A number of minisymposia will be scheduled during the parallel sessions. Each minisymposium should consist of a multiple of three 20 minute talks.

If you are interested in organising a minisymposium, in any branch of Numerical Analysis or a cognate area, please contact the conference committee.

• Please supply the title of your proposed minisymposium along with a brief abstract and a tentative list of speakers.
• Please note that individuals are limited to one presentation, either a minisymposium talk or a contributed talk.
• Organisers are encouraged to ensure that the speakers represent a broad spectrum of research experience.
• Authors will advised of acceptance of proposals by email shortly after submission.
• The deadline for submission of minisymposium topics is 31st March 2017.
• Abstracts from contributors should be submitted by April 30th 2017.

Numerical modelling with Freefem++

Organiser: Victorita Dolean (Strathclyde), Pierre-Henri Tournier (Paris VI)
List of speakers: Heather Yorston (Strathclyde), Marcella Bonazzoli (Nice), Pierre-Henri Tournier (Paris VI), Ionut Danaila (Rouen), Frédéric Hecht (Paris VI), Antoine Le Hyaric (Paris VI)
Abstract: FreeFem++ is a free software package for the numerical simulation of parallel differential equations in two and three dimensions using the finite element method. The software is based on a high level language that allows users to write the numerical formula in a similar form to the mathematical formula resulting in a drastically reduced development without a sacrifice in performance. The purpose of this mini symposium is to show a wide spectrum of recent research using FreeFem++. Topics include computational electromagnetics, inverse problems, quantum mechanics or first order linear system of convection-diffusion problems.

Numerical Methods for Interface and Multiphysics Problems

Organiser: Gabriel Barrenechea (Strathclyde), Heiko Gimperlein (Heriot-Watt)
List of speakers: Leonardo Baffico (Caen), Cheherazada Gonzales (Strathclyde), Heiko Gimperlein (Heriot-Watt), Giacomo Capodaglio (Texas Tech)
Abstract: Multiphysics and interface problems have gained considerable momentum in the last few years. This is especially true for problems involving friction and contact, where new numerical approaches have been proposed over the last few years. These developments have opened the door to new applications and techniques. The purpose of this mini symposium is then to explore and confront some recent advances in numerical methods for interface and contact problems in fluid and solid mechanics, and in fluid/solid interaction problems.

Numerical Methods for Nonlocal Problems

Organiser: Mihaly Kovacs (Chalmers), Bangti Jin (UCL)
List of speakers: Martin Stynes (Beijing Computational Science Research Center), Espen Jakobsen (NTNU), Félix del Tes (NTNU), Ercilia Sousa (Coimbra), Maria Lopez Fernandez (Malaga), Bangti Jin (UCL),Buyang Li (HKPU), Boris Baeumer (Otago), Mihaly Kovacs (Chalmers)
Abstract: Problems involving nonlocal operators arises in many applications in physics, biology and engineering. The mathematical models are differential equations involving a fractional-order differential operator in time or/and space. Due to their widespread use in practice, the robust and efficient numerical solution of nonlocal problems is of immense interest, and has attracted much attention in recent years. Nonetheless, the nonlocality of the mathematical model and the associated limited smoothing property often pose significant challenges in developing efficient algorithms and their analysis, e.g., for fractional Laplacian and fractional diffusion.
This mini-symposium aims at bringing both leading experts and young researchers working on this topic, to discuss the latest results and to exchange ideas.

Preconditioning

Organiser: Michael Wathen (UBC), Jennifer Pestana (Strathclyde)
List of speakers: Niall Bootland (Oxford), Giorgio Bornia (Texas Tech), Sean Hon (Oxford), Antigoni Kleanthous (UCL), Scott Ladenheim (Manchester), Jennifer Pestana (Strathclyde), Pranjal (Manchester), Alison Ramage (Strathclyde), Tyrone Rees (RAL), Thomas Roy (Oxford), Nicole Spillane (Ecole Polytechnique), Michael Wathen (UBC)
Abstract: Numerical models can often be restricted by the linear system solution technique. In many applications an iterative solution method is desirable (due to memory and time constraints). As such, effective preconditioners are essential to enable systems of large dimension to be efficiently solved. In this minisymposium several talks on recent advances on different topics and applications in preconditioning will be presented.

