Q&A with the ANZIAM 2023 Women Plenary Speakers
Cecilia González Tokman
What is your name and what do you do?
My name is Cecilia González Tokman. I am an associate professor in the School of Mathematics and Physics at the University of Queensland. My research focuses on dynamical systems and ergodic theory. Together with collaborators and students, I develop mathematical tools and algorithms to better understand the long and medium-term behaviour of chaotic systems. We also investigate how various system perturbations affect relevant model outcomes and predictions.
Why do you do mathematics?
I find mathematics really beautiful and elegant, but I think the main reason I do it is because it helps me to make sense of the world that we live in.
What is a typical work day like for you?
Workdays typically include a mix of research, teaching and service activities, but there isn’t really a typical workday. Many, even most, activities happen on and off throughout the year. In research, I collaborate with colleagues, postdocs and students, either in person or remotely, participate in conferences, and write, read and think about ongoing and future projects. In teaching, I lecture courses at various levels, from first year to Honours and postgraduate students, develop teaching materials and deliver guest lectures and minicourses. I also work for scientific and professional society committees (AustMS, ANZIAM, MATRIX), organise events, mentor researchers and students, assess grants and research proposals, referee papers and theses, and serve on school and university committees.
What keeps you in research? Have you had to overcome any barriers or problems?
There have always been challenges, but I think some of the most difficult times in my career were around the time I got my PhD degree and had to apply for jobs every year for a few consecutive years. Of course, this was in addition to trying to build and develop an exciting research program. The main challenge was to decide how to make the best use of the limited resources, especially time and energy. I believe things have worked out because I was able to find a supportive group of mentors and collaborators who believed in me and helped me find opportunities to grow as a researcher. Now, I have the chance to play similar roles with young researchers, and this is an important point to keep me in research. I also think that there are very interesting open research questions in dynamical systems and related areas.
How important is travelling?
Travelling has been fundamental in my career. I consider myself very lucky to have had the chance to travel to a wide range of places, and to meet and collaborate with exceptional people. This has been one of the most gratifying aspects in my career.
Do you have any advice for others who are starting a mathematical career?
I believe learning and studying mathematics is a very good idea. Something that kept me going in my early years was the confidence that mathematical knowledge — and the associated thinking skills — would be a really valuable asset for many interesting jobs, including academic positions, but also others. As in other disciplines, I think in mathematics it’s important to learn to read, write, speak and listen. Also, I think learning to use computers is a crucial skill. Finally, I believe that working on (and searching for) topics you find interesting is key to remain motivated in the long term, as is finding a good group of people to work with.
Claudia Sagastizábel
What is your name and what do you do?
My name is Claudia Alejandra Sagastizábal, I work on industrial maths, with a focus on energy problems. Lately I have also been interested in what SIAM calls ‘Mathematics of Planet Earth’.
Why do you do mathematics?
I always liked school, the discovery of the learning process in general. All kind of stuff: I loved learning different languages, I studied folkloric dances, and always liked exact sciences too. I still enjoy learning from every activity I get involved. When I entered the University, I did not really know or understand what being a researcher meant. I arrived to mathematics by chance, after 1.5 years studying physics, I switched to mathematics because I did not like a grade I got (!). My rationale then was, rather than doing theoretical physics, it was preferable to study applied mathematics. I am very happy with my choice, as later on I realized that mathematics is a language, yet another language out of the ones I was speaking already.
What is a typical work day like for you?
I spend lots of time working on my laptop, writing emails, revising manuscripts, debugging some code, preparing presentations. Almost everyday I have a meeting with some collaborator, not often face to face, most of the time it is a virtual meeting. I have several desktops in my laptop and I switch through them to change what I am doing. One of my many open windows is not professional. There, I chat with friends from the countries I lived in (Argentina, France, Brazil) I listen to music, or watch a video or read news, along the day. Another thing I do quite often is to use a notebook, old style, where I write down with a pen draft proofs and mathematical developments (I call it ‘notebook of genial ideas’) I also use it to take notes when I have important meetings (before the next meeting, I read the notes, to refresh my memory).
Earlier in my career I was more dependent on working in a room with a whiteboard, having an office. With time, I became independent of the environment and nowadays, I work wherever I am without much inconvenience. At home, I work in a sofa, with the laptop on my … lap.
What keeps you in research? Have you had to overcome any barriers or problems?
Doing research is a big part of my identity, of who I am. Not because of the ‘glory’, of being recognized by peers. The human side of the profession is important to me, particularly, feeling that I can contribute to changing the life of a young fellow. This is the best reward.
How important is travelling?
Perhaps it was more important 20 years ago, to do networking. But even in 2023, meeting and socializing in congresses adds a different layer to the professional relations. After sharing a beer in a bar, any very well-known professor becomes less of a semi-god.
Do you have any advice for others who are starting a mathematical career?
I have an ‘algebraic’ advice: make sure you close every parenthesis you have opened, and don’t keep many parentheses open at the same time. By this, I mean, do not keep researching over a topic without reaching a conclusion for too long, and do not spread your attention over many different topics. Rather than leaving a study unfinished waiting for some enlightenment to get you unstuck, try to wrap up the work, weakening some statements, if needed. A very ambitious project that is never concluded ends up having less value than a more modest contribution that is finished. Science advances by little steps, much more than by breakthroughs.
Katharine Turner
What is your name and what do you do?
My name is Katharine Turner. I am currently a senior lecturer and DECRA Fellow at the Mathematical Sciences Institute at ANU. My continuing position (when not on the DECRA) is a mix of research and teaching, but the DECRA means I am research-focused at the moment.
Why do you do mathematics?
I do mathematics because
1) I enjoy the mix of quantitative and creative problem solving;
2) I like how mathematics can use abstraction to get to the essence of a problem;
3) The flexibility to work in my own head anywhere and anytime.
What is a typical work day like for you?
I have a ritual each morning to write up a to do list, previously on palm cards and this year in a diary, where I list the scheduled meetings and then I write exactly three concrete goals, no more and no less, with difficulty and time-expense determined by the available free time. These can be administrative (eg, email invites to a conference I am organising, read through some number of applications for a job I am on the committee of) teaching (read over students work for feedback, grading, preparing a lecture) or research based (eg. some pomodoro sessions editing a paper, drawing a figure, writing a section in a grant). Outside these task I allow my mind to muse over mathematical problems and sort through the ever constant stream of emails.
What keeps you in research? Have you had to overcome any barriers or problems?
The intellectual exercise and freedom. For me the greatest challenges have been balancing my time and energy demands between my career and family commitments.
How important is travelling?
Travelling is really important to me. Firstly it connects me to the mathematical community within my field. From my PhD days it is not the fellow graduates in my year that I have kept consistently in touch with but instead other researchers, internationally, within the same field. Regularly meeting at conferences and workshops establishes relationships which can then be further strengthened by online collaboration on research projects or joint service (eg conference organisation, reviewing papers, running WinCompTop steering committee).
Secondly, the impact of your mathematical research is only as good as how well it is communicated and incorporated in others future research. Travel is integral to how to communicate your research with others.
Do you have any advice for others who are starting a mathematical career?
Embrace opportunities. Find yourself mentors and don’t hesitate to get help when you need it.