Maths faces ‘worrying decline’ without government intervention

France needs national plan to arrest slump, say Nobel winners and other maths leaders

A collective of 180 leading mathematicians, physicists and mathematics organisations has told the government that a national strategy is vital to address the country’s decline in the subject.

The authors of the open letter include Pierre Agostini and Alain Aspect, both Nobel laureates in physics. They say a strategy covering every level of education and research is now necessary to be equal to the task of arresting the decline in maths in France noted by several national and international reports.