Liverpool Hope University academic Dr Andrew Foulkes has been praised for his ‘significant contribution’ to the UK’s Institute of Mathematics and its Applications (IMA).
The IMA is the UK’s chartered professional body for mathematicians and also one of the UK's learned societies for mathematics.
The IMA is responsible for awarding university programmes with professional accreditation - which helps to ensure graduates are fully prepared for industry.
And Dr Foulkes, Subject Lead & Senior Lecturer in Mathematics at Hope, has been presented with a Certificate of Service by the IMA in recognition of his important contribution to the institution.
Dr Foulkes says: “I’m truly grateful for the Certificate of Service, if not pleasantly surprised, too.
“Liverpool Hope University enjoys an extremely productive relationship with the IMA, not just in terms of course accreditation but also the valuable IMA events which our students are encouraged to attend.
“The Certificate of Service is, I think, testament to the work of the entire department when it comes to its dedication to preparing our students for further study or professional practice.”
News of the Certificate of Service arrives as several courses within Hope’s School of Mathematics, Computer Science and Engineering also received accreditation from the BCS Chartered Institute for IT.
Offerings such as the BSc (Hons) Artificial Intelligence with a Year in Industry and the BSc (Hons) Computer Science with a Year in Industry now hold Chartered IT Professional (CITP) accreditation.
Meanwhile Dr Foulkes, a fellow of the IMA along with Hope colleagues Prof. Atulya Nagar and Dr. Pavlos Xenitidis, has helped to launch a new MSc in Mathematics at Hope which begins this September.
Announcing the new Master’s award earlier this year, Dr Foulkes said the programme illustrates just how diverse the field of mathematics can be.
He added: “We want to illustrate just how varied the field of mathematics really is, in terms of its ultimate uses and applications.
“And at the core of our new Master’s degree is project work, which we hope will prepare students for some sort of research-related employment or further study.
“Students will be undertaking their own independent research, under the supervision of specialist tutors, the subject of which is very much up to them.
“Besides project work, there are things that we teach on this programme that will appeal to those thinking about a career in industry - including numerical analysis, high level programming to solve complicated systems of equations, as well as the use of industrial software such as the ‘MATLAB’ programming language.”
As well as equipping students with the skills needed for the next step on their professional pathway, Dr Foulkes says there’s another reason to study for the MSc in Mathematics at Hope.
He adds: “We’re a friendly, close-knit School - and we hope that our approachability will appeal to students who might feel overwhelmed or slightly lost in large groups. Students can get to know us very well, and we can offer them any support they might need in a way that other universities may not be able to.
“Our size is definitely one of our selling points.”