WIMSIG Conference 2017: Celebration of Women in Australian Mathematical Sciences

24—26 September 2017
University of South Australia, City West Campus, Adelaide

#WIMSIG2017

Poster
"Build a New Network" Song
Conference Photos

“Build a New Network”, to the tune of Waltzing Matilda. Lyrics: Ami Radunskaya. Photo credit: Sia Duff. (Photo Credit: Sia Duff)
L-R: Grace Joshy (Poster Session), Giang Nguyen (Treasurer), Sue Tyerman (Administrator), Lesley Ward (Director), Catherine Greenhill (Special Sessions), Amy Glen (Website Editor).
Not shown: Lynn Batten (Former Advisor), Ngamta (Natalie) Thamwattana (Conference Booklet & Poster).

This conference will showcase the research of women in Australian mathematical sciences — the first such conference in Australia. The conference welcomes people of any gender, but all the research presentations will be given by women.

"Mathematical sciences" is broadly interpreted to include pure mathematics, applied mathematics, mathematical statistics, applied statistics, biostatistics, bioinformatics, mathematical biology, mathematical physics, mathematics in industry, etc.

There will be special sessions, plenary speakers, a poster session, a conference dinner, a panel on gender equity in the mathematical sciences and beyond, and a professional development workshop. Childcare will be available.

WIMSIG believes this conference will play a really important role in advancing gender equity in Australian mathematical sciences. Both female researchers and senior leaders (of any gender) in our discipline will find it eye-opening and inspiring to be in a majority-female research environment, even for a few days; not to mention the development of potential research collaborations, networking, exposure to potential candidates for hiring, etc.

Registration is now open!

Media

Interview with Kate Smith-Miles on ABC’s The World Today
— Tuesday 26 September 2017

Photo Request

As part of our efforts to increase the visibility of women in the mathematical sciences, we’d like to display some photos of the female conference participants. We encourage you to upload a photo of yourself through the Profile page of the conference registration system. By doing so, you consent to the use of your photo at the conference, on the conference website, in our reporting, and for other WIMSIG purposes. Thank you.

Registration Fees

Early Bird Standard: $220 (after Aug 25: $275)
(includes workshop, reception & Mon 25 Sept dinner)
Early Bird Concession: $165 (after Aug 25: $210)
(includes workshop, reception & Mon 25 Sept dinner)
— for students/unemployed/retired
PD Workshop: Free for attendees, $11 per guest
Conference Reception: Free for attendees, $33 per guest
Conference Dinner: Free for attendees, $111 per guest

Note: As of Friday 1 September, guest tickets for the Conference Dinner can now be requested and paid for via the registration system. (Enter the number of dinner guests on the Events page and then proceed to the Payment page.)

Important Dates

Early Bird registration deadline: Friday 25 August 2017
Travel Grant application deadline: 5pm (ACST), Fri 25 Aug 2017
Abstract submission deadline: Thursday 31 August 2017
Notification of Travel Grant outcomes: Friday 1 September 2017
Registration deadline: Sunday 17 September 2017
Conference: 24—26 September 2017

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Schedule

Sunday 24 September
- 2:15pm: Registration desk opens (Level 5, Hawke Building)
- 3:00pm—7:00pm: Professional development workshop, welcome reception
Monday 25 September
- 8:30am—5:30pm: Registration, opening remarks, plenary talks, special sessions, poster sessions, panel
- 7:00pm—10:00pm: Conference dinner
Tuesday 26 September
- 9:30am—4:45pm: Plenary talks, special sessions, poster sessions, closing remarks

For the full conference timetable, see the Programme page.

Note: The registration desk will be in the Hawke Building. A secure storage area for luggage will be available throughout the conference.

Plenary Speakers

Our four plenary speakers span statistics, mathematics in industry, pure mathematics, and applied mathematics.

Prof Kerrie Mengersen (QUT)
Dr Christine O’Keefe (CSIRO)
Prof Malabika Pramanik (University of British Columbia, Canada)
Prof Ami Radunskaya (Pomona College, USA, and President of the US Association for Women in Mathematics (AWM))

Details of the plenary talks, including titles, abstracts and biographies of the speakers, can be found on the Plenary Speakers page.

Plenary Speakers at Conference Dinner (Photo Credit: Sia Duff)
L-R: Prof Kerrie Mengersen (QUT), Dr Christine O'Keefe (CSIRO), Prof Malabika Pramanik (University of British Columbia), Prof Ami Radunskaya (Pomona College, USA).

Special Sessions

There will be special sessions in the following 13 areas.

