These take place on the campus on a Saturday morning. All sessions are designed to be as interactive as possible, and are delivered mainly by academic staff and postgraduates from across the Faculty of Science & Engineering, with occasional invited speakers from outside research or industry.
They provide an excellent opportunity for keen students to be introduced to a range of mathematical ideas, experience what it’s like to learn mathematics in a university environment, explore topics linked to research and the university curriculum, and meet University of Liverpool staff and students informally.
The programme is ideal for students in Year 10 or above who are considering taking a STEM degree in the future, but also for students who enjoy the subject and just want to challenge themselves with Maths from beyond the school syllabus.
Click here to complete an online application form.
Through the registered charity MEM (Mathematical Education on Merseyside), we also have a significant role in organising and delivering:
Masterclasses
These take place on alternate Saturdays during the autumn term, and are hosted at the University of Liverpool, Liverpool Hope University, Liverpool John Moores University, the University of Liverpool Maths School and Ridgeway High School on the Wirral.
Teachers are welcome to nominate up to four pupils from their school, who must be in Y8 or Y9 at the time they attend the Masterclasses, and must NOT have attended a previous MEM Masterclass series.
We are strictly limited by space to 60 pupils, so please ensure that the pupils you select are free on ALL of the dates and are aware that they are expected to attend ALL five sessions. This allows the maximum number of pupils to benefit.
We ask schools to contribute £35 towards running costs for each pupil that they nominate to take part in the Masterclasses. We request that schools, where possible, meet this cost from school funds to avoid disadvantaging pupils who wish to participate.
Click here to complete an online application form.
Challenge Competitions
We run two take-home competitions for pupils to complete during the February half term holidays.
- MEM Challenge for Year 7 & 8 pupils
- MEM Senior Challenge for Year 9 & 10 pupils
Copies are posted in January to all local high schools and to anyone else who has registered an interest. Click here for more details and to download the latest question paper (when current), as well as an archive of previous years’ questions and solutions.
The deadline for returning entries is on the front of the particular question sheet and is usually early March.
There is a prize-giving evening held at the University of Liverpool, generally in early May, after which the solutions are posted on the website.
Additionally, the Liverpool Mathematical Society runs a similar competition, Open Challenge, which is aimed at sixth formers.
Work Experience
We offer opportunities for work experience at our department, mainly in the form of short mathematical projects supervised by staff members. The main aim is to give students insight to the work of a research mathematician, not necessarily at a university, but also in research-intensive companies. As a side effect, students will see how a university is organised and what is required to study mathematics at a university, helping them to decide for (or against) a UCAS application for the subject.
Our main format for work experience are the Summer Projects where a number of students come together in July and work on small mathematical projects supervised by a staff member. The length of the project is flexible and can cover several weeks, with weekly meetings, or more condensed in two or even one week, depending on availability of students and supervisor. Summer Projects can be done in teams of 2 to 3 students, and we offer the opportunity to present the results to an audience of students and staff members after the summer holidays. You can have a closer look at some projects offered in the past here.
Places for Summer Projects are limited. We also require more advanced prerequisites, so only take on students already in Sixth Form. We advise younger students to watch out for other opportunities to visit our department described above. To choose among the incoming applications, please fill in this form: Your chances of getting accepted are increased if you describe your motivation to work on a project in more detail - this can include previous mathematical activities that you undertook in and away from school, like other outreach activities of our department or mathematical competitions.
You can also fill in the form if you cannot take part in the Summer Projects in July. Staff members may decide to supervise you at a different time of the year more suitable to you, but this relies completely on their willingness to do so. Once again, we can only take on students already in Sixth Form.
Back to: Department of Mathematical Sciences