Kit Yates

Kit Yates is a Professor of Mathematical Biology and Public Engagmement in the Department of Mathematical Sciences at the University of Bath. He completed his PhD in mathematics at the University of Oxford in 2011.

His research demonstrates that mathematics can be used to describe all sorts of real-world phenomena: from embryo formation to locust swarming and from sleeping sickness to egg-shell patterning. He is particularly interested in the role that randomness plays in biology. His research into mathematical biology has been covered by the BBC, the Guardian, the Telegraph, the Daily Mail, RTE, Scientific American and Reuters amongst others.

Alongside his academic position, Kit is also an author and science communicator. He has written three books: The Maths of Life and Death (2019), How To Expect the Unexpected (2023) and You Don't Know What You're missing (2026).