LAHORE  -A three-day international conference on "Mathematics and its Applications (ICMA 2017)" began on Monday at the Government College University Lahore to provide a platform to scientists, academicians and industrial professionals from all over the world to present their research in the field of Mathematical Sciences.

As many as 11 foreign and 38 national scientists would present their papers at the conference organised by the University’s Mathematics Department in collaboration with the GCU Chawla Mathematical Society, Punjab Higher Education Commission (PHEC) and the Higher Education Commission, Pakistan. GCU Vice Chancellor Prof Dr Hassan Amir Shah chaired the inaugural session of the conference, which was also addressed by University of Malakand Vice Chancellor Prof Dr Gul Zaman, Prof Vasile Berinde from the Technical University of Cluj-Napoca, Romania, Prof Ljubsia Kocianac from the University of Nis, Serbia, International Islamic University Islamabad Dean Dr Arshad Zia and GCU Dean Faculty of Science and Technology Prof Dr Islam Ullah Khan.

In his keynote address, Prof Vasile Berinde said that there were two major objections being raised to mathematician these days; one that they were publishing too much and other was that they were doing less practical and more theoretical research. “I agree with the second that we mostly prefer to generalize and extend the existing theories instead of looking into application of these theories,” he said.

Prof Berinde said that he had turned down two invitations, including one from India, to attend this conference. “It’s because I have seen some extraordinary research work by the students and faculty of GCU Abdus Salam School of Mathematical Sciences in last few years and I want to personally congratulate them,” he added.

Speaking on the occasion, University of Malakand VC Prof Dr Gul Zaman laid stress on establishing research linkages, especially in the fields of science, among all universities of Pakistan, saying that “universities in Pakistan need to pool in their resources for the promotion of research and higher education in the country”.

Vice Chancellor Prof Dr Hassan Amir Shah said that GCU was holding three conferences this week but this conference had a special importance because GC Mathematics Department had been the most elderly place of learning and imparting knowledge of Mathematics in Pakistan. “It was the only centre of teaching Mathematics in this part of the subcontinent until 1920 when the University of the Punjab established its Department of Mathematics,” he added. Prof Shah hoped that the conference would also provide opportunities for the participants to exchange new ideas, share knowledge and experiences to establish research relations and to find global partners for future collaborations.

Prof Dr Mujahid Abbas, the conference chairman, said the conference would cover all the major areas of Mathematical Sciences and public numerical issues such as Fixed Point Theory and its Applications, Fuzzy logics, Topological Vector Spaces and Nonlinear Operator Theory, Best Approximations, Soft Set Theory and Convex Optimisation Theory. He said that mathematicians from South Africa, Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Italy are also participating in the conference.