School of Mathematics

University chosen to deliver prestigious Q-Step programme

The University of Edinburgh has been selected as one of fifteen UK universities to host ‘Q-Step’, a £19.5 million programme designed to improve the quantitative skills of social scientists, funded by the Nuffield Foundation, the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) and the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE). This is one of the largest partnerships in recent times to be focused on undergraduate social science education in the UK, and will create new degree programmes for students to equip them with the data analysis skills sought by employers. To support these new courses, the Q-Step centres will also provide a range of summer schools, research placements and internships.

The University’s contribution will be hosted by the School of Social and Political Science, and Colin Aitken of the School of Mathematics is on the Executive Committee.  Four lecturers in statistics will be appointed in the School of Social and Political Science over the next two years to support this programme, with the first two starting in April 2014.