About us - background of the LTCC
The LTCC was formed to foster the training of doctoral research students in the Mathematical Sciences, covering the areas of Statistics, Applied and Pure Mathematics. The Centre's aim is to provide students with an overview of these areas, and to acquire a working knowledge of classical results and recent developments in their own broad research fields but outside the specialised domains of their individual research projects. There is a wide range of expertise among the staff of the institutions currently in the LTCC consortium: UCL, QMUL, Imperial College (Statistics), King's College London, LSE, City University London, University of Kent, Brunel University London, Royal Holloway and The Open University.
The original vision for the LTCC stemmed directly from the finding of the international review of UK research in mathematical sciences in 2004 commissioned by EPSRC, that while the UK PhD standard was high, changes in content of undergraduate degrees along with pressure for PhD completion resulted in reduced opportunity for PhD candidates to study mathematical sciences outside the immediate areas of their research projects. The LTCC was one of six networks originally supported by EPSRC to remedy this situation. Now supported by the consortium members, the LTCC programme continues to place emphasis on direct teaching and personal contact rather than distance learning - taking advantage of the excellent transport links in the London region. The programme includes modular lecture courses and short intensive courses, introducing students to an exciting wide range of topics in Pure and Applied Mathematics as well as Statistics, and striking a balance between classical results and recent developments.
