Profile
Jonathan Wilson
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About Me:
I’m a Lecturer in Mathematics at the University of Lancashire (based in the North West). I love patterns, puzzles, and finding maths in art and history.
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I have always enjoyed solving problems and spotting patterns. At school I liked maths because it felt like solving little mysteries.
Outside of work, I enjoy racket sports, chess and craft ale. Recently, I’ve become especially interested in how maths appears in art, buildings, and designs from around the world. I find it surreal that people have been doing maths for thousands of years in many different cultures — it seems our desire to study it is a primal instinct.
I also enjoy creating hands-on activities with shapes and tiles. If I can use coloured shapes, scissors, or plastic models in a session, I probably will!
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My pronouns are:
He/him (but I’m not really fussed — they\them also works fine).
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How I use Maths in my work:
I’m what is called a “pure” mathematician, meaning that, on the whole, I study mathematics for its own sake, without the incentive of applying it to the “real” world.
However,
for n short, I use maths every day to study patterns and symmetry. This links to topics students learn at school, like shapes, angles, transformations, sequences, and algebra.
Sometimes I use algebra to describe patterns. Other times I use geometry (the maths of shapes) to explore symmetry and designs.
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My Work:
I’m what is called a “pure” mathematician, meaning that, on the whole, I study mathematics for its own sake, without the incentive of applying it to the “real” world.
However, the surprising fact of mathematics is that it shows up EVERYWHERE. My research area of cluster algebras (which largely studies symmetries and patterns between algebra and geometry) has shown up in Electrical Circuits, Particle Physics, Machine Learning, and the list goes on!
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My Typical Day:
I wake up. Consume at least one brew (with barista style oat milk). Prepare and deliver lectures (I’m teaching Coding Theory, Cryptology, Real and Complex Analysis modules this year). Supervise my undergraduate and PhD students. Mark assessments. Then, if I have some spare energy left at the end of the day, I’ll think about how to fix-up my new doer-upper house…
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Alongside my delivering interactive lectures, I also meet students one-to-one to help them with tricky topics. In between teaching, I work on my research. This might mean writing maths on a whiteboard, trying out examples, or reading new ideas in books and papers.
On outreach days, I travel to a school. I bring hands-on materials like shape tiles or printed patterns. Students work in groups to explore a problem, make guesses, and test their ideas. These are some of my favourite days because I get to see students surprise themselves with what they can figure out.
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What I'd do with the prize money:
If I won the £500, I would use it to create new hands-on maths outreach kits for schools.
This would include buying durable shape tiles (like Polydron-style models), printing high-quality pattern cards inspired by historical designs, and creating teacher-friendly activity packs that schools can reuse.
I would also use part of the money to run a free outreach workshop for a school in an area with low university participation. This would help make maths enrichment more accessible to students who might not usually get these opportunities.
The goal would be to create resources that can be used again and again, reaching as many students as possible and helping them see maths as creative, cultural, and open to everyone.
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Education:
St Peter’s Collegiate School (Wolverhampton), 2002-2009. A-levels: Mathematics, PE, Physics.
Swansea University, 2009-2012. BSc in Mathematics.
University of Cambridge, 2012-2013. MASt in Mathematics (otherwise known as Part III of the mathematical tripos).
Durham University, 2013-2017. PhD in Mathematics.
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Work History:
Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen, Germany (2017-2018). Role: Postdoctoral researcher.
National Autonomous University of Mexico, Mexico (2018-2020). Role: Postdoctoral researcher.
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Current Job:
Lecturer in Mathematics.
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Employer:
University of Lancashire, Preston.
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My Interview
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What did you want to be after you left school?
A tennis player
Were you ever in trouble at school?
Is this a trick question?
If you weren't doing this job, what would you choose instead?
I'd either be doing something very sporty, or likely join a business developing AI.
Who is your favourite singer or band?
Queen
What's your favourite food?
Samosas
If you had 3 wishes for yourself what would they be? - be honest!
Be injury and sickness free. To be professional tennis player. Not to double-fault on match point.
Tell us a joke.
What do you call a Russian with a cold? Ivan Nasti-chestycov.
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