About Plus

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What we do

Plus is a free website produced in the style of a popular science magazine, inviting young adults, students, teachers, and all life-long learners into the world of mathematics. We publish articles, podcasts and videos on any aspect of mathematics, covering topics as diverse as art, medicine, cosmology and sport, and showing how recent news stories were often based on some underlying piece of maths that never made it to the newspapers. And all past content remains available online, which besides making for good browsing is, we hope, a useful resource for maths school students and teachers.

Our aim is to enable our non-expert audiences to engage with maths concepts that arise in everyday life and raise awareness and appreciation of mathematics. We offer anyone who is curious about maths and the world an opportunity to stay connected with mathematics, refreshing their knowledge and keeping up to date with current research.

Plus acts as a conduit for researchers to communicate their work to new audiences, often supporting them in their first opportunity to engage in this way. We have ongoing collaborations with the Isaac Newton Institute, the JUNIPER modelling consortium and the University of Cambridge's Maths Faculty, which is also the home of Plus!

We want to encourage the next generation of mathematicians by providing diverse role models, helping to break down perceived barriers, and revealing the maths in many careers. Our focus on the mathematicians we work with, as well as on their research, brings mathematics to life, conveying the creative and dynamic nature of doing mathematics. We hope you enjoy discovering these mathematical stories!

Who we are

Plus is led by co-editors Marianne Freiberger and Rachel Thomas who write and produce all the original content, manage collaborations and provide the editorial vision for the project. Julia Hawkins provides vital strategic guidance and project management support, and Dane Rossenrode maintains this Plus website.

Get in touch

To comment on Plus or to get in touch with the editors for any other reason, e-mail us at <plus@maths.cam.ac.uk>. Please be patient - due to the high volume of emails it may take us up to a month to reply. Thanks!

A short history

Plus started life under the name of PASS Maths (Public Awareness and Schools Support for Maths) in 1997, when it was a project of the Interactive Courseware Research and Development Group, based jointly at the Universities of Cambridge and Keele.

Since 1999, Plus has been part of the Millennium Mathematics Project at the University of Cambridge. The MMP is active across the UK and internationally, and aims to help people of all ages and abilities share in the excitement of mathematics and understand the enormous range and importance of its applications to science and daily life. It works to change people's attitudes to maths, to act as a national focus for renewing and improving appreciation of the dynamic importance of maths and its applications, and to demonstrate the vital contribution of maths to shaping the everyday world.

Terms of use

Plus is free to use for educational and non-commercial purposes. Read our full terms of use here.

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