Recent Advances in the Numerical Solution of Large-Scale Inverse Problems

Organiser: Melina Freitag (Bath), Silvia Gazzola (Bath)
List of speakers: Marta Betcke (UCL), Michael Roberts (Liverpool), Matthias Ehrhardt (Cambridge), Daniel Green (Bath), Silvia Gazzola (Bath), Amos Lawless (Reading)
Abstract: Inverse problems are ubiquitous in many areas of science and engineering: common examples include imaging applications in industry and medicine, data assimilation in weather and climate prediction, and geophysical surveying. Since inverse problems are usually ill-posed, they are difficult to solve, and problem-specific techniques must be carefully devised. Moreover, multi-dimensional solutions naturally lead to discretised large-scale problems. In recent years, a considerable amount of research has proposed alternative, improved, and efficient approaches for the numerical solution of large-scale inverse problems. The goal of this minisymposium is to present new state-of-the art solvers arising in an interdisciplinary framework.

Learning functions from data

Organiser: Andrew Stuart (Caltech), Aretha Teckentrup (Edinburgh)
List of speakers: Christian Rieger (Bonn), Aretha Teckentrup (Edinburgh), Hemant Tyagi (Alan Turing Institute), Holger Wendland (Bayreuth), William Yoo (Leiden)
Abstract: The concepts of interpolation and regression can be viewed as the problem of reconstructing an unknown function given data such as a finite number of (noisy) point evaluations or other linear functionals. This mini-symposium will focus on meshless methods for regression and interpolation, aiming to bring together researchers working on statistical methods, such as Gaussian process regression, and deterministic methods, such as radial basis function interpolation.

Recent Developments in Uncertainty Quantification

Organiser: Ivan Graham (Bath)
List of speakers: Alex Bespalov (Birmingham), Stephane Chretien (NPL), Alec Gilbert (New South Wales), Ivan Graham (Bath), Jichun Li (Nevada), Catherine Powell (Manchester), James Rynn (Manchester), David Silvester (Manchester), Ian Sloan (New South Wales)
Abstract: Uncertainty Quantification has become a very active research area in recent years, leading to a wide spectrum of activity on new algorithms, their analysis and applications. The minisymposium will highlight recent work across this spectrum, including work on adaptivity, fast linear algebra, reduced basis methods and high dimensional problems and will include novel applications in dynamics, transport and eigenvalue problems.

Numerical Methods for PDE-Constrained Optimization

Organiser: Dante Kalise (RICAM, Linz), Tyrone Rees (RAL)
List of speakers: Dante Kalise (RICAM, Linz), Alejandro Allendes (Universidad Técnica Federico Santa María), Kevin Sturm (RICAM, Linz), John Pearson (Kent), Sergey Dolgov (Bath), Sergio Rodrigues (RICAM, OeAW)
Abstract: A wide range of different challenges in modern science and engineering can be cast as optimisation problems where some cost functional is minimized subject to the constraint that the solution must satisfy a partial differential equation, which usually arises from modelling some physical process. The so-called PDE-constrained optimisation framework has a tremendous impact in fields such as fluid flow control, shape optimisation, and more recently, optimal control of agent-based models. In this minisymposium we will hear about the state-of-the-art in the development of efficient and accurate methods for the numerical solution of the different optimality systems arising in this context.

Numerical methods for convection-dominated problems

Organiser: Gabriel Barrenechea (Strathclyde), Gert Lube (Gottingen)
List of speakers: Gabriel Barrenechea (Strathclyde), Gert Lube (Gottingen), Julia Novo (Madrid), Gunar Matthies (Dresden), Diego Paredes (Valparaiso), Sarah Roggendorf (Nottingham), Mira Schedensack (Augsburg)
Abstract: Convection-dominated problems appear in many branches of applied mathematics. The analysis and numerical solution of such problems deservedly attracts substantial attention. Our interest is to discuss recent advances in this field, from a wider perspective; this means, we are interested in discussing some recent advances in classical techniques, as well as new methodologies based on polygonal meshes, a posteriori error estimators, and multiscale approaches.

Advances in the robust solution of singularly perturbed differential equations

Organiser: Natalia Kopteva (Limerick), Torsten Linß (Hagen), Niall Madden (Galway)
List of speakers: Bosco García-Archilla (Sevilla), Alan Hegarty (Limerick), Juan Carlos Jorge (Navara), Natalia Kopteva (Limerick), Torsten Linß (Hagen), Niall Madden (Galway), Eugene O'Riordan (Dublin), Stephen Russell (Beijing CSRC)
Abstract: Singularly perturbed differential equations, in which a small parameter multiplies the highest-order derivative, occur widely in mathematical modelling. Typically, their solution exhibit boundary and/or interior layers. The development of specialised methods, which resolve any layers present, and whose analysis entirely accounts for the small parameter, has long been the focus of research in numerical mathematics. This mini-symposium will feature some of the most recent developments in this field.

