RCU retired professor sets up charitable institute to train youths in Mathematics

Teacher creating awareness about the advanced trends in Mathematics

When most university teachers look for a relaxed lifestyle after retirement, here is a teacher who is actively championing the cause of Mathematics post in his evening years.

Tamraparni Venkatesh, who retired as a professor from the department of Mathematics in Rani Channamma University has set up a charitable institute to popularise Mathematics and to train young people in advanced trends in that field.

The Mathematical Science Institute in Belagavi that he set up along with his friends in 2002, is completing 20 years in organising seminars and workshops, celebrating events related to eminent Mathematicians and holding academic sessions and graduate research programmes for doctoral and post doctoral fellows. “MSIB has organised several workshops in schools to remove the fear of mathematics by showing that it can be fun and easy, if they take an interest,’’ said Prof. Venkatesh.

This year’s graduate research programme theme is Geometry, topology and combinatorics. MSIB has lined up several programmes towards this.

Harish Sheshadri of IISc inaugurated an immersed learning programme of 16 weeks. Apart from Geometry, topology and combinatorics, the programme covers theoretical physics and computer science concepts. As many as five students pursuing PhD will be given a financial incentive to attend. At the end of the course, they will be given a certificate that will add value to their bio data.

Recently, four researchers from IISc flew down to Belagavi to deliver online lectures in advanced fields in mathematics to graduate and post graduate students.

“MSIB’s alumni have reached out to Ken Ono a mathematician of Japanese origin now in Virginia university, USA. He is a number theorist who has built his work on Srinivasan Ramanujan’s theory of numbers. Prof Ono, who is a visiting professor at IIT Gauhati, has agreed to be its Honorary professor at MSIB . He has assured us that he will visit Belagavi and address students,’’ said Prof Venkatesh.