Growing Up with Mathematics
Aidan didn’t stumble into mathematics; he grew up in it. “My dad is a mathematician,” he says, “I had the chance to see lots of little bits and pieces of math beyond school level, just like puzzles, which I always loved”. He compares it to the difference between writing literature and learning how to spell. “Most people never get to see the literature,” he explains.

With inspiring mentors at the University of Newcastle and supportive supervisors, Aidan followed that early passion into an 18-year career at the University of Wollongong, and more recently, a new chapter at UNSW. For him, it’s as much about the people as the problems. “You never stop growing as a mathematician—certainly not at the end of a PhD. The way you make mathematical progress is through collaboration with a vast array of people,” he says.

Australia’s Strengths and Challenges in the Mathematical Sciences
Australia’s greatest strength in the mathematical sciences, Sims says, is its people: “We have an incredibly impressive array of mathematical talent across the country,” spanning pure mathematics, mathematical physics, applied mathematics, modelling, PDEs, and statistics. He sees a distinctive national advantage in the way Australia links research and teaching. “It’s not unusual for a first-year student here to be taught by someone who is a world-leading researcher—that’s rare internationally, and it’s something we should be proud of,” he explains. This close teaching–research nexus not only nurtures future academics but equips graduates across finance, data analytics, public service, and industry with the problem-solving mindset that comes from learning directly from people tackling uncharted problems. 

Yet the discipline faces two major challenges: renewing the “social licence” for mathematics and navigating a funding environment heavily geared toward short-term applications. As President of AustMS, Aidan notes that while mathematics underpins innovation across sectors — from artificial intelligence and quantum technologies to data science and climate modelling — its contributions are not always visible to the public or to policymakers. “Mathematics is foundational to so many areas of research and industry,” he explains. “But because it’s often embedded within other fields, it can be overlooked when funding priorities are set. That’s something we need to keep working on — strengthening our ‘social licence’.” He adds, “We haven’t always explained clearly enough what mathematics contributes — both in the long-term sense of enabling future technologies, and in the near-term sense of immediate economic and societal benefit, including training people with problem-solving skills that industry is desperate for.”

Australia’s funding landscape, he notes, remains another challenge. It is “much geared towards immediate applications,” with comparatively little investment in fundamental or blue-sky research. “We need to work with stakeholders who rely on mathematics — industry, government, the broader community — to help us get messages across more broadly like: what it contributes to, what the payoff is, and why investment matters.” Sustaining excellence, Sims emphasises, requires explaining clearly “what it takes to sustain mathematical research: funding, infrastructure, and support across all stages of the research pipeline.” Ultimately, he says, “mathematicians cannot carry this message alone.” Sims believes strengthening ties with industry, engaging young people earlier, and reconnecting mathematically trained experts in the policy sphere with the reality of mathematical research, through a “thicker” engagement that includes outreach activities and public-facing lectures, is essential.

Where Good Mathematics Happens
For Aidan, the recently released 2026 NRI Roadmap Issues Paper marks a significant moment. It recognises the need for “mathematical sciences infrastructure in the form of a dedicated residential facility” — a model that MATRIX has successfully embodied for the past decade.

Aidan has experienced the collaborative spirit of MATRIX firsthand, having participated in and supported multiple research programs over the years. He was also among the institute’s very first program organisers when it launched in 2016. “When MATRIX was founded in Australia, I was genuinely excited.” He shares a story from that inaugural program: “We ran a program in 2016 — a graduate school followed by an intensive research workshop — and the impact of that single fortnight still resonates today. One of the international students who came, Anna Duwenig, is now a world-class researcher at UNSW. She first came to Australia because of MATRIX.” Stories like that, he says, are not one-offs; they’re the beginning of a pattern.

“Over the last 10 years, MATRIX has achieved extraordinary things basically by just tenaciously finding ways to fund itself,” he says. “A massive effort from the MATRIX team.” He believes the potential is far greater still. “Just imagine what MATRIX could have achieved if it had a sustainable source of funding, or if it was funded as infrastructure.”

Australia, he notes, needs a research hub like MATRIX even more than many other countries because of its distance from global mathematical centres. “It’s very hard to get somebody to come to Australia for just a brief research visit,” he says. “The higher profile the researcher is, the more commitments they already have.” But MATRIX provides the critical mass and intellectual focus that changes the equation. “If you put on a research workshop with a bunch of like-minded people working on a critical research problem, you get the best researchers in the world. And once they’re here, they’ll often stay longer — visit departments, meet students, collaborate more widely. It catalyses things in a way nothing else in Australia does.”

Looking Ahead to the Next Decade
Looking ahead, Sims believes the key to strengthening Australian mathematics is continued unity across institutions — AMSI, MATRIX, SMRI, the Statistical Society of Australia and AustMS. “We have to continue to work together.” For Sims, maintaining a clear, unified voice is essential. “When policymakers want to ask, ‘What does mathematics need?’, they should know exactly who to ask — and they should get one message back,” he explains. “We’re doing it better and better now, and we need to keep doing it.”

For Sims, showcasing Australia’s strength on the global stage is crucial. “Mathematics is very strong in Australia,” he says. “We need to make sure the rest of the world knows it.” He continues, “And the way we do that is: get them out here. Let them see it. And that’s what MATRIX does.” He adds, “From the AustMS point of view, it’s a real pleasure to work with MATRIX on what it does.”

A Wish to MATRIX on Its 10th Anniversary
“MATRIX has achieved something remarkable in its first ten years. My wish for its next chapter is simple: that it continues to grow, inspire, and connect people who love mathematics.”
                                                                                                                                                             — Professor Aidan Sims, President, AustMS