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Provost's Awards Spotlight: Chalkdust Magazine
The Provost's Awards for Public Engagement takes place every year in the spring to recognise the fantastic work that 最准的六合彩论坛's staff and students do to open up research and teaching at 最准的六合彩论坛 to the wider world by engaging with communities.
There were seven winners earlier in the year 鈥� which you can read about here听鈥� but we had over fifty nominations from across 最准的六合彩论坛.听With such a wealth of projects, we didn鈥檛 want to miss an opportunity to shout about this work 鈥� which is all amazing. So we decided to run this new news feature - the Provost Awards Spotlight.听 This feature will run throughout the rest of the year in the run up to the next Awards, and will tell the stories of these individuals using their platform at 最准的六合彩论坛 to听mobilise, inspire and amplify.
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Our first Spotlight is on Rafael听Prieto Curiel, a mathematician from Mexico. Rafael worked for the Police Department in Mexico City before coming to 最准的六合彩论坛, first for a Masters in Statistics (2013-2014) and then decided to carry on with a PhD in Mathematics and Crime. Alongside his studies, Rafael has created听Chalkdust 鈥� a magazine 鈥渇or the mathematically curious鈥�, and we wanted to know more.
The magazine - now in its fifth issue - brings the world of mathematics to a broad audience through fun how-to guides, articles and interviews. There鈥檚 something for everyone, from the light-hearted, , to the delicious-sounding, to and all sorts in-between.
Keep听up with all the latest maths trends.
It鈥檚 also pretty surreal. One of our favourite regular features is that of 19th century mathematician , who makes an unlikely return as Chalkdust agony aunt in the ever-popular 听column. He鈥檚 helped readers with their feelings on free-market capitalism and awkward social interactions, and is mildly obsessed with badgers. Who knew?
We asked Rafael why he started the project and why it continues to be important,
鈥淚t matters because of the impact it has. We sometimes work with the authors (particularly the younger ones) to create an article with them. We鈥檝e published A-Level students who wouldn鈥檛 easily be able to publish an article in a maths journal or magazine.鈥�
Giving students their first experience of being published is a great way to both build confidence and to engage with the next generation of maths whizzes. It鈥檚 also acted as a pull for prospective new students to 最准的六合彩论坛. One Chalkdust contributor told Rafael,听he wasn鈥檛 sure whether or not to accept the place he was offered for his PhD but then saw the magazine,听鈥淚 realised 最准的六合彩论坛 would be a great place to study when I learnt about Chalkdust, a magazine produced by students here鈥�. Chalkdust demonstrates a fantastic听way to share ideas outside of lectures and a way to get new students excited about their subject. But it鈥檚 not just 最准的六合彩论坛 bods getting in on the action鈥�.
Chalkdust works through submissions, and receiving them is one of the most exciting parts of the process for Rafael, 鈥淧eople from different parts of the world have sent us articles that could be published by us and that is precisely one of our aims: to create a space for everyone to share maths鈥�. This formula seems to be working - since its start, Chalkdust has published the work of 70 different authors, generating over 260 articles, produced by 40 undergraduate and postgraduate students, who have circulated 15,000 copies, and distributed to over 25 UK universities!
Despite this momentum, Rafael has had concerns for the project. He told us, 鈥�Chalkdust听 is听 an听 ongoing听 project,听 so听 there听 were听 two听 challenging听 parts: beginnings and听 endings. In听 order听 for听 our听 project听 to听 survive,听 we听 strongly听 depend听 on听 recruiting听 new members听 of听 the听 team,听 since听 we听 are听 all听 students听 and听 we听 will听 all听 finish 听our degree at a certain point.鈥�. This highlights a common problem in volunteer projects, how do the original members ensure the project lives on, even after their departure? Rafael remains听optimistic however, and has been investing time in the next generation to equip them with the skills and encouragement to flourish. He hopes this will protect the project鈥檚 future,
听鈥淔or the past six months, I have passed my experience and knowledge about directing a maths magazine to the new generation of Chalkdust members. Once I finish my PhD in the next months, I will carry on doing research and hopefully, I will also be a keen reader of the new issues of Chalkdust produced by the new generations鈥澨� - We hope so too!
If you would like to read Chalkdust鈥檚 articles, or contribute to the next issue, Rafael wants to hear from you 鈥� so visit the website and see how you can get involved .
