Math Dept 2021-2022 Newsletter 5
Monday, 8 November 2021
Past newsletters can now be reached via the department website.
[Click on “About” and then “News and Events”].
Newsletter is sent out when there is something new.
Please send entries by the end of the workweek–Ed.
MEETINGS AND SEMINARS IN THE DEPARTMENT
TUESDAYS
Seminar on Topological Semigroups
The seminar will include applications to Ramsey theory.
Tuesdays, 10:10 am
Contact coordinator for zoom invite.
Coordinator Dennis Davenport
Combinatorics Seminar
Meeting at 3pm on Tuesdays this semester.
Contact coordinator Lou Shapiro for zoom link
WEDNESDAYS
Applied Math Reading Seminar
Wednesdays online from 12 to 1pm.
Students will get to practice studying papers and working on research problems. This semester the topic is Machine Learning. Session 2 to N will be recorded.
Please write the coordinator for original handouts or for the recording link.
Contact coordinator for zoom link as well.
Coordinator: Katie Gurski
Math team/Math Club meetings
Organizers: Jill McGowan (math club), Lou Shapiro (math team)
Number Theory Seminar
Select Wednesdays, 4-5pm, on zoom
Next talk on Nov 16, Sankar Sitaraman
(If departmental meeting is scheduled for that time, seminar will be moved to following Wednesday).
Topic: Artin’s Primitive Roots Conjecture
The first few talks will be introductory. In general the talks will be accessible to graduate students and advanced undergraduates.
Coordinator: Sankar Sitaraman
Thursdays
Graduate Student Seminar
TBA
Coordinator: Noel Bourne
Fridays
Mathematics Department Colloquium
This semester our Colloquium talks are shared between us and Cornell's Colloquium.
Friday, Nov 12, 4.10 to 5pm.
Fenbo Hang, Courant NYU
Topic: Concentration compactness principle in critical dimensions.
On Friday, Nov 5, Hal Schenk of Auburn University spoke about the physics of symmetry: from Calabi-Yau to Algebra of Gorenstein rings.
TALKS AND WORKSHOPS OUTSIDE DEPARTMENT
1. Virtual annual meeting of the History of Science Society
November 18-21.
As part of its commitment to equity and inclusion, the Society is offering waived registration for faculty and students from HBCUs and Indigenous people.
The Opening Plenary focuses on Community Engagement and you can find the rest of the conference program https://hssonline.org/meetings/2021-hss-annual-meeting/#program.
2. NASA HBCU/MSI Technology Infusion Road Tour
Organized by the NASA Office of STEM Engagement (OSTEM) in collaboration with the Office of Procurement (OP) and Office of Small Business Programs (OSBP). This collaboration provides an open platform for HBCU and MSI representatives to learn about OSTEM's Minority Serving Institutions Sustainability Initiative, Agency acquisition opportunities, product service lines and Vendor Database, STMD's Small Business Innovation Research/Small Business Technology Transfer (SBIR/STTR) opportunities, as well as research opportunities, grants, fellowships and contracts within each of the four Mission Directorates. The virtual workshop will be held on November 16-17, 2021.
More information and registration.
3. COMAP’S Mathematical Contest in Modeling (MCM) and Interdisciplinary Contest in Modeling are international contests open to undergraduate students of all disciplines. The MCM/ICM contest problems are designed to provide students with the opportunity to work as team members to engage in and improve their modeling, problem solving, and writing skills. Teams from your school apply mathematics to model and develop a solution to a real-world problem.
https://www.comap.com/undergraduate/contests/mcm/register.php.
Each team can have up to three students from the same school. There is no limit on the number of teams a school can register for the contest. Team members may work virtually. Teams work together on the contest problem over the extended weekend February 17-21, 2022.
In previous newsletters:
Fall 2021 chicago symposium series on excellence in teaching
Wikipedia assignments in math courses (deadline Nov. 21)
ANNOUNCEMENTS
Aziz Yakubu's commentary article on mathematical models in epidemiology has been published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). The title of the article is “A discrete-time infectious disease model for global pandemics.”
SCHOLARSHIP AND FELLOWSHIP OPPORTUNITIES
(from various sources)
1. DOE Innovation in Buildings (IBUILD) Graduate Research Fellowship
The US Department of Energy is accepting applications through December 1, 2021 (5:00 PM EST).
