Everyone's got an opinion on AI (including AI). But what about someone who not only uses it, but whose job is to carry out research into AI? Here's Ben Walker.

When it comes to the brain's conservation of energy, practice makes perfect. Watch Dani Bassett's lecture on our brain's neural system function and its implications for health, disease and neural computation. Online now: youtu.be/7uGxRE7kmHI

The past isn't a foreign country on social media; it's an eternal present. So we made @joshuabull.bsky.social take his exams all over again.

How about a bit of C(n, k) = C(n − 1, k) + C(n − 1, k − 1)? Our latest story of equations takes us to arrangements and combinations of objects, from Bhaskara via Pascal to the Manhattan Problem. Bitesize history, bitesize maths. A Sunday roast. Watch: youtu.be/g0NVXbq9j5s

No words required.

For those of you still hanging in there, we're up to lecture five in Christiana Mavroyiakoumou's fab (even if we say so ourselves) Mathematical Physiology fourth year undergraduate course. Here's the full five: www.youtube.com/playlist?lis...

There are many tips on how to be healthy. What you eat (or don't), what you do (or don't), who you see (or don't). But underlying it all is our internal clock, the circadian cycle coordinating our daily lives, human and animal. Timing is everything. Book: www.maths.ox.ac.uk/node/80197

"O sleep, O gentle sleep, Nature's soft nurse, how have I frightened thee, That thou no more will weigh my eyelids down, And steep my senses in forgetfulness?" Mathematics perhaps?

'Thorough preparation, engaging delivery, active learning, supported by clear, visual-aided, well-structured content.' But enough of Google AI. For a good student lecture, how about the human touch? Watch lecture 4 of Christiana's Mathematical Physiology course: youtu.be/0d2gt5MV8-c

The Academy for the Mathematical Sciences has announced its first cohort of fellows, 100 in total from academia, teaching, science communication and business. Twelve of those fellows are from Oxford. Who's who: www.maths.ox.ac.uk/node/80068

Prime Numbers. The Greeks had a sieve for them. Watch Robin Wilson's short talk on mathematicians' often unequal struggle to get a handle on the primes: youtu.be/KAosh9QEfRY

What do our Oxford Mathematics students do in their spare time? Well, much the same as everyone else. Music, gym, bit of yoga, organising events, impersonating farmyard animals.

Our latest Mathematical Physiology lecture is giving our whiteboards a real workout as Christiana talks active transport mechanisms and the Nernst and resting potentials. The third of eight we're making public. Get active: youtu.be/46-9xLkrN5w

What percentage of a mathematician's time is spent in a state of frustration? Or, indeed, any scientist? 10%? 30%? Higher? Oxford Mathematician Torkel Loman puts a number on it.

Robin Wilson's seventh talk on the equations that make mathematics brings us to the algebra of logic, starting with the laws of arithmetic, moving to the foundations of logic and set theory and finishing with the beginnings of computers. Fun for all ages. youtu.be/atB4vrFy79M

We all have to compromise and it starts right at the top with our brains. Dani Bassett will demonstrate how the principle of network economy informs our study of neural system function in health and disease and provides a lens on neural computation. Book: www.maths.ox.ac.uk/node/79854

Doncha love AI!! So clever! Does all your work in, like, one nanosecond! It's, like, your bestie!! Doncha hate AI?? Thinks it's so clever! But you can't trust it! Never used it myself.

Christiana's first Mathematical Physiology lecture was so popular (aside from the occasional comment that university teaching isn't what it was in Isaac Newton's day etc.) that we'd thought you tell you that the second lecture is now available. youtu.be/3u1GSYOQEL8

It's tough, isn't? Probably one of the biggest challenges for mathematicians of all ages. Just how do you talk about your subject to friends and family who aren't mathematical? Our crack team of undergraduates ponder.

You know those annoying social media films where a mic is shoved in front of a bunch of students and they're asked questions that have nothing to do with their studies or their lives, hoping they say something vaguely funny or interesting that might get a billion views on TikTok?

We're starting our 2026 student lectures for the wider public with eight lectures from Christiana Mavroyiakoumou's 4th year Mathematical Physiology course. Watch lecture 1: youtu.be/lgrwTpgeJo8 And look out for lectures on dynamics, geometry, special relativity and more.

Our latest vacancy: three years working directly with Fields medallist James Maynard as well as collaboratively with the wider Oxford Mathematics Number Theory research group. www.maths.ox.ac.uk/node/79775

Cats are mathematically smart. They can count to nine, they are rarely heading for a fall, and when they are, they always land on their feet. But sometimes they just don't know whether they are coming or going.

Rabbit: a small furry mammal. 'Rabbit, rabbit, rabbit: a superstition for day one of the month to bring luck for the rest of it. 'Rabbit and pork: Cockney rhyming slang for talk, as in too much of. Rabbit: a maths puzzle? Watch Robin Wilson on the Golden Ratio: www.youtube.com/watch?v=sezp...

