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WIMSIG NEWSLETTER - April 2015

Choose Maths

On Tuesday 28 April, AMSI and the BHP Billiton Foundation launched the Choose Maths project.

Assoc. Prof. Lesley Ward (Chair of WIMSIG) attended the launch. "It's great to see such an investment in a variety of strategies. The engagement of women and girls in maths is important both for society and individually. As AMSI says, Choose Maths aims to build self sustaining education communities where girls and young women share equally in the rewarding careers and rich life experiences that mathematics offers."

The Choose Maths project has four core components:

  1. Professional development for teachers in 120 schools and additional resources for schools across the country.
  2. National women in mathematics careers awareness campaign.
  3. Scholarships and networking support for women in maths.
  4. An awards program to recognise excellence in teaching and learning.

It also has a research strand on gender in mathematics, which will inform the other components. The five-year project has a budget of $22M.

AMSI is taking on several new staff for the Choose Maths project. Applications close on May 7 for a Level B researcher with a strong interest in gender or mathematics and mathematics education. For more details, see the job description.

Gender equity in maths is affected by a complex and interlocking set of issues. To make substantial and lasting progress we need to work at the tertiary, secondary, primary, societal, and family levels, in partnership with other stakeholders. Choose Maths offers an unprecedented chance to tackle many facets of these issues, in a coordinated way. It promises to transform the landscape of gender equity in Australian mathematics.

There will be opportunities for WIMSIG to partner with AMSI on parts of the Choose Maths project and we enthusiastically look forward to contributing.

The launch received a lot of media coverage:

Janine McIntosh will be visiting major cities to give briefings in the coming months. There will be two briefings in Brisbane on Monday 18 May.

  • UQ @ 2:00 pm, Hawken Building (50), room N202
  • QUT @ 11:30am, GP-P638

Other cities dates and venues are yet to be confirmed.


Do you have some news to share?

Please send items to the WIMSIG Secretary, Joanne Hall.


EVENTS

  • AMSI Winter School 2015
    • The University of Queensland, June 29 - July 10
    • There will be a Women in Maths Networking Event featuring academic and industry mathematicians on Thursday 2 July from 5:00-7:00pm in the Science Learning Centre, Level 2, Priestley Building 67.
  • IGA/AMSI Worskhop on Geometric Quantisation
    • The University of Adelaide, July 27-31, 2015
    • The workshop features a large number of well-known international speakers, including several female invited speakers. A highlight of the workshop will be a talk by the world-renowned female mathematician Prof Michèle Vergne.
  • 59th Annual Meeting of the Australian Mathematical Society
    • Flinders University, September 28 - October 1, 2015
    • There will again be a Women in Mathematics Dinner. Stay tuned for more details.
  • Women in Mathematics Gatherings
    • WIMSIG will be hosting Women in Mathematics Gatherings in most capital cities in May/June.
    • These gathering are a great opportunity to meet and support each other. Gatherings are open to women and men, students, academics, industry professionals, and other interested people.
    • The following date in Sydney is confirmed, with dates in other cities to be announced soon.
      • Sydney: Friday 22 May at 12-2pm in the UNSW Mathematics Department, room RC-3082. RSVP here.

Do you have an event you’d like promoted?

  • We would be happy to advertise to our membership any conference or workshop that has specific and suitable measures in place to increase female participation.
  • See the WIMSIG Events page for an advice sheet for event organisers.
  • If you would like your event to be advertised to the WIMSIG membership, please contact the group’s webmaster, Amy Glen.


OPPORTUNITIES

The following funding opportunities may be of interest to you, your colleagues, or students.

  • AustMS Alf van der Poorten Travelling Fellowship
    • The AustMS Alf van der Poorten Travelling Fellowships aim to assist young pure mathematicians to travel in Australia and overseas so that they can enrich their mathematical research through contact with other mathematicians.
    • Please note recent changes to the Alf van der Poorten Fellowship. In particular, the amount of the Fellowship has been increased and the eligibility period extended from two years to five years after PhD. The time between awards has also been increased.
    • The next closing date is May 16 and the following closing date is not until May 16 in 2017.
    • The Fellowships Committee is keen to encourage applications for the current round.
    • WIMSIG warmly encourages you to apply and to publicise the Fellowship to others who could benefit from it.
    • Applications are due by May 16.
  • AustMS Lift-Off Fellowships
    • Are you about to submit your PhD thesis?
    • The AustMS Lift-Off Fellowships provide funding to jump start the career of a mathematician. This can be particularly useful to fund a project for that few months between submission and examination of your PhD thesis.
  • Choose Maths Gender Researcher
    • An experienced researcher, accustomed to managing a research portfolio, with a strong interest in gender or mathematics and mathematics education and expertise in writing scholarly publications is needed as a key component of a new and exciting project aimed at increasing female participation in mathematics.
    • Applications are due by May 7.

Do you know of an opportunity that may be of interest?

Please send items to the WIMSIG Secretary, Joanne Hall.


MEDIA

Have you read an interesting article?

Please send items to the WIMSIG Secretary, Joanne Hall.


Updated: 05 May 2015
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