Numerical Methods for Coupled Bulk-Surface Problems

Organiser: John Mackenzie (Strathclyde), Anotida Madzvamuse (Sussex)
List of speakers: Tom Ranner (Leeds), Bjorn Stinner (Warwick), Chandrasekhar Venkataraman (St Andrews), John Mackenzie (Strathclyde), Feng Wei Yang (Sussex), Massimo Frittelli (Lecce)
Abstract: Many problems in science and engineering require the numerical solution of coupled systems of PDEs in bulk and surface regions. Often the domains are time dependent and are driven by surface geometry and active solution components. The development and analysis of numerical methods for this class of problems present considerable challenges. In this mini-symposium we discuss a number of recent advances in this area including: theoretical frameworks for numerical analysis for problems of evolving domains, efficient bulk-surface grid generation, efficient solvers for discretised equations, and the application to problems in biology and multiphysics.

Numerical Approximation and Optimization of Agent-based Models

Organiser: Adriano Festa (Rouen), Dante Kalise (RICAM, Linz)
List of speakers: Bertram Düring (Sussex), Adriano Festa (Rouen), Andrés Peters (Valparaíso), Helene Ranetbauer (Linz), Sheila Scialanga (Glasgow), Mattia Zanella (Turin), Elizabeth Carlini (Rome), Stephen Knapp (Mannheim), Claudia Totzek (Kaiserslauten)
Abstract: Over the last years, the study of agent-based models has become a topic of increasing interest in mathematics, biology, sociology, and engineering, among many other disciplines. Multi-agent systems are usually modelled as a large-scale set of particles interacting under simple binary rules, such as attraction, repulsion, and alignment forces. The wide applicability of this setting ranges from modelling the collective behaviour of bird flocks, to the study of data transmission over communication networks, including the description of opinion dynamics in human societies, and the formation control of platoon systems. This minisymposium will present recent developments in computational methods for the approximation and optimization of agent-based dynamics, including: numerical methods for kinetic and multiscale models, mean fields games and control, as well as applications in crowd motion and social dynamics.

Fast spectral methods for fluid dynamics

Organiser: Alex Townsend (Cornell) and Grady Wright (Boise State)
List of speakers: Alex Townsend (Cornell), Marcus Webb (KU Leuven), Laurette Tuckerman (PMMH, Paris), Jesse Chan (Rice), Boris Bonev (EPFL), Grady Wright (Boise State)
Abstract: Since the early 1970's spectral methods have proven to be essential for accurately resolving fine-scale features in advection-dominated fluid flows, as occur, for example, in many geophysical applications. These methods are now also indispensable for simulating fluids with complicated stress-strain relationships involving high-order derivatives, as occur, for example, in certain biological applications. This minisymposium brings together a diverse set of speakers who are developing new spectral and high-order methods and also applying them to complex geophysical and biological problems. Fast algorithms and challenging geometries will be a particular focus of the talks.

New algorithms related to Chebfun

Organiser: Nick Trefethen (Oxford)
List of speakers: Nick Trefethen (Oxford), Silviu Filip (Oxford), Yuji Nakatsukasa (Oxford)
Abstract:

Networks

Organiser: Francesca Arrigo (Strathclyde)
List of speakers: Francesca Arrigo (Strathclyde), Phil Knight (Strathclyde), Martin Paton (Strathclyde)
Abstract: The study of large, sparse networks that describe complex interactions is throwing up new challenges in applied and computational mathematics. Typical connectivity patterns lie somewhere between the structured lattices arising from discretized PDEs and the totally random networks studied in pure mathematics. Furthermore, time-varying interactions (such as voice calls or tweets) give rise to time ordered network sequences, or dynamic networks.
Computational mathematics can contribute to this area in several ways: summarizing the data, categorizing the range of activity observed, exploring hyoptheses about underlying laws of motion and making predictions about future behaviour. This minisymposium will cover some recent research activity, using tools from graph theory, linear algebra and applied statistics.

Models and Algorithms for Human Data

Organiser: Des Higham (Strathclyde), Ivan Tyukin (Leicester)
List of speakers: Craig Gilmour (Strathclyde), Alexander Gorban (Leicester), Jeremy Levesley (Leicester), Valeri Makarov (Universidad Complutense de Madrid), Ivan Tyukin (Leicester)
Abstract: Within the current data deluge, human behaviour is creating some of the most challenging and potentially useful sources of information. This minisymposium will consider the development of models and algorithms that address such problems around crime, health, human cognition, social esteem and security, using appropriate data sources. Techniques involved will include machine learning, neural networks, computer imaging and statistical inference.