2020 AustMS Meeting

The 64th Annual Meeting will be an online conference, hosted by the University of New England. It will be held from Tuesday December 8 to Friday December 11.

We wish to acknowledge the Anaiwan people, on whose land the University of New England is situated. We pay our respects to their Elders, past and present.

Please feel free to download a poster for display at you home institution: AUSTMS_Poster_2020_Version 1AUSTMS_Poster_2020_Version 2

It is expected all participants abide by the Australian Mathematical Society’s code of conduct.


Register Here

Please register before November 16th. The conference is free for members of the AustMS (note that registration is still required in this case) and $50 for non-members. For a non-member, the $50 fee may be used towards an AustMS membership. Registration is also free for members of international mathematical partner societies.

The education afternoon will be held on Wednesday 9th December, 2-5pm. School teachers are welcome to join the afternoon. Registration is free. Several online talks will be held.

Dates

The conference runs Tuesday 8 December to Friday 11 December. An online WIMSIG forum will be held on Monday 7 December at 7pm AEDT. Everyone is welcome and the Zoom link will be sent to all registered participants.

Timetable

The conference booklet contains a full timetable, with abstracts for all submitted talks.

A customisable online timetable is available through the registration website. It is still under construction and subject to change. Each event has a Zoom link accessible by clicking the Zoom icon. You need to login using your registration credentials to see the Zoom icon. More information on participants and talks is available through the information tab on the registration website.

Special Sessions

Titles and abstracts of contributed talks can be accessed here by clicking at the hyperlinked number of abstracts in the session of your interest.

Plenary speakers:

Rowena Ball (Australian National University)

Lisa Beck (University of Augsburg)

Henry Berestycki (EHESS)

Michael Eastwood (University of Adelaide)

Robert Van Gorder (University of Otago)

Gerhard Huisken (University of Tübingen)

Chris Matthews (University of Technology Sydney)

Kerrie Mengersen (Queensland University of Technology)

Alexander Molev (University of Sydney)

Chris Rasmussen (San Diego State University)

Reidun Twarock (The University of York)

Ilze Ziedins (University of Auckland)

All time slots will be 20 minutes long plus 5 minutes break between talks, although some special sessions have a keynote talk that takes two timeslots. Please make an effort to start and finish on time

The special sessions and session organisers for the 2020 AustMS Meeting are as follows:

During the conference there will be social gatherings on the gather.town platform. There will be a meet and greet on Monday 7 December at 8pm and a welcome reception on Tuesday 8 December at 5pm. The gather.town space is always open and we encourage participants to meet before and after the talks each day.

  1. Gather.town is supported only by Firefox and Chrome.
  2. Please give your full name to your avatar – this makes it easier for people to locate you.
  3. You can move your avatar around the bar using the arrows on your keyboard.
  4. When two or more avatars are in close proximity, you will be able to chat and see each other through your webcam/microphones. You can find a specific person through the list of all bar visitors. Click on a name to contact or locate someone specific.
  5. There are four interactive whiteboards along the walls, which anyone can use to share their ideas with those in proximity.
  6. To have a private conversation, get your group to sit around a table – other people around will not be able to join your conversation.

The education afternoon will be held on Wednesday 9th December, 2-5pm. It is aimed at school mathematics teachers. Registration is free. Several online talks will be held.

Chair: John Pegg (UNE)

Thomas Britz (UNSW, the editor of Parabola)

From competitions to comics: 56 years of Parabola: Offering challenging problems and interesting articles, the recreational maths journal Parabola has engaged high school students and other readers for more than a half-century. This talk gives an historical overview of Parabola and invites the audience to enjoy and contribute to its contents, and, ultimately, to join in shaping its future.

Yudhistira A Bunjamin (UNSW)

Mathematical thinking for everyday life: Students may be encouraged to study mathematics simply because it will help them with their career prospects. However, at its core, mathematics is about ideas and thinking. At UNSW in the School of Mathematics and Statistics, we have been working on mathematics outreach initiatives to develop thinking skills needed to tackle everyday situations which seemingly have no mathematics in them. This talk will discuss our learning activities and outline some external resources which we found very helpful.

Ian Roberts (Charles Darwin University)

Mathematics Camps: working with teachers and students to encourage the next generation and to keep us fresh: There are various types of mathematicians (and scientists in general). Some have little interest in working with school students. There are some who would like to develop students, but they don’t know how to get involved in this. There are those who don’t feel confident with their ability to communicate their mathematical passion to students.

There are many individuals and formal organisations around the world that encourage and actively develop interest in mathematics. In Australia, the Australian Mathematics Trust has a long history of providing stimulating material for school students and teachers from year 3 to year 12. The mathematical pinnacle is the participation of Australian teams in the International Mathematics Olympiad (IMO). The level and style of materials developed by AMT is quite broad and has been very successful. This will be briefly exposed to those who are not aware of it.

