Professor Michael Grove BSc MSc PhD NTF FIMA

• PhD, University of Birmingham
• MSc in Astrophysics, Queen Mary, University of London
• BSc (Hons) in Physics with Astrophysics, University of Birmingham
• National Teaching Fellow (2014)
• Fellow of the Institute of Mathematics and its Applications

Prior to Michael being appointed as Deputy Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Education Policy and Academic Standards he was previously Deputy Head and Head of Education within the School of Mathematics with responsibility for overseeing all aspects of the School's teaching and learning provision.

Michael became an academic member of staff within the School of Mathematics in 2015, and before that was the inaugural Director of the University of Birmingham's STEM Education Centre. He is the former Director of the National HE STEM Programme, a three-year initiative which he co-developed and for which he secured funding totalling £21m from the Higher Education Funding Councils for England and Wales.

Between 2009 and 2012 the National HE STEM Programme had a remit to enhance the way in which universities recruited students and delivered programmes of study within the Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) disciplines. He has been a key figure in supporting the STEM subjects deemed strategically important and vulnerable by government in 2005, when he worked to establish the More Maths Grads initiative (2006-2009), a £3.3m project designed to increase and widen participation within the mathematical sciences at university level. Previously he was Associate Director of the UK Maths, Stats and OR Network, a subject centre of the Higher Education Academy to enhance learning and teaching within the mathematical sciences at university level.

A physicist by background, Michael continues to work nationally on issues relating to learning and teaching within higher education. He established the University of Birmingham's Mathematics Support Centre in 2012 to ensure all undergraduate students have access to prompt support to aid their learning of mathematics within any discipline, and this forms one of his main research interests. He has made an international contribution to furthering mathematics support provision, and in recognition of his work in this area he was appointed Associate Director of the sigma Mathematics and Statistics Support Network which was first established through the National HE STEM Programme and then sustained by a further grant from the Higher Education Funding Council for England (2013-2016).

He has been involved in establishing a national induction course and series of postgraduates teaching workshops for those new to teaching and learning mathematics and statistics within UK higher education in conjunction with the Isaac Newton Institute (INI), Cambridge, supporting colleagues to adapt their teaching through the UK's online TALMO initiative, and aiding colleagues who wish to embed an evidence-based perspective to their own teaching and learning practices. He leads work to influence learning and teaching policy and practice, both within mathematics and more widely, with recent examples related to the implications and opportunities of generative AI tools upon education, and the creation of a new national University Teaching Award for the mathematical sciences within higher education (the IMA John Blake University Teaching Medal).

His learning and teaching interests include supporting students at the transition to university, particularly in relation to non-specialist learning of mathematics; the teaching of mechanics, enhancing modelling and problem-solving skills, and helping mathematics students develop the graduate skills and abilities needed for a successful transition into the workplace.

Semester 1

LC/LI Mathematical Modelling and Problem Solving

Research Themes

Michael's research interests are broad and include:

• Supporting mathematical learning at the transition to university.
• Supporting the specialist and more-able mathematics student.
• Mathematical modelling and problem solving.
• Developing graduate skills and attributes within the mathematical sciences.

Recently he has been working on:

• Mathematics support within higher education.
• Developing higher education curricula and enhancing teaching delivery within the mathematical sciences.
• Enhancing assessment and feedback within the mathematical sciences.
• Embedding sustainable innovation and enhancement activities within higher education and measuring their impact.

Michael has worked nationally and internationally on a range of learning and teaching activities including:

• Current member of the Mathcentre team, the UK’s online mathematics support centre.
• Current member of the Committee of the Heads of Departments of Mathematical Sciences.
• Trustee - Parliamentary Science and Technology Information Foundation.
• Editor of the Higher Education Academy funded book Transitions in Undergraduate Mathematics Education (2015).
• Former member of the Department for Children, Schools and Families/Department for Business, Innovation and Skills ‘STEM High Level Strategy Group’ and National STEM Centre ‘STEM Lead Organisations Group’.
• Member of 2007 QAA Subject Benchmark Group for Mathematics, Statistics and Operational Research