SIMIODE differential equations modelling contest seeks judges.
SCUDEM VI 2021 is going on right now with hundreds of students from around the world preparing a ten minute video of their modeling efforts in response to three problems offered this year. See complete information on SCUDEM VI 2021. They need volunteers to serve as judge of three student produced ten minute videos in order to make awards of Outstanding, Meritorious, and Successful submissions.
Please sign up to judge here
2. DHS programs
Summer research program for faculty
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Summer Research Team (SRT) Program for Minority Serving Institutions (MSIs) is now accepting applications for faculty at Minority Serving Institutions (MSI) interested in participating in a summer research team experience.
DHS Student Workforce to Experience Research Program (HS-POWER)
Science and Technology Directorate
3.(Thanks to Louise Raphael) Mathematical Challenges for Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence
November 11 from 2-4 PM ET
Developments in the mathematical and statistical sciences are critical to the latest advances in machine learning and artificial intelligence. Join the National Academies for a virtual symposium on Thursday, November 11 from 2-4pm ET to discuss new innovations and future opportunities for mathematical research.
4. (Thanks to Henok Mawi) Tenure-track position in Applied Math / OR / Statistics at USNA
Position at the US naval academy, Annapolis, MD, starting July 2022.
5. MGB-SIAM Early career fellowship
The intent of this three-year Fellowship is to recognize the achievements of early career applied mathematicians – particularly those belonging to racial and ethnic groups historically excluded from the mathematical sciences in the United States – and to provide meaningful support for professional activities and career development.
MGB-SIAM Early Career Fellows will receive:
Complimentary SIAM membership for the duration of the Fellowship, complimentary registration to SIAM Annual Meetings and one additional SIAM Activity Group meeting, travel support to attend SIAM meetings, mentoring and professional development opportunities, leadership and conference organization experience.
6. (Thanks to Aziz Yakubu)
Postdoctoral fellowship at Carnegie-Mellon
The
Department of Mathematical Sciences at Carnegie Mellon University
invites applications for a two or three-year postdoctoral position in
the research group of Professor Hayden Schaeffer on the topics of the
mathematics of machine learning, sparse optimization, compressive
sensing, and reduced order modeling, beginning September
2022.
Applicants should submit all materials electronically
through Interfolio
and
MathJobs.
This includes a cover letter, curriculum vitae, list of publications,
and a statement describing current and planned research. At least
three letters of recommendation, one of which addresses teaching,
should be submitted through MathJobs. For full consideration,
applications should be submitted by November 15, 2021.
The Michigan Program in Survey and Data Science
(formerly Michigan Program in Survey Methodology), a graduate (MS and PhD) program within the University of Michigan's Institute for Social Research will host another information session about the program on December 2, 2021. Students have a choice of “tracks” or emphases—social science, data science or statistics. All are thoroughly introduced to numerous methods for collecting data and combining data from multiple sources for conducting social research. Informational session scheduled on Thursday, December 2, 2021 from 11:00 a.m. -12:00 p.m. EST. Advance registration website.
In previous newsletters:
The AMS Congressional Fellowships.
The NIH-Wide Stadtman investigator search
Solar Energy Innovators Program
Seeking volunteer math tutors
Hertz Foundation fellowship for graduate students
INTERESTING ARTICLES AND WEBSITES
1. Women in Math (from AMS notices)
In 2014, Maryam Mirzakhani won a Fields medal; Karen Uhlenbeck was awarded the Abel prize in 2019; earlier this year Melanie Matchett Wood received the National Science Foundation’s Alan T. Waterman Award; Joan Birman and Gigliola Staffilani were elected to the National Academy of Sciences this past April; and the profession has elected two women, Jill Pipher and Ruth Charney, back to back to be the presidents of its most prestigious society, the American Mathematical Society. And yet overall the number of women in our field has stagnated...
2. The Plight of Adjunct Faculty on America’s Campuses
Key points:
The number of part-time and contingent faculty has grown steadily over the last 40 years.
Many adjunct faculty live in poverty despite having a Ph.D. and years of teaching experience.
Women and minorities occupy an inordinate share of adjunct positions in the U.S.
Adjuncts nationwide are attempting to unionize to improve their working conditions.