Fellowships and Lectureships

The Hardy Lectureship is named after G.H. Hardy, former President of the Society and De Morgan Medalist. The Lectureship is awarded to a distinguished overseas mathematician who will make a significant contribution to the UK mathematical scene, and the word ‘distinguished’ is not intended to exclude those at an early stage of their careers. The Council of the Society normally considers the award of the Lectureship every two years.

The Hardy Lecturer visits the UK for a period of about two weeks, and gives the Hardy Lecture at a Society meeting, normally held in London in June. The Lecturer also gives at least two other lectures, on different topics, at other venues in the UK; the schedule is decided by the Programme Secretary in consultation with the President and the Lecturer, and is designed to allow as many UK mathematicians as possible to benefit from the Lecturer’s presence in the UK.

Previous lecturers include Yuri Manin, Alexander Its, Dusa McDuff, Terence Tao, Persi Diaconis and Peter May.

The Lecturer shall be a mathematician who has not been normally resident in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland for a period of at least five years, at the time of the award.
Grounds for the award of the Lectureship shall include:
the achievements of the Lecturer, including work in, influence on, and general service to mathematics; lecturing gifts; and breadth of mathematical interests;
the overall benefit the UK mathematical community might derive from the visit;
the possibility of bringing to the UK a mathematician who might otherwise visit rarely or never.
The Lectureship is not restricted to mathematicians working in any specific area of mathematics.
No person shall be awarded the Lectureship more than once.

The Society pays for all travel expenses for the Hardy Lecturer, together with initial and final travel expenses for a spouse or established partner. The host department(s) will be expected to provide office accommodation and the academic support normally offered to a distinguished visitor.

In order to give time for a proper consideration of nominees, proposals for year x are normally invited to arrive before 15 January of the year (x-2). The nominations will be considered by the Prizes Committee before being presented to Council. A decision should be known by early summer of year (x-2).

The FORDER LECTURESHIP is named after H.G. Forder, formerly of the University of Auckland, New Zealand, and a benefactor of the London Mathematical Society. The Forder Lectureship is taken up in odd-numbered years and it is awarded to a Member of the London Mathematical Society who is normally resident in the United Kingdom, who then visits New Zealand for about four weeks, and gives lectures in most of the universities in that country. The visit usually takes place during the period from March to June. The arrangements are made jointly by the London Mathematical Society and the New Zealand Mathematical Society: the NZMS Council recommends names for the Forder Lectureship to the LMS Council, which selects the Lecturer; LMS Council guarantees to the Lecturer the cost of the air travel to and from New Zealand, although in some years the Lecturer may receive grants from outside bodies towards travelling expenses; and arrangements for payment of the living and travelling expenses of the Forder Lecturer in New Zealand during the tenure of the Lectureship are made by the NZMS.

The INVITED LECTURES scheme aims to bring, about once each year, a distinguished overseas mathematician to the United Kingdom to present a small course of about ten lectures spread over a week. Each course of Invited Lectures is on a major field of current mathematical research, and is instructional in nature, being directed both at graduate students beginning research and at established mathematicians who wish to learn about a field outside their own research specialism. The host institution is expected to arrange inexpensive accommodation for those who register sufficiently early.

Proposals for year x should reach the Meetings and Membership Secretary, Dr S.A. Huggett (s.huggett@plymouth.ac.uk) by the end of January in year (x-1).

Finally, as is mentioned under ‘Medals and Prizes’, a winner of the Society's Naylor Prize and Lectureship in Applied Mathematics is normally invited to give the Society's Naylor Lecture in the year after the award.