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WIMSIG NEWSLETTER — April 2019


Karen Uhlenbec is the first woman to win the Abel Prize


WIMSIG Conference 2020

The WIMSIG Conference 2020, to celebrate women in Australian mathematical sciences, will be held October 1-2 in 2020 at Monash University. Although the date is still 18 months in the future, we hope you start planning now to attend. Meanwhile, we are still looking for a few volunteers to help with organising the conference. Note that you do not need to be based in Melbourne to help! If you are interested, please contact WIMSIG Chair, Jessica Purcell (jessica.purcell@monash.edu).


WIMSIG Mentoring Survey Results

As requested by WIMSIG members at the WIMSIG General Meeting in December 2018, the results of the 2017 mentoring survey have been made available on the AustMS website at https://www.austms.org.au/WIMSIG-mentoring-program.

We are aiming to start a mentoring program this year (2019).


Women in Mathematics Day — May 12, 2019

This year the world will be celebrating the first ever Women in Mathematics Day on Sunday 12 May in honour of the birthday of Maryam Mirzakhani — the first female Fields Medallist.

WIMSIG will be encouraging universities around Australia to host events around this date to celebrate the occasion. It can be something as simple and informal as a "tea and biscuits" gathering, or a more structured networking event or a colloquium by a female speaker. More ideas can be found here.

If you’d rather not wait for WIMSIG to contact you, you can contact us with your ideas by emailing Julia Collins (julia.collins@amsi.org.au). 


ABC News talent nomination

ABC News is working to improve its diversity of expert talent and spokespeople across news programming for a more balanced and appropriate representation of men and women in stories. Women are invited to nominate themselves or their colleagues as potential contributors to ABC News digital and broadcast platforms — as sources and commentators, or to provide analysis/opinion. The nomination form can be found here.


2019 Young Tall Poppy Science Awards

Nominations for the 2019 Young Tall Poppy Science Awards for scientific research and communication have now opened. Nominations close Wednesday 10 April, 2019.


Veski 2019 Inspiring Women programs (Victoria only)

Applications are now open. There are two programs — see links below for details.


EVENTS

Women in Mathematics Day Event at Monash University

International Day of Women in Mathematics is May 12, the birthday of Maryam Mirzakhani.

To mark this, Monash University will host a gathering for women studying mathematics on Thursday 9 May at 2pm in the Mathematics building foyer (Clayton campus), followed by a special colloquium at 3pm (speaker TBA) and reception at 4pm.

Contact: Sevvandi Kandanaarachchi (sevvandi.kandanaarachchi@monash.edu).


Special Colloquium celebrating Women in Mathematics

  • Monday 13 May at 2:00—3:00pm (talks followed by afternoon tea)
  • Parnell building (7), Room 326, The University of Queensland

This event follows from a suggestion coming from the ICM Satellite event "World Meeting for Women in Mathematics" — see https://may12.womeninmaths.org/#.

There will be a few short talks about the work of some women mathematicians, including this year's Abel prize winner, Karen Uhlenbeck! The talks will be addressed to a general audience, from first-year students to fellow mathematicians. 


African Women in Mathematics Conference

  • July 2-5, 2019
  • Stellenbosch University, South Africa

This four-day conference is aimed at African-famed mathematicians (both pure and applied) and will be focused around the theme of Women in Mathematical Communities.

For further enquiries, please email Karin-Therese Howell (kthowell@sun.ac.za). You may have met Karin at the inaugural WIMSIG Conference in 2017.


International School on Dynamical Systems and Applications

The third meeting of the Tunisian Women Mathematicians' Association (TWMA) will take place in Monastir (Tunisia) from September 5-10, 2019. More details can be found here.


OPPORTUNITIES

CHOOSEMATHS Mentoring

CHOOSEMATHS Mentoring is inspiring and supporting a new generation of female STEM students. Running nationally, the mentor program links Australian university students and maths professionals with Year 9 & 10 high school girls in order to strengthen engagement of girls and women in maths.

We are seeking mentors (male and female) who are enthusiastic about maths and excited to talk to students about how maths has helped them on their own pathway. If you’re studying a STEM-related subject at university or if you are using maths in your job, find out more and register your interest in being a mentor at https://choosemaths.org.au/becomeamentor/.


OWSD PhD Fellowship

The OWSD PhD Fellowship is offered to women scientists from Science and Technology Lagging Countries to undertake PhD research in the natural, engineering and information technology sciences at a host institute in another developing country in the South.

Costs covered include travel to the host country, tuition fees, board, accommodation and living expenses, and a special allowance for travel to international conferences. The programme is administered with funds generously provided by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida) and is offered in partnership with host institutes throughout the developing world.

Two types of fellowship are available:

  • A full-time fellowship (maximum 4 years funding), where the research is undertaken entirely at a host institute in another developing country in the South.
  • A sandwich fellowship, where the candidate must be a registered PhD student in her home country and undertakes part of her studies at a host institute in another developing country.

The sandwich fellowship is awarded for a minimum of 1 and a maximum of 3 research visits at the host institute. OWSD particularly encourages candidates to consider the sandwich option, which allows them to earn the PhD in their home country while accessing specialist researchers and equipment abroad, at the host institute.

All information regarding the fellowship, including full eligibility and selection criteria, required application materials, and the link to the application form, can be found on the OWSD website. All application materials are also available in French at https://owsd.net/bourses-de-doctorat.

The deadline for applications is May 30, 2019.

Questions regarding the fellowship may be sent to fellowships@owsd.net.


OWSD Early Career Fellowship

The OWSD Early Career Fellowship is a prestigious award of up to USD 50,000, generously provided by Canada’s International Development Research Centre (IDRC), and is offered to women scientists from eligible Science and Technology Lagging Countries (STLCs) who have completed their PhDs in science, technology, engineering and mathematics subjects within the last 10 years and are employed at an academic or scientific research institute in one of the eligible countries. Early Career fellows are supported for two years to continue their research at an international level while based at their home institutes, to build up research groups that will attract international visitors, and to link with industry.

The fellowship provides funding for a wide range of expenses, including equipment, consumables, research visits, exchanges and programmes, teaching and assistance, information resources, product development and linking with industry, outreach, communications and networking, and other expenses.

All details regarding eligibility, specifications of the research projects, selection and information on how to apply can be found on the OWSD website.

The deadline for completed online applications is April 30, 2019.

The official language for the application is English; however, all information about the programme will also be available in French shortly at https://bit.ly/2IKPfRZ.

Questions about this fellowship can be sent to earlycareer@owsd.net.


MEDIA


Have you read an interesting article? Have some news? Have an opportunity available?

Please send items to WIMSIG-news@women.austms.org.au.

Note: Newsletters are published on the 1st day of each month (or soon after). The deadline for submitted items is the 27th day of each month.


Updated: 02 Apr 2019
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