Cardiff receives share of £2.5 million funding for new “future-facing” maths degree
1 July 2025
Cardiff University will receive a share of £2.5 million in funding to pilot new maths and teaching outreach.
The funding, from the Maths Degrees for the Future programme, will help create ‘next-gen’ degree designs that connect foundational mathematical sciences to their critical impact in an increasingly AI and data driven world.
Cardiff University is one of five successful bids to receive funding from the national programme, which was launched by the Campaign for Mathematical Sciences (CaMS).
The award, totalling £500,000, will fund a new ‘Mathematics for the Modern World’ programme available from September 2026, delivered by experts in Abacws – the £39m home of the School of Mathematics.
Dr Robert Wilson, Reader at Cardiff University’s School of Mathematics who led the bid, said: “We’re delighted to have this opportunity to develop a future-focused mathematics degree at Cardiff University – a programme inspired by the values of Wales’s Future Generations Act.”
Combining core mathematical concepts with real-world relevance, the degree will equip students to engage with the complex challenges of tomorrow. Given Cardiff’s vibrant research community and strong industrial connections, it’s the ideal place to develop curious and creative problem-solvers for a rapidly evolving world.
The programme team will further introduce a foundation year, and modules focussed on entrepreneurship, AI, and global challenges over the funding period of 3 years.
Professor Jon Gillard, Deputy Head of Cardiff University’s School of Mathematics and part of the bid team, added: “We’re thrilled and humbled to be awarded this transformative funding, which will enable us to implement a new, future-facing and innovative degree scheme in mathematics with wide appeal.”
The Campaign for Mathematical Sciences has been a tremendous force for good for our beautiful discipline — championing its relevance, supporting its growth, and helping to secure vital investment in its future. We’re proud to contribute to this momentum by shaping a degree that reflects the evolving role of mathematics in society and inspires the next generation of mathematical thinkers.
Deputy Head of School
Maths graduate numbers are forecast to drop by a fifth between 2030 and 2035, raising concerns of a growing skills gap in areas the UK is relying on for growth: AI, climate science, fintech, and national security.
The Maths Degrees for the Future programme is a strategic push to ensure maths remains at the heart of the UK’s future.
The CaMS, a collaboration of learned societies and experts across the mathematical sciences, is leading this effort to reimagine what a maths degree can offer in a rapidly changing world.
Professor Jens Marklof, Chair of the CaMS, said: “Maths Degrees for the Future offers a vision and a pathway to providing the maths skills that the nation is going to need in the years and decades ahead.”
The projected fall in the number of maths graduates and the ongoing shortfall of specialist maths teachers are punctures in the pipeline of maths talent. So, we decided to take action and help create a new generation of mathematics degree programmes.
“The campaign has been delighted by the large number and high standard of the submitted proposals. Our expert panel faced a tough choice!”
Cardiff University is one of five institutions selected for funding, with successful bids also submitted by the Open University, the University of Nottingham, King’s College London and Imperial College London.
“The five institutions receiving funding have put forward transformative ideas and we are excited to see how the programmes bed in and develop and to share their successes with the wider mathematical sciences community,” added Professor Marklof.
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