What is SANUM?

South African Numerical and Applied Mathematics (SANUM) is a special interest group for South African and international academics in the areas of applied mathematics, numerical analysis, and scientific computing, and a yearly symposium with presentations and posters on these and related topics.

The symposium typically rotates amongst host institutions: Stellenbosch University, the University of Pretoria, the University of the Witwatersrand, and University of Johannesburg. It serves as the annual symposium for the Numerical and Applied Mathematics research theme of the DSI-NRF Centre of Excellence in Mathematical and Statistical Sciences (CoE MaSS).

History

The SANUM meeting came into existence in 1975 when two eminent mathematicians, Lothar Collatz (Hamburg) and Fritz John (New York), happened to visit South Africa at the same time. A number of local researchers used the opportunity to organize a meeting at the (then) University of Natal, at which a total of ten papers were presented. From here the meeting grew in strength, with numerous famous numerical and applied mathematicians passing through. Aside from a few missing years, the meeting has been held annually, which makes SANUM major event in the calendar of South African numerical and applied mathematics.

Archived abstracts/speaker lists

In 1997, SANUM was not a separate meeting but a special session at the joint AMS-SAMS meeting held in Pretoria, 25-28 June.[1], [2] The 2020 symposium was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The 2021 and 2022 meetings were held as special sessions at the SAM congress (virtually in 2021 and in Stellenbosch in 2022[3], [4]).

A list of the meeting dates and locations can be found here.

In the very early days of SANUM, the Computer Science Department of the University of Natal also published full-length manuscripts from those authors who were willing to provide them. When that was discontinued, special editions of a journal were twice used for the purpose:

Photographs

We are also trying to compile a collection of photographs of plenary speakers from past SANUM meetings. You can find these here.

Archived websites