AMSI welcomes the opportunity to respond to the University Accord Interim Report. As a peak body representing the mathematical sciences (which includes mathematics, statistics and data science) in Australia across the pipeline from school to tertiary education and transition into the workforce, we are well placed to provide comment relating to university teaching and research in the mathematical sciences as well as the subsequent employment of graduates in the mathematical sciences workforce.
In this document, we offer three reflections on the Interim report. These reflections cover the issues of school to university transitions, the relative roles of “education” and “training”, and the importance of supporting teaching capacity in the mathematical sciences at all universities, in particular those located in the regions. In addition, we would like to query an area of the Interim report considered lacking, namely the provision of adequate support for basic and strategic basic research.
