The RSS has launched a consultation to help us understand our members’ views about plans for the possible establishment of a new national Academy for Mathematical Sciences.
The plans for a new national academy have been developed by a working group established by the Council for Mathematical Sciences (CMS), which is a confederation of learned and professional bodies with interests in the mathematical sciences. RSS is a CMS member, along with the Institute for Mathematics and its Applications, the London Mathematical Society, the Operational Research Society and the Edinburgh Mathematical Society. CMS engages in lobbying and outreach on behalf of its members, providing a coordinated voice from across the Mathematical Sciences.
For a number of years, there have been discussions over whether the aims of CMS might more effectively be achieved by a national Academy for Mathematical Sciences. This would be independent of the existing learned and professional societies, but would represent the range of Mathematical Sciences areas covered by the current CMS member bodies.
CMS has now published a Green Paper explaining the rationale for a national academy, and setting out how it might be created and operate. CMS is consulting on the proposals in that paper.
It is important that the responses to this consultation represent the wide breadth of the mathematical sciences and so the RSS would encourage our fellows to read the paper and respond to the consultation.
It should be emphasised that, whether an Academy is established or not, the RSS will continue to act as a strong and independent voice for the discipline of statistics.
The RSS is also planning to submit a response to the plans. We do not yet have an established position on the Academy and are very keen to hear the opinions of RSS fellows on this. We have set up our own consultation to help us understand our members’ views and to shape our response to the consultation.
Please let us know what you think about these proposals.