Q&A with the AustMS 2021 Women Plenary Speakers
Robyn Araujo
What is your name and what do you do?
My name is Robyn Araujo, and I’m a Future Fellow and Senior Lecturer in Applied Mathematics at QUT. My work focuses on the development of new mathematical methods to tackle unsolved problems in biology and medicine.
Why do you do mathematics?
I initially became very interested in mathematics when I had a fantastic teacher in high school, who had a gift for clear mathematical exposition, and who made mathematics come alive to me! As I’ve pursued mathematics over the years, I’ve also discovered scientific directions (especially in Biology) which have been relatively untouched by mathematical ideas, and which therefore provide exciting opportunities for mathematical exploration.
What is a typical work day like for you?
My daily activities vary tremendously from season to season. When I was teaching more, I would often devote significant time to preparing lecture materials, hosting office hours with students (and, of course, teaching classes). But after starting my Future Fellowship two years ago, I’ve had significantly more time to focus on research and new ideas. I still spend quite a bit of time meeting with students (mostly my own PhD/Masters students), but some of my research time is quite solitary, which has given me the opportunity to develop new research directions and think about new problems.
What keeps you in research? Have you had to overcome any barriers or problems?
What keeps me in research is the sheer curiosity about scientific problems. Some of the biological problems I’m working on at the moment are truly fascinating, and have taken me into some unexpected mathematical territory. The biggest challenge I’ve had to overcome in this regard is carving out enough time within the busy-ness of academic life, especially during times of high teaching load, to focus deeply on my research.
How important is travelling?
I think travel, and meeting other scientists/mathematicians/academics more generally, can be very invigorating and inspiring, and can be a great way to encounter new ideas and new ways of thinking. I personally don’t spend quite as much time travelling as many of my colleagues, however. Generally, I’ve tended to place more focus on cultivating close working relationships with a relatively small group of collaborators to explore solves problems of common/mutual interest.
Do you have any advice for others who are starting a mathematical career?
My advice to early-career mathematicians is to have your own idea of what success looks like. What constitutes success for each individual is a very personal matter; for some people, being promoted as soon as possible is what’s important; for others, it’s about establishing a prolific publications track-record in a certain field; and for some it might be solving a ‘major’ unsolved problem in their field, which might ultimately lead to a relatively small number of high-impact publications. There are many possible avenues to a successful and fulfilling mathematical career, so it’s worth reflecting on what’s most important to you.
Jennifer Flegg
What is your name and what do you do?
My name is Jennifer Flegg. I’m an Associate Professor in applied mathematics at the University of Melbourne in the School of Mathematics and Statistics. I work in mathematical biology, creating mathematical and statistical models of biological systems.
Why do you do mathematics?
I always really liked mathematics from when I was at school and so it seemed like a natural choice to study maths at university. I studied applied mathematics at QUT and from there was drawn into mathematical biology since it was an exciting area for me with lots of new applications available to work on.
What is a typical work day like for you?
A typical day would involve meetings to discuss research projects, keeping on top of emails, reading draft work from students, some committee meetings or other administration activities and some writing (papers/grants). I’d love to say that a typical day involves lots of coding, but that seems to be less common now and I miss it!
What keeps you in research? Have you had to overcome any barriers or problems?
I have an interest in the biological and medical applications that I work on, and I like working with people outside of mathematics (biologists/clinicians). There are lots of barriers to overcome in academia; there are so many times that grants/papers/applications are unsuccessful, and it takes a little getting used to.
How important is travelling?
I think it’s important to establish an international reputation in your research area. That might be through travel, but there are other ways to achieve that too (publishing in international journals, being an editor for a journal, getting on boards/committees, etc). I’ve found it difficult to travel more recently with family commitments (and now with travel restrictions), so have tried other ways to keep my name out there.
Do you have any advice for others who are starting a mathematical career?
Try to make those 5 years post-PhD count as much as you can – I realised this only towards the end of the 5 years. Also, try to compete against yourself, rather than comparing yourself to other people.
Emily Riehl (Hanna Neumann Lecturer)
What is your name and what do you do?
Emily Riehl. I’m an Associate Professor of Mathematics at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, MD, USA.
Why do you do mathematics?
I do mathematics because I find it endlessly fascinating and a joy to share with others. Perhaps more to the point, I’m lucky enough to be employed in a position that allows me time to do these things.
What is a typical work day like for you?
This has changed a lot over the past decade.
On the days I teach, I typically don’t do anything else until after the classes are over (since the bulk of my lecture prep happens immediately beforehand). On non-teaching days, I often schedule back-to-back one hour meetings with my students and postdocs ending with a late afternoon seminar.
This leaves ideally one day entirely clear for research but often that gets crowded out by service commitments or external talks.
What keeps you in research? Have you had to overcome any barriers or problems?
Staying interested in research is not a problem, in my experience. As you get older you accumulate heaps of questions you’d love to find time to think about and have connections with more potential collaborators. The biggest barrier is finding time to do the necessary deep work.
How important is travelling?
In my view it’s very important, especially when you’re getting to know or starting to work with someone knew. I have a decade-long collaboration with someone based in Sydney that started with a five month visit where we got to talk math day after day week after week.
Do you have any advice for others who are starting a mathematical career?
Take extra time to focus on the parts of the job that you love the most, whether that’s mentoring or teaching or writing or speaking or organizing. I think it’s okay if this comes at the expense of doing something else slightly less well. It feels rewarding to really give your all at something you’re good at.
Susan Scott
What is your name and what do you do?
I’m Distinguished Professor Susan Scott, and I’m based at the ANU. I’m a mathematical physicist. My main activities are conducting research involving mathematics and physics, leadership, teaching, graduate student supervision and outreach.
Why do you do mathematics?
First and foremost I enjoy the creativity of ideas central to research in mathematics. The depth of thought and insight needed, and the logic and precision required, are also deeply satisfying aspects of mathematical research. An important feature of my research is that it is always motivated by physics questions.
What is a typical work day like for you?
My work days vary quite a bit. On a typical day I would think about and work on a research problem, read a couple of papers from the arXiv, talk to students, sort out emails and social media, attend a research-related meeting or talk, lecture, and participate in outreach.
What keeps you in research? Have you had to overcome any barriers or problems?
What keeps me in research, to use a cliché, is simply the thrill of the unknown. There are so many deep questions about the Universe still to be solved. The detection of gravitational waves in 2015 opened a new window on the Universe, so an immense discovery space lies ahead, which is an incredibly exciting prospect.
The main problems I’ve encountered in my career are related to the fact that there are very few women working in the branch of mathematical physics in which my research is based. That has presented barriers in terms of career progression, access to opportunities, and the ability to maintain a good work-life balance.
How important is travelling?
I think travelling can be a very important part of a research career in mathematics. If you’ve grown up and studied in Australia it’s great, for example, to have a postdoc or two overseas. I spent four years on postdoctoral positions at the University of Oxford. It’s so important to have the opportunity to be immersed in different research groups and environments in other parts of the world. I also did quite a bit of travelling early in my career and thereby established the international networks which have been such an important part of my journey.
Do you have any advice for others who are starting a mathematical career?
A piece of advice, which I would offer, is that I think that it is really important, early in one’s career, to not limit one’s research horizons. Think about how your research work relates to other research work in slightly different fields, and vice versa. Building in some versatility from the start is an important pillar of one’s career in mathematical research. It is also important to start building an international network early on, as well as establishing a reasonable degree of visibility.