Math Dept 2013-2014 Newsletter 23
Monday, 7 April 2014
All of this yearÕs newsletters can now be reached
via the department website now.
Click on ÒNewsÓ in the sidebar. Thanks to
Richard Bayne for putting it up there.
Big thanks to Talitha Washington for initiating
this.
—Ed.
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Newsletter is sent out when there is something
new.
Please send entries by the end of the
week --Ed
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MEETINGS AND SEMINARS IN THE DEPARTMENT
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Every Monday
Geometry and Topology Seminar
ASB-B 213 3.00 to 4pm
Speaker: Professor Joseph Yeager
Topic: SYMPLECTIC AND CONTACT
GEOMETRY.
Stanley M. Einstein-Matthews
Coordinator
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Every Tuesday
The Seminar on Topological Semigroups and Ramsey
Theory
Tuesdays at 11:10 a.m in room 233 of Annex III
Amir Maleki will speak on
"amenability".
Organizer: Neil Hindman
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Friday April 11
4.10 to 5 pm, ASB-B 213
Mathematics Department Colloquium
Rebeccaa Goldin, George Mason University.
Title TBA.
Fluid dynamics seminar
Seminar will take place after colloquium, and at
4.30 if there is no colloquium.
Abstract: (Neil Hindman)
The "Fluid" refers to soda and
beer. The "Dynamics" refers to the topics of conversation,
which is as likely as anything to deal with RGIII and the Washington Football
Club. Pizza, including a vegetarian option, and wings are provided.
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TALKS AND EVENTS OUTSIDE THE DEPARTMENT
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1. (From Katie Gursky)
1st Mason
Modeling Days workshop at GMU
June 9-14, 2014 here. We have invited 4 industry
participants to present applied mathematics problems which will form the basis
for a week-long brainstorming activity culminating in an oral presentation at
the end of the workshop. The 4 project areas for this year's workshop are:
biology, finance, climate science and physics. No prior research experience and
advanced math skills are required.
This is an teamwork and networking opportunity
that will expose participants to a wide array of applications and will help
them enhance their mathematical and modeling skills. Written report generated
as a result of this activity can be potentially used for further collaboration
on the subject leading to a scientific publication. Non-local participants will
receive funds to cover travel and local expenses including per-diem.
Non-math majors (preferably with a math minor)
will be considered depending on space availability. Applications received by
April 15 will receive priority in terms of funding.
For further details, including project
descriptions and application procedures, please check out the website:
https://sites.google.com/site/masonmodelingdays2014/
2. STEM Summer Professional
Development Institute
Talitha Washington is
co-organizing a conference, the STEM Summer Professional Development Institute,
that will be held June 2-3, 2014 at Winston Salem State University. This
two-day professional development institute will prepare faculty members from
historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) to deliver evidence-based
instruction in STEM and STEM education courses which will increase student
engagement, performance levels, and success of students.
Registration is free and is done online
at: http://capstoneinstitutehowardu.eventbrite.com
For more information, please see: https://sites.google.com/site/capstoneinstituteathu/
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ANNOUNCEMENTS
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PhD Dissertation Defense of Teylama Herve Miabey
Monday, April 21, 2014.
Title: "Spectral Analysis for Finite Rank Perturbations
of Diagonal Operators in Non-Archimedean Hilbert Space"
Advisor: Toka Diagana
External Examiner: Bourama Toni (Virgina State University)
Chair of the Dissertation Committee: Neil Hindman
Other Committee Members: Paul H. Bezandry and Francois Ramaroson
Location: Annex III (Graduate School) - Room 205
Time: 2:15pm
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SCHOLARSHIP AND FELLOWSHIP OPPORTUNITIES (from
various sources)
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1. Mathematics of Planet Earth 2013
Workshops.
Please visit the website
(http://dimacs.rutgers.edu/Workshops/index-mpe.html)
for additional information.
Upcoming workshops in 2014:
Workshop on Sustainable Human
Environments
Location: Rutgers University
Dates: April 23-25
http://dimacs.rutgers.edu/Workshops/HumanEnvironments/
Workshop on Global Change
Location: UC-Berkeley
Dates: May 19-21
http://dimacs.rutgers.edu/Workshops/GlobalChange/
Workshop of Data-aware Energy Use
Location: UC-San Diego
Dates: September 2014
http://dimacs.rutgers.edu/Workshops/EnergyUse/
We are looking to involve Early Career
Researchers, which are defined as faculty or researchers who have earned their
doctorate within the previous three years, postdocs, graduate students, and
upper-level undergraduates with research experience. Opportunities to apply for
financial support are included on the websites for each workshop.
