• Department of Mathematics and Statistics
• European Study Group with Industry (ESGI)

European Study Group with Industry (ESGI) – Exeter 2026

The 195th ESGI will be held on 20-24 July 2026 at the University of Exeter.

Location: Peter Chalk Centre (Exeter, EX4 4QQ)

Start: Monday 20 July 2026, 10am. Link to full programme [pdf]

Registration: Applications for fully funded places have now closed. To attend on a self-funded basis, please register here.

The European Study Group with Industry (ESGI) is a week-long workshop that brings together mathematical and data scientists with partners from business, industry, and government. Partners present a mathematical or computational problem. Participants then form focus groups and work on finding a solution. ESGIs are internationally recognised as a cost-effective means of making significant progress on solving current industry problems in a short amount of time. Several ESGI events are held throughout Europe as a core activity of the European Consortium for Mathematics in Industry.

ESGI 195 will follow the traditional ESGI format:

• Starting 10:00 on Monday partners presents their challenges to the academic participants
• The participating mathematicians, computer scientists and data scientists split into groups and, for the next three days, intensely work on idea brainstorming, model building, and problem solving. Each group is supported by a facilitator.
• On Friday until 14:00, each group presents their progress and recommended routes forward.
• After the meeting, appropriate deliverables from the week will be made available to the organisation; traditionally this has been a technical report summarising the week’s work. Examples of past reports can be found in Mathematics in Industry Reports.
• In principle, there are no limits to the problems that can be tackled! We are expecting over 70 mathematical and data scientists from across the UK and Europe to participate in ESGI195. Their expertise often spans statistical modelling, data science, fluid and solid mechanics, heat and mass transport, and machine learning.

For any inquiries please contact the organisers by emailing esgi195@exeter.ac.uk

Confirmed partners and challenges:

• ATASS Sports - Accessible software tools for vision-impaired mathematicians and data scientists. In memory of Dr. Robin Williams. challenge.pdf
• DNV - A back-of-the-envelope system-strength metric for inverter-dominated grids. challenge.pdf
• IEG Group - Analysing graph theoretic properties of floor plans to improve processing of planning applications. challenge.pdf
• Kestrel Institute - Formalizing the Mathematics of Cryptography in ACL2. challenge.pdf
• NATS - Fleet-Level Oceanic Service Optimisation: AI-Assisted Real-Time Decision Support for Weather-Aware Flight Profile Changes. challenge.pdf
• NEOM Nature Reserve - Modelling carbon capture from large-scale active regreening. challenge.pdf
• SRK Exploration - Spatial mapping of mineral prospectivity under complex exploration biases. challenge.pdf
• The Donkey Sanctuary - Developing a Donkey Risk Index for monitoring Donkey welfare in the Global South. challenge.pdf

We are grateful for financial support from:

• Heilbronn Institute for Mathematical Research
• Innovate UK Business Connect
• International Centre for Mathematical Sciences
• London Mathematical Society
• Society of Research Software Engineering
• University of Exeter Translational Funding
• UK Knowledge Exchange Hub for Mathematical Sciences

Organising and scientific committee:

• Prof. Chris Budd OBE, FIMA, C Math, NTF (University of Bath)
• Dr. Dawn Geatches (Innovate UK Business Connect)
• Dr. Tony Samuel (University of Exeter)
• Prof. Stefan Siegert (University of Exeter)
• Dr. Magdalena Strauss (University of Exeter)