The University of Birmingham is a research intensive university in the heart of England's second city. The University is one of the leading research institutions in the UK and with 26,000 students from 150 countries. Established in 1900, Birmingham ranks 5th in the UK for research excellence; in the most recent Research Assessment Exercise in 2001, seven areas of Birmingham's research achieved the six star rating - a rating only given to studies of significant international importance.

The School of Mathematics hosts the Maths Stats and OR Network, which is one of the subject networks of the National Higher Education Academy. This Network promotes, and develops learning and teaching in Higher Education Mathematics, Statistics and Operational Research.