussex research co-produced by academics and decision makers within the Ukrainian equivalent of the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE), fed directly into public health policy interventions that have subsequently been implemented by Ukraine’s Cabinet and the National Security and Defence Council.

As a result, the Ukrainian Government devolved implementation of control measures to regional administrations (June 2020) and moved to a tiered system and adaptive quarantine measures (July 2020). These measures enabled the Ukrainian government to make the best-informed policy decisions they could, which the government confirms were as effective as possible in slowing the spread of the pandemic.

Research at Sussex has underpinned decision making with respect to hospital and mortuary demand in East Sussex, West Sussex and Brighton and Hove.

This research has also helped Public Health Local Authorities to translate UK-SAGE national guidelines to regional level for decision making, prevent or mitigate miscalculations in ward and body storage planning, avoiding monetary and resource mismanagement and provided key scientific evidence for Urgent Community Response’s (UCR) successful business case.

This secured £1.63 million for care services in West Sussex to deal with the additional burden brought about by COVID-19.

Contact

For all general enquiries, contact the mathematics outreach team at mathsoutreach@sussex.ac.uk.

To book a university or school visit, complete our booking request form.