The Royal Institution (RI) Masterclasses provide young people all around the UK with the chance to learn about maths topics that fall outside the school curriculum, through hands-on and interactive sessions.

Open to Year 9 pupils from 11 participating school across Bedfordshire, the University hosted the RI Masterclasses for the county, with leading academia and industry experts from Bedfordshire, Cambridge University and the RI conducting a series of six masterclasses.

“It has been wonderful to see the University of Bedfordshire partner the Royal Institution for this prestigious series in mathematics,” said Dr Oren Kolman, Senior Lecturer in Mathematics at Bedfordshire.

“The pupils have examined several challenging contemporary applications of mathematics, and will act as "ambassadors" for the University in their local schools. Hopefully this will inspire the participants and their fellow pupils to study mathematics at the University one day.”

With the first five Masterclasses taking place at the University’s Bedford campus, the series concluded at Putteridge Bury, where participants learned about the mathematics of mobiles and were presented with certificates by Professor Jan Domin, Acting Executive Dean, Faculty of Creative Arts Technologies and Science at Bedfordshire, pictured, in recognition of completing the programme.

Mai Shehab, from Wootton Upper School & Arts College, near Bedford, added: “It was great to gain a different perspective of mathematics. I highly enjoyed the Masterclasses and found them extremely useful."

The RI, an independent charity, was founded in 1799 with the aim of introducing new technologies and teaching science to the general public.