Teaching Fellow in Mathematics at Queen's University Belfast
Former Lecturer in Mathematics at California Polytechnic State University
Former postdoc & stipendiary lecturer at Oxford
Brian Tyrrell-Nic Dhonncha
Keywords: (un)decidability in field arithmetic, number theory, automated-theorem-proving limitations, undergraduate mathematics education, gesture & embodied cognition, proof comprehension.
I have a very wide range of interests. My doctorate was in model theory, number theory, and algebraic geometry; particularly in decidability and definability questions that arise in field arithmetic with a geometric influence. I am interested in undergraduate mathematical proof conception, and am collaborating with Professor Vladislav Kokushkin at JMU on understanding the role of gesture by undergraduates during cognitively demanding high-level mathematics tasks. During my master's degree I focused on category-theoretic research that can be applied to natural language processing and language translation.
I have completed the Advanced Teaching & Learning Programme at Oxford, making me Associate Fellow of the HEA. I have a DPhil (aka PhD) in Mathematics, and an MSc in Mathematics & Foundations of Computer Science, both from the University of Oxford. Before this I was awarded a BA (Mod) in Mathematics by Trinity College Dublin.
I am deeply interested in the theory & practise of effective, constructively aligned teaching, and am keen to make mathematics a more approachable and friendly subject for all. In 2023 I won an Individual Award for Excellence in Teaching from the Oxford Mathematical, Physical & Life Sciences Division.
I am proficient in LaTeX, Python, and C++.
Legacy site: tyrrellmaths.co.uk. No longer updated.
