REGISTERED CHARITY NUMBER: 1204961 Report of the Trustees and unaudited financial statements
FOR THE PERIOD 1[ST] APRIL 2024 TO 31[ST] MARCH 2025
Contents
| President’s foreword | 3 |
|---|---|
| Charitable purpose and objectives | 4 |
| Activities | 5 |
| Funding and support | 6 |
| Structure, governance and management | 7 |
| Trustees’ statement | 9 |
| Statement of financial activities | 10 |
| Notes to the financial statements | 11 |
Administrative details
The Academy for the Mathematical Sciences is a Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO)
Charity Registration Number: 1204961
Registered: 27ᵗʰ Sep 2023
Charitable objects: To promote and support the mathematical sciences for the public benefit
Address and contact details
c/o Isaac Newton Institute for Mathematical Sciences 20 Clarkson Road Cambridge CB3 0EH
Email: contact@AcadMathSci.org.uk Website: www.AcadMathSci.org.uk
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President’s foreword
It was a huge honour to have been appointed founding President of the Academy for the Mathematical Sciences in May 2024, and in November 2024 we were delighted to appoint Dr Christie Marr as CEO Designate.
Led by the Governance and Fellowship Workstream, we are actively putting structures in place in preparation for the appointment of our first cohort of Fellows in early 2026. The Fellowship will include outstanding mathematical scientists from all sectors, demographics, and UK nations. As well as being an honour—and a mark of recognition by the mathematical sciences community—there will be an expectation that Fellows will play a leading role in supporting the work of the Academy.
We spent significant time at the beginning of this reporting year engaging with government, following its Call for Evidence to help develop objectives for the prospective National Academy focussed on the mathematical sciences, and in June 2024 we submitted our application to be the delivery partner for this important initiative. We were very disappointed by the unexpected cancellation, in September 2024, of government funding for the National Academy. However, we are buoyed by the overwhelmingly strong cross-community support for such a body, and by the recognition of the Academy for the Mathematical Sciences as meeting that need.
In particular, we are grateful for the strong support from the five learned societies that span the mathematical sciences, and are delighted that the Council for the Mathematical Sciences (CMS) is formally transitioning into the Learned Societies Forum (LSF) of the Academy for the Mathematical Sciences. We were delighted to host a Community Event in Scotland in January 2025, and look forward to hosting similar events in Wales and Northern Ireland in the coming year.
The Academy has clearly demonstrated its leadership and role as an advocate for the community through, for instance: its Policy Unit’s work on the economic contribution of the mathematical sciences to the UK economy; its hosting, for the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT), of a roundtable on opportunities for the mathematical sciences in the UK; and its responses to the Department for Education’s Curriculum and Assessment Review and the Government’s Spending Review. We are actively fundraising to ensure that we continue to deliver on our mission to benefit society through the power of the mathematical sciences.
Professor Dame Alison Etheridge DBE FRS President, Academy for the Mathematical Sciences
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Charitable purpose and objectives
The Academy for the Mathematical Sciences exists to benefit society through the power of the mathematical sciences. We are working to achieve this by advancing the field, fostering collaboration across sectors, and advocating for policies that enhance the role of mathematics in addressing societal challenges.
The Academy spans the whole of the mathematical sciences, including the activities of those in mathematics education at school level and beyond, through researchers and lecturers in academia, to practitioners and innovators, including end-users, in government, industry and commerce. First and foremost, the Academy is external facing, with advancement of the field and its impact at its heart, offering a single powerful voice that reinforces and amplifies the work of the many Learned Societies and other bodies supporting the mathematical sciences. Significant benefits are already emerging from having a single Academy that connects and speaks for education, innovation, research, and industry, and collaborates with the government to generate effective policies.
The Academy aims to be the authoritative and persuasive voice for the whole of the mathematical sciences. Our ambition is that the mathematical sciences field delivers on its full potential to improve lives, help people, strengthen society, enhance economic productivity, and benefit and enrich our world. We are working with Learned Societies, other organisations, and people in the community who develop, teach, research, communicate, and use mathematical sciences.
