Frances Kirwan
Encyclopedia
Frances Clare Kirwan, FRS
(born 1959) is a British
mathematician
, currently a Professor of Mathematics at the University of Oxford
.
Educated at Oxford High School, she studied at the University of Cambridge
. She took a D.Phil at Oxford in 1984, supervised by Michael Atiyah
. From 1983 to 1985 she held a Junior Fellowship at Harvard, and from 1983 to 1986 a Fellowship at Magdalen College
, before later becoming a Fellow of Balliol College.
In 1996 she was appointed a University Professor of Mathematics. From 2004-2006 she was President of the London Mathematical Society
, the second-youngest president in the society's history. In 2005, she received a five-year EPSRC
Senior Research Fellowship, to support her research on the moduli space
s of complex algebraic curve
s.
Her fields of specialisation are algebraic
and symplectic geometry.
Royal Society
The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, known simply as the Royal Society, is a learned society for science, and is possibly the oldest such society in existence. Founded in November 1660, it was granted a Royal Charter by King Charles II as the "Royal Society of London"...
(born 1959) is a British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
mathematician
Mathematician
A mathematician is a person whose primary area of study is the field of mathematics. Mathematicians are concerned with quantity, structure, space, and change....
, currently a Professor of Mathematics at the University of Oxford
University of Oxford
The University of Oxford is a university located in Oxford, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest surviving university in the world and the oldest in the English-speaking world. Although its exact date of foundation is unclear, there is evidence of teaching as far back as 1096...
.
Educated at Oxford High School, she studied at the University of Cambridge
University of Cambridge
The University of Cambridge is a public research university located in Cambridge, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest university in both the United Kingdom and the English-speaking world , and the seventh-oldest globally...
. She took a D.Phil at Oxford in 1984, supervised by Michael Atiyah
Michael Atiyah
Sir Michael Francis Atiyah, OM, FRS, FRSE is a British mathematician working in geometry.Atiyah grew up in Sudan and Egypt but spent most of his academic life in the United Kingdom at Oxford and Cambridge, and in the United States at the Institute for Advanced Study...
. From 1983 to 1985 she held a Junior Fellowship at Harvard, and from 1983 to 1986 a Fellowship at Magdalen College
Magdalen College, Oxford
Magdalen College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. As of 2006 the college had an estimated financial endowment of £153 million. Magdalen is currently top of the Norrington Table after over half of its 2010 finalists received first-class degrees, a record...
, before later becoming a Fellow of Balliol College.
In 1996 she was appointed a University Professor of Mathematics. From 2004-2006 she was President of the London Mathematical Society
London Mathematical Society
-See also:* American Mathematical Society* Edinburgh Mathematical Society* European Mathematical Society* List of Mathematical Societies* Council for the Mathematical Sciences* BCS-FACS Specialist Group-External links:* * *...
, the second-youngest president in the society's history. In 2005, she received a five-year EPSRC
Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council
The Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council is a British Research Council that provides government funding for grants to undertake research and postgraduate degrees in engineering and the physical sciences , mainly to universities in the United Kingdom...
Senior Research Fellowship, to support her research on the moduli space
Moduli space
In algebraic geometry, a moduli space is a geometric space whose points represent algebro-geometric objects of some fixed kind, or isomorphism classes of such objects...
s of complex algebraic curve
Algebraic curve
In algebraic geometry, an algebraic curve is an algebraic variety of dimension one. The theory of these curves in general was quite fully developed in the nineteenth century, after many particular examples had been considered, starting with circles and other conic sections.- Plane algebraic curves...
s.
Her fields of specialisation are algebraic
Algebraic geometry
Algebraic geometry is a branch of mathematics which combines techniques of abstract algebra, especially commutative algebra, with the language and the problems of geometry. It occupies a central place in modern mathematics and has multiple conceptual connections with such diverse fields as complex...
and symplectic geometry.