Dr Pierre-Philippe Dechant

Profile

I am a Curriculum Redefined Lecturer in Mathematics and Data Science at the University of Leeds. Before that, I set up the first Data Science Degree Apprenticeship in England at York St John University. Before York St John I was a lecturer of Mathematics and Biology at the University of York and in Mathematics and Physics at Durham University. I did a BSc in Natural Sciences, MMath and PhD (mathematical physics) at Cambridge University, where I was also Lord Butterfield Harvard Scholar in 2003.

I am passionate about pedagogical research, in particular sustainability, active learning, communication, collaboration, interdisciplinarity, problem solving, programming, employability and meaningful assessments.

I am a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, a Fellow of the Institute of Physics and a Fellow of the Institute for Mathematics and its Applications.

From 2014 I have been York city coordinator and the chapter manager for Yorkshire & the Humber and then the North-East for the Pint of Science festival.

I am external examiner for the Applied Mathematics programme at Xian Jiaotong Liverpool University and have examined PhDs in Mathematics and Physics at Universite de Montreal. I am an honorary member of the University of York Mathematics Department and the York Cross-disciplinary Centre for Complex Systems Analysis. I am professional body accreditation assessor for the Institute of Mathematics and its Applications.

Responsibilities

• Curriculum Redefined - Programme Design
• Pedagogical innovation and research
• Sustainability

Research interests

In addition to my pedagogical interests, my research interests are at the intersection of algebra, data science and mathematical biology. One key interest is how viruses function: what structure they have, how this structure is assembled, and how we can interfere with this process if necessary.

I have recently proposed Therapeutic Interfering Particles based on repurposing insights into the viral assembly process identified by Professor Reidun Twarock (York) and Professor Peter Stockley (Astbury Centre, Leeds). I have also pioneered machine learning and simulation methods in this field.

I am also interested in machine learning mathematical datasets, and am co-convening a Topical Collection on Machine Learning Mathematical Structures as well as a session on Data Science and Machine Learning at the ICCA conference 2023.

Long-standing interests revolve around symmetries, groups and algebras (in particular Clifford algebras), and I have published a book on ADE correspondences with John McKay, Peter Cameron and Yang-Hui He with Cambridge University Press.

Other interests are in History of Mathematics, Sustainability in Education and Global Partnerships. We have an established collaboration with Pretoria and Wits in South Africa, where we hold several substantial grants supporting a range of activities crossing student education and research, experiential learning opportunities through COIL and ASA Datafest hackathons (featured in the ASA magazine and the ARUA conference), as well as convening a Working Group at the CompEd conference.

Qualifications

• MA, MMath, PhD (Cantab)
• Fellow of the Institute of Physics (FInstP)
• Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (SFHEA)
• Fellow of the Institute of Mathematics and its Applications

Professional memberships

• London Mathematical Society
• Institute of Physics
• Institute of Mathematics and its Applications
• AACA Editorial Board
• ICCA Steering Committee and International Advisory Board

Student education

• Curriculum Redefined
• PRiSM
• Applied Mathematics
• Pure Mathematics
• Data Science
• Employability
• Sustainability School lead and member of the University Sustainable Curriculum Team and the Faculty Sustainability team
• Founder and co-chair of the Leeds University Network for Sustainability in Higher Education (LUNSHE) network
• Programme director BSc Data Science
• School lead for Design workshops on Student/staff parterships & Belonging, as well as Assessment & Skills Development with the Learning Design Agency
• Module leader for MATH3015 History of Mathematics
• Module leader for MATH1603 Data Science & Communication
• Supervisor for MATH3001 (Project in Sustainability)
• former module leader for MATH2375 Linear Differential Equations and Transforms
• formerly teaching on MATH2640 Optimisation