The Academy supports the advancement of the field by bringing together those in the community and more broadly to take action to nurture the people pipeline, increase societal engagement and improve the recognition of the power, value and beauty of mathematical science. Our focus includes teaching and education, academic research pushing the frontiers of what is known, and the implementation of mathematics in practice in industry, commerce, government and elsewhere.
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Activities
The Academy is increasingly recognised as a critical conduit between mathematical scientists working in academia, education, business, industry, and government. Alongside fundraising and putting in place the necessary structures and processes, significant progress has been made since our registration as a charity, demonstrating the value of the Academy and the strength of demand for a national academy for the mathematical sciences.
The charity does not yet have income or expenditure. All activities are currently supported through extensive volunteer effort and through funding managed via the Isaac Newton Institute for Mathematical Sciences (INI), which has generously hosted and incubated the Academy from its inception to the present time. This hosted arrangement is enabling the Academy to deliver its activities while its independent operational model is being established.
Below we highlight some key achievements for the period 1[st] April 2024 to 31[st] March 2025.
Community engagement and events
The Academy has continued to build connectivity across the UK mathematical sciences community, convening leaders from academia, education, industry and government. This included the hosting of a Community Event in Scotland in January 2025. The Academy also worked closely with the Joint Mathematical Council (JMC) and the Royal Society Advisory Committee on Mathematics Education (ACME), and with the Council for the Mathematical Sciences (CMS) and the learned societies on the transition of CMS into the Academy’s Learned Societies Forum (LSF). These activities have supported closer collaboration across the community and helped shape the Academy’s priorities.
Policy and advocacy
The Academy has played a central role in strengthening the voice of the mathematical sciences community through evidence-led policy and advocacy activity, including: the Policy Unit’s work on the economic contribution of the mathematical sciences to the UK economy; contributions on the role of mathematical modelling in improving policy decision-making; engagement with government on opportunities for the mathematical sciences; and responses to major policy developments, including the Department for Education’s Curriculum and Assessment Review and the Government’s Spending Review.
Fellowship development
The Academy has made substantial progress in developing the foundations that will underpin its Fellowship and governance structures. Work led by the Governance and Fellowship Workstream focused on establishing the structures, processes and timelines required to deliver the first cohort of Fellows in early 2026, including approaches to ensuring breadth across sectors, demographics and UK nations. This work will enable the Academy to appoint a Fellowship of distinguished individuals, committed to supporting the work of the Academy through active contribution.
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Funding and support
The creation of an Academy for the Mathematical Sciences to facilitate links between academia, government and industry, and to act as the coordinating focal point for the community, was a key recommendation of the 2018 Bond Review, The Era of Mathematics .
From the outset—and despite the challenging funding environment—the Academy has pursued a blended funding model. Following the disappointing announcement by the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) in September 2024 that it had cancelled its plans to award government funding for a new National Academy focussed on the mathematical sciences, we have continued to engage actively with other sources of support—government, corporate partners, and private philanthropy—in order to secure long-term financial sustainability for the Academy.
Over 100 volunteers have served to date across the Board of Trustees, Executive Committee and Advisory Board, including senior academics, educators, and leaders in business and industry. We are truly grateful for their passionate support for the Academy, and for their collective hard work and wise counsel that has enabled us to achieve so much since the Academy was granted Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO) status in September 2023.
We are greatly indebted to the Isaac Newton Institute for Mathematical Sciences (INI) for its significant financial and infrastructure support in incubating the Academy during its set-up phase. This support, managed by INI, has been funded via EPSRC grant EP/V521929/1: Additional Funding for Mathematical Sciences .
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Structure, governance and management
The Academy for the Mathematical Sciences is a Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO) and a registered charity. It is governed by a Board of Trustees and has an Association CIO constitution.
Trustees
The process for appointing Trustees is set out in the governing document. It states that there must be at least 6 and at most 12 Trustees.