The main part of the talk is about another style of activity: Mathematics Camps. These involve face-to-face interactions between mathematicians, teachers, students, parents and helpers, generally in a residential camp situation. The main aim is to excite and encourage students in mathematics but there are significant flow-on effects to teachers and mathematicians. The camps are unique in several ways: they have included various subsets of students from years 5 to year 12; there are no formal or mathematical entry requirements; there are no formal assessments or grading; problems tend to be open-ended and exploratory so that they are accessible to all, but always based upon genuine and serious mathematical ideas; there is little ‘chalk and talk’ with the emphasis on student participation and learning; and the camp includes much more than maths, with the theme of FUN, THINKING, FRIENDSHIP providing a platform for like-minded people to meet one another.

More than twenty camps have run in Australia since 2009.
There has been five camps in Japan (2015-20), and two in the USA (2019-20). In 2020, camp material was developed and used to provide covid-friendly material for students in Wales, through the University of Swansea.

Main aspects of the Camps and samples of mathematical materials will be included, and their may be some observations on mathematics education.

Thomas Kalinowski (UNE)

The Puzzles and Challenges website at UNE: In 2018 we launched a website with mathematical resources for high school students and teachers. On the site, we post short introductions to particular mathematical topics that are not covered in the school curriculum, followed by a selection of related problems for which solutions can be submitted. I’ll describe a few examples to advertise the existence of this site and to encourage participation by students and teachers.

Kirsti Abbot (UNE)

Boilerhouse Discovery Space: The Boilerhouse Discovery Space project is an exciting adaptive reuse of the UNE academic Boilerhouse on the hill, a disused award winning industrial structure that will be transformed into an iconic visitor destination; a children’s discovery museum and regional learning hub. The Boilerhouse commenced design phase in October 2020, and over 6-9 months plans will reveal opportunities for experiences and environments where children share play that accelerate their learning process, promote self-confidence and improve the capacity to handle new concepts, primarily in Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts & Maths (STEAM). The industrial heritage of the building lends itself to a STEAMpunk aesthetic that helps marry the old with new technologies, and help imagine the future in regional Australia. This presentation will provide an overview of the planned experiences in the Boilerhouse as well as include a virtual tour of the structure as it stands, bare and ready for re-imagining.

There is an Early Career Workshop being held here

The Society’s 64th Annual General Meeting will be held on Thursday 10 December 2020 at 5pm AEDT via Zoom.

The agenda, papers and zoom link to for the meeting will be posted on the information tab of the registration website.

Satellite Conferences

Mathematics of String Theory AU (POSTPONED, NEW DATES TBA)

The Mathematics of String theory AU will be held at the University of New England, Armidale, dates TBA. Topics include

  • Arithmetic aspects of mirror symmetry
  • Generalised geometry, F-theory
  • Heterotic string theory and D-branes
  • Integrability, AdS/CFT dualities and string theory
  • Supersymmetry and Supergravity

Organising committee is Jock McOrist (UNE), Anthony Ashmore (Penn & Chicago), Peter Bowknegt (ANU), Johanna Knapp (Melbourne), Gabriele Tartaglino Mazzucchelli (UQ).

Contact Jock McOrist (jmcorist@une.edu.au) for more information. A website with a list of confirmed speakers and registration will be available soon.

Home

The 64th Annual Meeting will be an online conference, hosted by the University of New England. It will be held from Tuesday December 8 to Thursday December 10

We wish to acknowledge the Anaiwan people, on whose land the University of New England is situated. We pay our respects to their Elders, past and present.

Please feel free to download a poster for display at you home institution: AUSTMS_Poster_2020_Version 1AUSTMS_Poster_2020_Version 2

It is expected all participants abide by the Australian Mathematical Society’s code of conduct.

Registration

Register Here

Please register before November 16th. The conference is free for members of the AustMS (note that registration is still required in this case) and $50 for non-members. For a non-member, the $50 fee may be used towards an AustMS membership. Registration is also free for members of international mathematical partner societies.

The education session will be held on Wednesday 9th December, 2-5pm. School teachers are welcome to join the afternoon. Registration is free. Several online talks will be held.

Dates & Timetable

The conference runs Tuesday 8 December to Thursday 10 Dec.

An online WIMSIG forum will be held on Monday 7 December at 7pm AEDT. Everyone is welcome and the Zoom link will be sent to all registered participants.

Invited Speakers

Note: Since the conference has been made online only, we cannot confirm that all plenary talks will go ahead as planned.

Plenary speakers:

Rowena Ball (Australian National University)

Lisa Beck (University of Augsburg)

Henry Berestycki (EHESS)

Michael Eastwood (University of Adelaide)

Robert Van Gorder (University of Otago)

Gerhard Huisken (University of Tübingen)

Chris Matthews (University of Technology Sydney)

Kerrie Mengersen (Queensland University of Technology)

Alexander Molev (University of Sydney)

Chris Rasmussen (San Diego State University)

Reidun Twarock (The University of York)

Ilze Ziedins (University of Auckland)

Special Sessions

All time slots will be 20 minutes long plus 5 minutes break between talks, although some special sessions have a keynote talk that takes two timeslots. Please make an effort to start and finish on time

The special sessions and session organisers for the 2020 AustMS Meeting are as follows:

Education Afternoon

The education session will be held on Wednesday 9th December, 2-5pm. School teachers are welcome to join the afternoon. Registration is free. Several online talks will be held.

