Mike Grannell

Teaching


Research students

Since joining the OU, I have co-supervised four part-time research students. The first of these, J. P. Murphy, was registered at the University of Central Lancashire and obtained his Ph.D. from there in May 1999. The second, G. K. Bennett, obtained his Ph.D. from the OU in May 2004. The third, A. D. Forbes, obtained his Ph.D. from the OU in December 2006. The fourth, G. J. Lovegrove, obtained his Ph.D. from the OU in March 2009. The details are as follows:
  • John Murphy, Steiner triple systems and cycle structure, co-supervised with Terry Griggs.
  • Geoff Bennett, Some investigations in Steiner triple systems and related designs, co-supervised with Terry Griggs and Bridget Webb.
  • Tony Forbes, Configurations and colouring problems in block designs, co-supervised with Terry Griggs.
  • Graham Lovegrove, Combinatorial designs and their automorphism groups, co-supervised with Terry Griggs and Kathleen Quinn. 

Curriculum connections

M836 Coding Theory

Terry Griggs and I originally wrote the module notes for this 30 point M.Sc. module. It was presented for the first time in 2002, since when I have continued to maintain the module and produce the assessment materials. The module, which Jozef Siran and I revised in 2020, has been very successful, popular with students, and has good retention and pass rates.

Generally

Research activity in combinatorics informs our curriculum through modules such as M836 and the undergraduate module MT365 (Graphs, Networks and Design) which is also popular with students and has good retention and pass rates. Our students, who form the majority of part-time mathematics students in the UK at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels, would become progressively disadvantaged were this link to be weakened or severed.
Contact: Mike Grannell mike.grannell@open.ac.uk