The Trustees who served throughout this reporting period were:
| Nigel Campbell | Lynne McClure OBE |
|---|---|
| Professor Terry Lyons FRS FRSE FLSE | Ruth Kaufman OBE |
| Professor Rachel Bearon | Simon Yun-Farmbrough |
Professor Dame Alison Etheridge DBE FRS was appointed a Trustee on 17 June 2024, on her appointment as President of the Academy, and became Chair of the Trustees; Nigel Campbell had previously been Chair. In addition, Professor Dame Muffy Calder DBE FRSE, Edwina Dunn OBE, and Mr Charles Rix were appointed as Trustees on 20 February 2025. Charles Rix resigned on 2 May 2025.
Members
In this reporting period, prior to the appointment of Fellows, and as set out in the Governing Document, the members of the CIO were the Executive Committee. The following were ExCo Members for the whole of this reporting period:
| Professor Rachel Bearon | Ruth Kaufman OBE |
|---|---|
| Professor Chris Breward | Professor Sara Lombardo |
| Nigel Campbell (Chair) | Professor Terry Lyons FRS FRSE FLSW |
| Dr Sophie Carr | Dr Christie Marr |
| Professor Nira Chamberlain OBE | Lynne McClure OBE |
| Professor Tom Coates | Professor Faron Moller FLSW |
| Professor Christine Currie | Simon Yun-Farmbrough |
| Professor Cathy Hobbs |
Other members of the Executive Committee for part of this reporting period were: Professor Ineke de Moortel FRSE (to December 2024); Dr Ben Dias (from January 2025); Professor Dame Alison Etheridge DBE FRS (from June 2024); Professor John Greenlees (from October 2024); Rachael Harris (to August 2024); Dame Jil Matheson DCB (to February 2025); Professor Sir Bernard Silverman FRS (to October 2024); Professor Ian Strachan (from January 2025); Dr Heather Tewkesbury (from April to December 2024).
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Structure, Governance and Management (cont’d)
Advisory Board
The Executive Committee’s work, across 9 workstreams, has been supported by an appointed Advisory Board of volunteers. Collectively, the Advisory Board has contributed to the development of the Academy, including work on Fellowship and Governance, Early Career Mathematical Scientists, Education, and Policy. During this reporting period, the Advisory Board included:
Professor Miguel F. Anjos Dr Martine Barons Declan Bays Professor Alex Belton Professor Philip Bond FRENG Dr Alison Borthwick Dr Candida Bowtell Dr Rachael Boyd Professor Noel-Anne Bradshaw Dr Janet Brown Professor Andrew Cairns Dr Eduard Campillo-Funollet Professor Peter Clarkson Elaine Crooks Chris Daniels Professor James Davenport Dr Luke Davis Professor Jonathan Dawes Parwez Diloo Jonathan (Jonny) English Dr Jo Evans Charlotte Francis BEM Professor Paul Glaister CBE Dr Richard Golding Professor Alain Goriely FRS Professor Michael Grove James Handscombe Dr Han Lee Rebecca Hanson Dr Howard Haughton Dr Vera Hazelwood Professor Sam Howison Professor Dame Celia Hoyles DBE Dr Tom Hudson Dr Tyler Kelly
Dr Sylvia Knight Dr Natalia Konstantinova Professor Choi-Hong Lai Dr Ana Lecuona Professor Benedict Leimkuhler Professor Benedikt Löwe Ayliean MacDonald Dr Maciej Matuszewski Dr Mark McCartney Marc Neesam James Nicholson Professor Andy Noyes Dr Jasmina Panovska-Griffiths Giles Pavey Dr Paige Pearson Sue Pope Dr Luciano Rila Professor Ed Rochead Dr Tony Samuel Zubin Siganporia Professor David Silvester Dr Simon Singh MBE Professor Anastasia Sofroniou Gabriel Straub Professor Marika Taylor Dr Athina Thoma Anthony Tomei CBE Dr Matt Tranter Nathan Turner Dr Raoul-Gabriel Urma Dr James Van Yperen Abi Varathanathan Frances Watson Dr Anke Wiese
Employees
Employees of the University of Cambridge, hosted within the Isaac Newton Institute for Mathematical Sciences (INI), working on the Academy project during this reporting period (for the entire period unless otherwise indicated) were:
Dr Christie Marr (Executive Director) Dr Vinesh Maguire-Rajpaul (Policy Analyst) Thomas Chi Wah Law (Policy Analyst) Tina Bechtel (PA/Project Coordinator) [to June 2024] Myra Mufuka (PA/Project Coordinator) [from July 2024]
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Trustees’ statement
The Trustees present their report and financial statements of the charity for the period 1 April 2024 to 31 March 2025. The Trustees have adopted the provisions of Accounting and Reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102) (effective 1 January 2019).