Chair: John Pegg (UNE)

Thomas Britz (UNSW, the editor of Parabola)

From competitions to comics: 56 years of Parabola: Offering challenging problems and interesting articles, the recreational maths journal Parabola has engaged high school students and other readers for more than a half-century. This talk gives an historical overview of Parabola and invites the audience to enjoy and contribute to its contents, and, ultimately, to join in shaping its future.

Yudhistira A Bunjamin (UNSW)

Mathematical thinking for everyday life: Students may be encouraged to study mathematics simply because it will help them with their career prospects. However, at its core, mathematics is about ideas and thinking. At UNSW in the School of Mathematics and Statistics, we have been working on mathematics outreach initiatives to develop thinking skills needed to tackle everyday situations which seemingly have no mathematics in them. This talk will discuss our learning activities and outline some external resources which we found very helpful.

Ian Roberts (Charles Darwin University)

Mathematics Camps: working with teachers and students to encourage the next generation and to keep us fresh: There are various types of mathematicians (and scientists in general). Some have little interest in working with school students. There are some who would like to develop students, but they don’t know how to get involved in this. There are those who don’t feel confident with their ability to communicate their mathematical passion to students.

There are many individuals and formal organisations around the world that encourage and actively develop interest in mathematics. In Australia, the Australian Mathematics Trust has a long history of providing stimulating material for school students and teachers from year 3 to year 12. The mathematical pinnacle is the participation of Australian teams in the International Mathematics Olympiad (IMO). The level and style of materials developed by AMT is quite broad and has been very successful. This will be briefly exposed to those who are not aware of it.

The main part of the talk is about another style of activity: Mathematics Camps. These involve face-to-face interactions between mathematicians, teachers, students, parents and helpers, generally in a residential camp situation. The main aim is to excite and encourage students in mathematics but there are significant flow-on effects to teachers and mathematicians. The camps are unique in several ways: they have included various subsets of students from years 5 to year 12; there are no formal or mathematical entry requirements; there are no formal assessments or grading; problems tend to be open-ended and exploratory so that they are accessible to all, but always based upon genuine and serious mathematical ideas; there is little ‘chalk and talk’ with the emphasis on student participation and learning; and the camp includes much more than maths, with the theme of FUN, THINKING, FRIENDSHIP providing a platform for like-minded people to meet one another.

More than twenty camps have run in Australia since 2009.
There has been five camps in Japan (2015-20), and two in the USA (2019-20). In 2020, camp material was developed and used to provide covid-friendly material for students in Wales, through the University of Swansea.

Main aspects of the Camps and samples of mathematical materials will be included, and their may be some observations on mathematics education.

Thomas Kalinowski (UNE)

The Puzzles and Challenges website at UNE: In 2018 we launched a website with mathematical resources for high school students and teachers. On the site, we post short introductions to particular mathematical topics that are not covered in the school curriculum, followed by a selection of related problems for which solutions can be submitted. I’ll describe a few examples to advertise the existence of this site and to encourage participation by students and teachers.

Kirsti Abbot (UNE)

Boilerhouse Discovery Space: The Boilerhouse Discovery Space project is an exciting adaptive reuse of the UNE academic Boilerhouse on the hill, a disused award winning industrial structure that will be transformed into an iconic visitor destination; a children’s discovery museum and regional learning hub. The Boilerhouse commenced design phase in October 2020, and over 6-9 months plans will reveal opportunities for experiences and environments where children share play that accelerate their learning process, promote self-confidence and improve the capacity to handle new concepts, primarily in Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts & Maths (STEAM). The industrial heritage of the building lends itself to a STEAMpunk aesthetic that helps marry the old with new technologies, and help imagine the future in regional Australia. This presentation will provide an overview of the planned experiences in the Boilerhouse as well as include a virtual tour of the structure as it stands, bare and ready for re-imagining.

AGM

The Society’s 64th Annual General Meeting will be held on Thursday 10 December 2020 at 5pm AEDT via Zoom.

The agenda, papers and zoom link to for the meeting will be posted here about a week before the meeting.

Satellite Conferences

Satellite Conferences

Mathematics of String Theory AU (POSTPONED, NEW DATES TBA)

The Mathematics of String theory AU will be held at the University of New England, Armidale, dates TBA. Topics include

  • Arithmetic aspects of mirror symmetry
  • Generalised geometry, F-theory
  • Heterotic string theory and D-branes
  • Integrability, AdS/CFT dualities and string theory
  • Supersymmetry and Supergravity

Organising committee is Jock McOrist (UNE), Anthony Ashmore (Penn & Chicago), Peter Bowknegt (ANU), Johanna Knapp (Melbourne), Gabriele Tartaglino Mazzucchelli (UQ).

Contact Jock McOrist (jmcorist@une.edu.au) for more information. A website with a list of confirmed speakers and registration will be available soon.