WIMSIG NEWSLETTER - February 2015

Australian Council of Heads of Mathematical Sciences (ACHMS) Meeting

A/Prof Lesley Ward (Chair of the WIMSIG Executive Committee) addressed the ACHMS meeting hosted by AMSI in February. Her presentation was entitled Gender Equity in Australian Schools of Mathematical Sciences: A Collaborative Venture. There was much discussion afterwards about the various things that a Head of School could do to support their female staff. The slides from Lesley's presentation are available in the Past Events section of the WIMSIG Events page.

SAGE Forum

The Science Australia Gender Equity (SAGE) Forum is the Australian Academy of Science’s initiative to increase female participation in science-based careers. Prof Nalini Joshi (The University of Sydney) is a member of the Steering Committee. A/Prof Asha Rao (Immediate Past Chair of the WIMSIG Executive Committee) participated in a workshop in November 2014. The SAGE Forum is now developing a trial of the UK's Athena SWAN Charter for Australian organisations.

Pleiades Awards in Astronomy

The Pleiades Awards have been established by the Women in Astronomy chapter of the Astronomical Society of Australia. These Awards recognise the implementation of best practice for gender equity in Astronomy research organisations. The first Pleadies Awards were announced in January 2015.

Women in Mathematics Lunch at ANZIAM 2015

Thanks to all those who participated in the Women in Maths lunch at ANZIAM 2015 in February. A big thank-you to Scott McCue, Matt Simpson, and the ANZIAM 2015 team too, and also special thanks to the guest panellists Anne Juel, Leah Keshet, Kerry Landman, Mary Myerscough, and Natalie Thamwattana for sharing their experiences and opinions. Interviews with the guest panellists are available on the WIMSIG Q&A page.

Do you have some news to share?

Please send items to the WIMSIG Secretary, Joanne Hall.

EVENTS

• 4th Australia New Zealand Applied Probability Workshop
  • Vine Inn, Barossa, April 7-10, 2015
• IGA/AMSI Symmetries and Spinors - Interactions between Geometry and Physics Workshop
  • The University of Adelaide, April 13-17, 2015
  • On the Tuesday at 3:00pm, there will be a WIMSIG gathering (open to both women and men) - a great opportunity for the workshop participants and staff members of South Australian mathematics departments to meet and get to know each other.
• 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.

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.

FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES

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

• L’Oréal Australia & New Zealand For Women in Science Fellowships
  • The $25,000 L’Oréal Australia & New Zealand For Women in Science Fellowships are intended to help early career women scientists to consolidate their careers and rise to leadership positions in science. The Fellowships are awarded to women who have shown scientific excellence in their career to date and who have an appropriate research plan that will be assisted by the one-year Fellowship.
  • Applications close on April 7.

• Anne Penfold Street Wards and Cherlyl E. Praeger Travel Awards
  • The AustMS WIMSIG Cheryl E. Praeger Travel Awards are designed to provide full or partial support for Australian female mathematicians to attend conferences or to visit collaborators.
  • The AustMS WIMSIG Anne Penfold Street Awards provide additional financial support to Australian mathematicians for their caring responsibilities, while they travel for conferences or research visits to collaborators.
  • Applications for the next round of Awards are due by April 1.

• ARC Funding
  • Discovery Project proposals close March 4
  • DECRA proposals close March 25
  • Discovery Indigenous proposals close April 1
  • Note the new eligibility exemption criteria for DECRA relating to caring for children.

MEDIA

• Attending conferences with small children
  • This guest post on Terry Tao's What's New blog discusses some options, particularly for breastfeeding mothers.
• Addressing the underrepresentation of women in mathematic conferences
  • A thoughtful analysis focused on the USA, however most issues apply to Australia.
  • Do you know somebody who is organising a conference? Ask them how many of the invited speakers or session conveners are female. This article could be a good way to start a conversation.
  • WIMSIG has produced an advice sheet for event organisers. This is available on the WIMSIG Events page.
• Teachers' gender bias in maths affects girls later
  • This article discusses research indicating that some primary school teachers exhibit gender bias when grading mathematics tests.