The Academy for the Mathematical Sciences has had no income and has incurred no expenditure during this period. Although there is considerable uncertainty about the timing and level of future income, the Trustees are confident that the Academy will remain a going concern for at least the next eighteen months, even if supported entirely through volunteer effort and support in kind, and therefore consider it appropriate to prepare the accounts on a going concern basis.
As the Academy for the Mathematical Sciences has had no income or expenditure during this reporting year and has no assets, the Trustees have determined that the charity is not required to undertake an audit, or independent examination.
The Trustees confirm that they have had regard to the Charity Commission’s guidance on public benefit when reviewing and planning activities for this reporting period and for future years.
Approved by order of the Board of Trustees on 13[th] January 2026 and signed on its behalf by:
Professor Dame Alison Etheridge DBE FRS
President, Academy for the Mathematical Sciences and Chair of Trustees
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Statement of financial activities
for the period 1[st] April 2024 to 31[st] March 2025
| Unrestricted | Restricted | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|
| funds | funds | ||
| Income: | |||
| Total Income | £0 | £0 | £0 |
| Expenditure: | |||
| Total expenditure | £0 | £0 | £0 |
| Net movement in funds: | £0 | £0 | £0 |
| Reconciliation of funds: | |||
| Total funds brought forward | £0 | ||
| Total funds carried forward | £0 | ||
| Balance sheet | |||
| 31stMarch 2025 | |||
| Current assets: | |||
| Total current assets | £0 | ||
| Liabilities: | |||
| Total liabilities | £0 | ||
| _____ | |||
| Net assets: | £0 | ||
| Funds: | |||
| Unrestricted funds | £0 | ||
| Restricted funds | £0 | ||
| _____ | |||
| Total funds | £0 |
The financial statements were approved by the Board of Trustees and authorised for issue on 13[th] January 2026 and were signed on its behalf by:
Simon Yun-Farmbrough Treasurer and Trustee
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Notes to the financial statements
for the period 1[st] April 2024 to 31[st] March 2025
1. Accounting policies
Basis of preparing the financial statements
The financial statements of the CIO, which is a public benefit entity under FRS 102, have been prepared in accordance with the Charities SORP (FRS 102) ‘Accounting and Reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102) (effective 1st January 2019)’ and the Financial Reporting Standard 102 ‘The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland’ . The financial statements have been prepared under the historical cost convention.
Fund accounting
Unrestricted funds can be used in accordance with the charitable objectives at the discretion of the Trustees. Restricted funds can only be used for particular restricted purposes within the objects of the charity. Restrictions arise when specified by the donor or when funds are raised for particular restricted purposes.
2. Trustees’ remuneration and benefits
There were no Trustees’ remuneration or other benefits for the period ended 31ˢᵗ March 2025.
There were no Trustees’ expenses paid for the period ended 31ˢᵗ March 2025.
3. Movement in funds
No funds were received, spent, or carried forward during the reporting period.
4. Related party disclosures
There were no related party transactions during the period ended 31ˢᵗ March 2025. The Academy’s activities continue to be supported through funding managed via the Isaac Newton Institute for Mathematical Sciences (INI), which hosts and incubates the Academy.
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Academy for the Mathematical Sciences