Kit Yates

• Professor of Mathematical Biology and Public Engagement, University of Bath

I'm a Professor of Mathematical Biology and Public Engagement and also an author.

In my first book, the Maths of Life and Death ( I explore the true stories of life-changing events in which the application (or misapplication) of mathematics has played a critical role: patients crippled by faulty genes and entrepreneurs bankrupt by faulty algorithms; innocent victims of miscarriages of justice and the unwitting victims of software glitches.

My second book How to Expect the Unexpected ( is about predicting the future. "Ever since the dawn of human civilisation, we have been trying to make predictions about what's in store for us. We do this on a personal level, so that we can get on with our lives efficiently (should I hang my
laundry out to dry, or will it rain?). But we also have to predict on a much larger scale, often for the good of our broader society (how can we spot economic downturns or prevent terrorist attacks?)."

For my day job I work on a diverse range of areas of Biology in which randomness plays an important role.

I have studied the migration behaviours of cells in order to understand early embryonic diseases and the collective behaviour of locusts in order to help prevent outbreaks. I have worked to understand how ants make their descisions as a group and modelled how parasites can effectively evade the immune system.

I have developed frameworks for better representing evolutionary game theory and tools for tracking the movement patterns of bacteria. I have even tried to demonstrate how birds' eggs and zebrafish get their beautiful patterns.

Who knew that Maths could be so useful?

• 2025–present Professor of Mathematical Biology and Public Engagement, University of Bath
• 2017–2025 Senior Lecturer in Mathematical Biology, University of Bath
• 2014–2017 Lecturer in Mathematical Biology, University of Bath
• 2011–2015 Junior Research Fellow, Universiy of Oxford

• 2011 University of Oxford, DPhil (Systems Biology)
• 2007 University of Oxford, MSc (Mathematical Modelling and Scientific Computing)
• 2006 University of Oxford, BA (Mathematics)

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