Highlights from the comments on our social media in 2025: Flat Earthers 'descending' on our Space video; raging rows over nothing in particular; and lots of that crazy little thing called love. Familiar? Oh, yes, and AI.

One criticism of mathematicians is that they always seem to have an answer for everything. Nothing is beyond their reach. Absolutely right. Take the Christmas menu for example. @joshuabull.bsky.social is your waiter.

From quadratics in Mesopotamia 4000 years ago to the higher-degree equations of Abel and Galois in the 19th century via a Renaissance quarrel, Robin Wilson tells the story of polynomials. All in less than 20 minutes. Watch: youtu.be/39nQRySRrsw

You were always on my mind. Zoe, Chiara and Holly sing a familiar song.

Three years to roam freely in the complexities of quantitative finance as part of the Oxford-Man and Mathematical Institutes, and as a research fellow @reubencollege.bsky.social, our newest graduate college. Full details: www.maths.ox.ac.uk/node/79671

We all need someone to look up to, someone eminent. Or not eminent yet.

Our latest vacancies capture the scope of the mathematics that takes place in our home, the Andrew Wiles Building. Such a range of research areas - we have 16 research groups - enable our mathematicians to share ideas with colleagues working across the discipline. www.maths.ox.ac.uk/vacancies

When you put a mic on a ruler (we couldn't find a set square) and give it to three of our students...

What do we do when we're not doing maths? Maths.

Three things about Philip Maini: He's an eminent mathematical biologist He loves cows He lectures our second years on differential equations Here's his Differential Equations lecture, part two (featuring no cows): youtu.be/xcLaKM3sr1o

O little town of Oxford, How still we see thee lie. But above thy deep and dreamless sleep, Complex thoughts go by. Still not convinced? Don't worry, you have all Christmas to 'mull' it over. Closes 12 January. Full details of the role: www.maths.ox.ac.uk/node/74844

Selfie, selfie, it's your call, who's the fairest of them all? Sam Howison, obviously. Except for one thing.

What's the key to a good night's sleep? No screen time before bed? No midnight snacks? No late night arguments? No mathematics?

A well-known equation: a pen + a slightly grey whiteboard (it has had a lot of hammer this term) + Philip Maini = the perfect student lecture Philip on Differential Equations, our latest to be made public: youtu.be/JgbuM_7rZuQ

Humanity has always pursued knowledge for its own sake. That pursuit has led us to some amazing places. Not least in mathematics. XTX Markets has made a substantial gift to Oxford Mathematics to support early career researchers working in pure mathematics. www.maths.ox.ac.uk/node/74457

In the end it's about the people. So come and meet the second years.

How much human hyperbole has been spent on job descriptions and advertisements? We're looking for two researchers in stochastic analysis. Details together with other vacancies: www.maths.ox.ac.uk/vacancies

Just as diseases evolve, so do the means to tackle them. Christl Donnelly will discuss how novel data sources, contact network analysis, and rigorous approaches to uncertainty are all now playing a part. Dec 3, 5.30 pm, Oxford (online later). Details: www.maths.ox.ac.uk/node/74823

A puzzle from the Age of Enlightenment. Though three centuries of enlightenment haven't made it any less surprising. Watch Robin Wilson's talk on the history of the endless number. It's π time: youtu.be/MVfqWtKa8Yg

Mathematics and physics often seem to occupy a world that seems designed to exclude. Higher dimensions are one of the best (or worst) examples. Four dimensions are just a start. Why not 5? Or 10? And they don't stop there. They are a challenge for mathematicians too. Here's Luci.

Where on earth is the best laboratory to demonstrate the beauty of fluid dynamics? Actually, it’s not on earth. Here is the story of the soft cell. And a longer read: www.maths.ox.ac.uk/node/74308

Our inaugural Regius Professor of Mathematics, Andrew Wiles, retires in 2026 (not that mathematicians ever truly retire) and we are looking for his successor, starting in October of that year. Full details: www.maths.ox.ac.uk/node/74751

Introducing Pluto, a small, hungry cat and, like all his fellow Aristocats, an optical superhero. Everyone wants to be a cat.

You never know who'll you meet round here. People working in functional analysis or probability, mathematical physicists, applied mathematicians trying to model our environment, to name just a few. All of us hanging out in the same building. Come and join us: www.maths.ox.ac.uk/vacancies

What have the Pythagorean theorem and IKEA got in common? Watch Robin Wilson's full talk on the story of the Pythagorean theorem: youtu.be/GQfML3Q9lt0

Do you take your work home with you? It's kinda hard to avoid if you are a mathematician. The maths just follows you wherever you go. Sam Howison prepares vegetables.