October 23, 2000–Throughout the People’s Republic of China, Wolfram Research is seeing an increase in the use of Mathematica, already used by thousands of academic institutions around the world. Recently, three more universities have been added to the list of Mathematica-licensed campuses, joining other schools such as Tsinghua University and Beijing University. So far this year, Southwest University, Hunan Normal University, and Fudan University have all signed multiple-year agreements to make Mathematica available to hundreds of faculty, staff, and students on campus.
In an effort to make Mathematica available to more academic institutions throughout the People’s Republic of China, Wolfram Research has developed the China Grant Program. Designed to promote technology growth, the China Grant Program offers assistance to qualified schools. Grants are awarded to applicants and institutions showing outstanding creative promise in using Mathematica to enhance their education and research activities.
Under the new grant program, the Fudan University Department of Mathematics has begun using Mathematica more extensively for teaching and research. Mathematica-based courses offered by Fudan University include Mathematics Modeling, in which students are trained to solve practical questions using mathematical software, as well as a course to teach students how to use mathematical software such as Mathematica.
The students and faculty involved in these courses are not the only ones to benefit from the new Mathematica license program. “There are more than 100 teachers, 480 undergraduate students, and 120 graduate students in our department,” explained Liu Jin, Mathematics Department faculty member and Mathematica Site Administrator, when asked about Mathematica‘s use on campus. “I think most of them will use Mathematica as a tool to help their research and study. And I think the staff and students in other departments, such as the Mechanics Department and the Physics Department, will use Mathematica too.”
“Through the China Grant Program, Wolfram Research encourages universities not only to adopt Mathematica as the main teaching tool in their research and in their classrooms but also to assist in developing interactive Mathematica-based courseware that can be shared by educators worldwide,” said Christy Uden, Wolfram Research International Business Development Executive. Similar programs have been established for academic institutions and educators in Russia and India.
To obtain more information on making Mathematica available at your organization or to take advantage of the China Grant Program, send email to info@wolfram.com or visit http://www.wolfram.com/services/intdealers for a reseller nearest you.