In the academic year 2021/22 Prof. Wildon will work on secondment at the Heilbronn Institute for Mathematical Research, attached to the University of Bristol.
Heilbronn Institute Logo
The Heilbronn Institute supports mathematics in the UK through research fellowships and secondments and through a programme of meetings, workshops and a Summer conference that this year included big name speakers such as the combinatorialists Gil Kalai (Hebrew University) and Peter Keevash.
Researchers at the Heilbronn Institute spend half their time on their own mathematical research and the other half solving mathematical problems of interest to GCHQ (Government Communication Headquarters) and NCSC (National Cyber Security Centre). Most of this research is highly classified and has to be conducted under conditions of the tightest security. Areas of interest to the Heilbronn Institute include Algebra, Combinatorics, Data Science and Quantum Computing.
Professor Wildon's previous work for the Heilbronn Institute led to a classified impact case study that was submitted by the Mathematics Department as part of their return for the Research Excellence Framework 2021. He expects to work on further challenging problems in cryptography, and also plans to make a visit to Lebanon, on an UK-Lebanon Atiyah Fellowship awarded in 2020, but delayed because of Covid. Professor Wildon said 'One thing I miss greatly because of Covid restrictions is collaborating face-to-face with other mathematicians on interesting problems. I hope this will begin to be possible again next academic year!'