2. Department of Energy Undergraduate Laboratory Internships
Applications to its 2014 Fall Term Science Undergraduate Laboratory Internship (SULI)
program, with all required
application materials, including recommendations, due
by 5:00 PM ET on May 30, 2014. The SULI program encourages undergraduate students to pursue science,
technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) careers by providing research
experiences at Department of Energy (DOE) laboratories, where selected
students participate as interns appointed at participating host labs. They
perform research, under the guidance of laboratory staff scientists or
engineers, on projects supporting the DOE mission.
Further information, including
program eligibility, requirements, host lab participation, and access to the
online application system are found at:
http://science.energy.gov/wdts/
http://science.energy.gov/wdts/suli/
with inquiries or questions made
using:
http://science.energy.gov/wdts/suli/contact/
3. The Noyce
Mathematics Education Teaching scholarship at
NC State University is a stipend/scholarship offered to students interested in
being prepared as a highly qualified mathematics teacher who will teach in a
high-needs district. Graduates who pursue a Master of Teaching in
Secondary Mathematics or a Master of Education in Secondary Mathematics can
receive $25,000 for one academic year.
Each scholar will teach two years
in a high needs high school for each academic year of funding and participate
in all Noyce program activities. Please share this opportunity with any
students that you believe will benefit from it. For more information,
please visit poe.ced.ncsu.edu/noyce. Applications
are due by April 15.
4. The U.S. Department of Energy
(DOE) SunShot Postdoctoral Research Awards
The SunShot Postdoctoral Research Awards support
innovative solar research by offering recent Ph.D. recipients the opportunity
to conduct applied R&D at universities, national laboratories, and other
research facilities.
Application Deadline: April 30, 2014
For more information and to apply, visit: http://www1.eere.energy.gov/education/postdoctoral
5. NRC Research Associateship
Programs
The National Research Council of the
National Academies sponsors a number of awards for graduate, postdoctoral and
senior researchers at participating
federal laboratories and affiliated institutions. These awards
include generous stipends ranging from $45,000 - $80,000 per year for recent
Ph.D. recipients, and higher for additional experience. Graduate entry
level stipends begin at $30,000. These awards provide the opportunity for
recipients to do independent research in some of the best-equipped and staffed
laboratories in the U.S. Research opportunities are open to U.S.
citizens, permanent residents, and for some of the laboratories, foreign
nationals.
Detailed program information, including online
applications, instructions on how to apply,
and a list of
participating laboratories, are available on the NRC Research
Associateship Programs Web site (see
link above).
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INTERESTING ARTICLES AND WEBSITES
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1. (From Aziz Yakubu) Please find an article
on one of our PhD students, Evelyn Thomas.
https://www.siam.org/news/news.php?id=2136
Please join me in congratulating Dr. Evelyn
Thomas and her PhD advisor Dr. Katharine Gurski.
2. (From Aziz Yakubu) New (and
free) handbook - Math Modeling: Getting Started and Getting Solutions
Over the past nine years of working with
teams participating in SIAMÕs MoodyÕs Mega Math Challenge, we have found that
many participating students (rising seniors and college freshman) do not know
how to start working on or get to a solution for the open-ended realistic
problems posed. What started as a pamphlet with some step-by-step guidance grew
into a handbook with a companion document to make connections to the Common
Core State Standards and some easy-to-use reference cards for the lower energy
teams that want to get straight to the point. This work also dovetailed nicely
with two SIAM-initiated workshops with the National Science Foundation (NSF) on
Modeling across the Curriculum, one held in August 2012 and one in January
2014.
The content of the handbook is suitable for both
high school and undergraduate students interested in learning how to do math
modeling.
Authors Karen Bliss, Katie Fowler, and Ben
Galluzzo wrote the handbook, responded to reviewer comments, and delivered a
final manuscript late in 2013. SIAM has edited and produced the material, with
funding from The MoodyÕs Foundation in conjunction with MoodyÕs Mega Math
Challenge, and from the NSF.
You are invited to view (and share) online the
full color versions or print the less ink saturated version at http://m3challenge.siam.org/about/mm/
(received from Michelle Montgomery, Director
of Marketing and Outreach, SIAM
--Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics)
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