Algebra and Discrete Mathematics
Organiser:
- Barbara Maenhaut (UQ)
Analysis and PDEs
Organisers:
- Julie Clutterbuck (Monash)
- Valentina Wheeler (Wollongong)
Biostatistics and Bioinformatics
Organisers:
- Jean Yang (Sydney)
- Sophie Zaloumis (BioStats Centre, Melbourne)
Cryptography, Coding and Compression
Organiser:
- Joanne Hall (RMIT)
Dynamical Systems and Fluid Dynamics
Organisers:
- Sophie Calabretto (Macquarie)
- Cecilia Gonzalez-Tokman (UQ)
Gender Equity and Diversity in Mathematics
Organisers:
- Alex James (Canterbury)
- Inge Koch (AMSI)
Geometry and Topology
Organisers:
- Marcy Robertson (Melbourne)
- Hang Wang (Adelaide)

Mathematical Biology
Organisers:
- Jennifer Flegg (Melbourne)
- Vanessa Venturi (UNSW)
Mathematical Physics and Industrial Mathematics
Organisers:
- Lilia Ferrario (ANU)
- Susan Scott (ANU)
- Lucia Falzon (DST)
- Fiona Fletcher (DST)
- Antoinette Tordesillas (Melbourne)
Operations Research and Optimisation
Organisers:
- Christina Burt (Melbourne)
- Reena Kapoor (Melbourne)
Statistics
Organisers:
- Yanan Fan (UNSW)
- Leah Kelly (Macquarie Group)
- Terry Neeman (ANU)
Contributed Talks
Organiser:
- Grace Joshy (ANU)
Posters
Organiser:
- Grace Joshy (ANU)

For abstracts and session timetables, see the Programme page.

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Professional Development Workshop

On the afternoon of Sunday 24 September, there will be a professional development workshop on shameless self-promotion, facilitated by Dr Maria Gardiner (ThinkWell). More details are here.

Conference Reception

The conference reception will be held on the night of Sunday 24 September in the Kerry Packer Civic Gallery, Hawke Building, during the Li Xu exhibition.

Panel #1: The Gender Equity Landscape in the Australian Mathematical Sciences

This panel will be held on the Monday afternoon of the conference. The following panellists are confirmed.

Prof Nalini Joshi (The University of Sydney)
Prof Kerrie Mengersen (Queensland University of Technology)
Prof Aleks Owczarek (The University of Melbourne)
Prof Cheryl Praeger (The University of Western Australia)
Prof Jacqui Ramagge (The University of Sydney)

Conference Dinner

The conference dinner will be held on the night of Monday 25 September at the National Wine Centre. Childcare will be provided (for participants who have requested it).

The Dinner includes a panel discussion.

Panel #2: Broader Perspectives on Gender Equity, Across Countries and Disciplines

A/Prof Sarah Brough (UNSW, and past Chair, Women in Astronomy — now the Inclusion, Diversity and Equity in Astronomy (IDEA) Chapter of the Astronomical Society of Australia)
Prof Ami Radunskaya (Pomona College, USA, and President of the US Association for Women in Mathematics (AWM))

AustMS President with Panellists (Photo Credit: Sia Duff)
L-R: Prof Kate Smith-Miles (AustMS President), A/Prof Sarah Brough, Prof Jacqui Rammage, Prof Ami Radunskaya, Prof Nalini Joshi, Prof Cheryl Praeger. Not shown: Prof Kerrie Mengersen, Prof Aleks Owczarek.

Travel Grants

The AustMS Women in Mathematics Special Interest Group (WIMSIG) opened applications for the WIMSIG Conference 2017 Travel Grants in early July. Applications closed on Friday 25 August.

Travel grant recipients were notified of their successful applications on Friday 1 September.

Accommodation

Accommodation information can be found here.

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Conference Steering Committee

Conference Director
Associate Professor Lesley Ward
University of South Australia
Email: Lesley.Ward@unisa.edu.au

Conference Treasurer
Dr Giang Nguyen
University of Adelaide
Email: Giang.Nguyen@adelaide.edu.au

Special Sessions
Associate Professor Catherine Greenhill
The University of New South Wales
Email: c.greenhill@unsw.edu.au

Poster Session
Dr Grace Joshy
Australian National University
Email: grace.joshy@anu.edu.au

Conference Booklet & Poster
Associate Professor Ngamta (Natalie) Thamwattana
University of Wollongong
Email: ngamta@uow.edu.au

Conference Administrator
Ms Sue Tyerman
University of South Australia
Email: ITEE-OUA.Academic.Services@unisa.edu.au

Former Member (2016) and Advisor
Professor Lynn Batten
Deakin University
Email: Lynn.Batten@deakin.edu.au

Conference Travel Grants Selection Committee

Dr Grace Joshy
Australian National University
Email: grace.joshy@anu.edu.au

Dr Joan Licata
Australian National University
Email: joan.licata@anu.edu.au

Conference Administration

Register! System Administrator
Dr John Banks
The University of Melbourne
Email: john.banks@unimelb.edu.au

Conference Website
Dr Amy Glen
Murdoch University
Email: A.Glen@murdoch.edu.au

WIMSIG Newsletter
Dr Joanne Hall
RMIT University
Email: joanne.hall@rmit.edu.au

Administrative Support
Ms Renee Short
University of South Australia

Conference Administrator
Ms Sue Tyerman
University of South Australia

Email: ITEE-OUA.Academic.Services@unisa.edu.au