Head: Professor Alastair Wood
Unit Report

• 4th Dublin Differential Equations Conference. Leading world experts from Russia, USA, UK and mainland Europe took part in the conference.
• Enterprise Ireland Basic Research Award. Dr. B. Nolan and Dr. T. Downes were awarded €104,753 for their research project on the stability of naked singularities in a self-similar gravitational collapse.
• Research output. The number of Publications increased significantly. The research results were presented at conferences and mathematics department in Ireland and abroad.

For the teaching activities of the School 2000/01 was another good year. The B.Sc. in Financial and Actuarial Mathematics again had a very strong intake at one of the highest point levels in the University. With its combination of sophisticated mathematics and opportunities to gain exemptions from some of the examinations of the Faculty of Actuaries and the Institute of Actuaries, this programme remains unique among the undergraduate mathematics programmes in Ireland. The undergraduate programme was complemented at postgraduate level by the M.Sc. in Financial and Industrial Mathematics and by the Graduate Certificate/Graduate Diploma/M.Sc. in Financial Mathematics. Among the students on the M.Sc. in Financial and Industrial Mathematics programme was Mr T Vittolo, the first George Mitchell Scholar to come to DCU. At undergraduate level, the B.Sc. in Mathematical Sciences broadened the range of courses on offer, to cater for students and staff with a wide spectrum of mathematical interests.

The research output for the year shows the Schools growing success on the research front. There was a significant increase in Publications, complemented by many external presentations of the research results. Dr P Lynch became a Research Associate of the Centre for Modelling with Differential Equations (CMDE) within the School. Professor G Shishkin (Senior Researcher at the Russian Academy of Sciences) is a regular visitor to the School and Professor P Duclos (University of Toulon and Var and C.N.R.S. Luminy) visited in August 2001. Two new Postdoctoral Fellows, Dr D Mackey and Dr L Plantie, were recruited. Since the autumn of 2001, they are based in the School and are involved in the joint research efforts of the CMDE and the NCPST (Plasma Centre). Research student applications increased significantly, a welcome reversal of recent trends.

Dr B Nolan and Dr T Downes were awarded €104,753 to support a research student and fund research visits and conference travel for their research project on the stability of naked singularities in a self-similar gravitational collapse. Another highlight of the year was the running of the 4th Dublin Differential Equations Conference. This conference signalled the restart of the biennial series, after a break of several years. Leading world experts from Russia, USA, UK and mainland Europe took part in the conference.

For the first time in its history the School had no change in staff from one academic year to the next. All 16 members of staff who were with the School in 1999/2000 continue to work there. In 2000/01 however some members of staff were promoted to senior positions: Dr E O'Riordan and Dr D Reynolds were appointed to the position of Senior Lecturer; Dr E Buffet and Dr J Burzlaff were appointed to the position of Associate Professor.