Q&A with the AustMS 2023 Women Plenary Speakers
Eleonora Di Nezza (Hanna Neumann Lecturer)
What is your name and what do you do?
Eleonora Di Nezza, Full Professor in Mathematics at Sorbonne Université.
Why do you do mathematics?
To be honest, I chose math at the University because I was good at it in high school. This is not a strong motivation but at least, in my case, was a good starting point. Over the years I became passionate: step after step I kept choosing to do math. I found many walls (doing research in mathematics is not easy at all) but I always found the strength to overcome them. The logic I found in the creative path of doing math, the exchange with my colleagues have always been a strong motivation. I recently said something that I realized to be very true only after I said it out loud: I would not be the same person without mathematics in my life. It defines who I am.
What is a typical work day like for you?
The typical work day has changed during the years: when I was a postdoc my day was dedicated (almost entirely) to do research. I had then to apply for jobs. This changed over the years and the tasks are now much more: answering (a lot) of emails, teaching, supervising students, organizing conferences/seminars, traveling to give talks, applying for grants, being in committees. I always do research even if sometimes it is hard to find one entire hour just to do that. Sometimes I feel it is too much but I am also aware that it is my choice. One can always says “no” and put more clear limits between personal life and math work.
How important is travelling?
I like a lot traveling. It is an important part of our job and it gives the possibility to create new connections, to have new ideas and to start new projects. It is also a way to present your results to a larger and boarder community.
Do you have any advice for others who are starting a mathematical career?
I would suggest to put intellectual honestly in every choice and in every piece of work (from the writing of a paper to the process of a referee report), to choose quality over quantity; and most importantly to be humble.
Poh Hillock
What is your name and what do you do?
I am Poh Hillock and I am Senior Lecturer in the School of Mathematics and Physics at The University of Queensland. I obtained my PhD in Pure Mathematics from The University of Adelaide in the area of Convex Sets with Lattice Point Constraints. On completion of my PhD, I taught at the Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. In 2012, I joined The University of Queensland (UQ) as a teaching focused academic, teaching large first year mathematics courses.
Why do you do mathematics?
I enjoyed maths in high school as I love numbers, patterns and structures. I also liked getting better marks than my male classmates (there was only a handful of girls in my senior high school maths class)! That was a real incentive to do maths! So I followed my passion into university – it did not deter me that the field was male dominated. While my research focus has switched to the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, I continue to be fascinated by the beauty and the usefulness of mathematics and seize every opportunity to share this with my first year students.
What is a typical work day like for you?
My classes are super-large (enrolments of up to 1000) so I spend a lot of time answering emails and addressing questions on the online discussion forum. Again, due to the size of the cohort I teach, I spend a large part of my day meeting my students, talking to them, advising them, supporting them in their math studies. Often there are department/committee meetings and of course, teaching takes up a large part of my day. Apart from lectures, I run support tutorials for struggling students. I love the small class interaction with my students. It’s busy everyday but I love my job and I love that what I do makes a difference to my students (at least I think it does!).
What keeps you in research?
Early in my career, when I was undertaking research in Convex sets, I found it challenging to keep up with research as the administrative duties and teaching took up all my time. I ended up doing my research during the inter-semester breaks. I also found it difficult to sustain the research momentum as none of my colleagues at work were in my research area. My collaborators were in Australia and Europe. Zoom wasn’t a thing then so all collaborations were conducted by email which wasn’t very efficient or engaging. Research was a rather lonely endeavour; however, with much encouragement and support from my PhD supervisor, we published several joint papers soon after my PhD. Since 2012, my research has switched to the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) in Mathematics. The area of work is more aligned with my role as a teaching focused academic. My teaching informs my SoTL work in a direct way and vice-versa. Every semester, I ask questions about my teaching and my students’ learning, implement evidence-based initiatives and see the positive (hopefully!) impact of the initiatives on student learning. I have been fortunate to have had success in my work on first year maths support and course transformation. The direct impact of my SoTL work on my students keeps me going. SoTL work has been incredibly rewarding.
How important is travelling?
Really important! It is an opportunity for an academic to promote their work and increase visibility as a researcher. The interactions with other researchers and educators can lead to fruitful connections and collaborations; this is critical for new academics. During COVID-19, I attended a number of virtual conferences. It was an interesting experience; however, I missed the interactions at in-person conferences, such as the casual conversations in between talks, impromptu discussions over coffee, and the exchange of ideas during a shared meal.
Do you have any advice for others who are starting a mathematical career?
“March to the beat of your own drum” — Don’t compare yourself with others. Everyone is different and has different talents. Surround yourself with people who are positive and will build you up, seek their advice and learn from them. Finally, be strategic with the use of your (limited) time and resources. ‘WAIDT’ (ask yourself: Why Am I Doing This?) before committing to any endeavour. This simple question has helped me prioritize my efforts so that they align with my goals and aspirations.
Marcy Robertson
What is your name and what do you do?
My name is Marcy Robertson. I’m an Associate Professor and ARC Future Fellow at the University of Melbourne. I work in pure mathematics in an area called homotopy theory or “higher structures.”
Why do you do mathematics?
I guess the short answer is because life without mathematics is painfully boring. I like difficult problems and, when I solve a problem, I want to know that I’ve dug as far down into the underlying structure as possible so that I really understood why the problem arose in the first place. A life as a mathematician means that I get paid to dig deep and math is so difficult that it means that I’ll never run out of challenges.
Was there someone in particular who motivated you to do mathematics?
I suppose my dad. He didn’t exactly encourage mathematics, but my dad helped foster my interest in science. We did a lot of backyard experiments and I never got into too much trouble when I dismantled various electronic devices around the house.
What keeps you in research?
Research can be exhausting, all-consuming and difficult, but I honestly cannot see myself doing anything else. I just simply love math.
As for barriers, I had, in many ways, a very rough early career. I had results scooped, papers undermined and run-ins with basically every flavour of bully. One of the more devastating experiences was when a senior woman I idolized pulled me aside and told me that I was trying to work at a level that was “too high” for my skill. The first three- or four-years post PhD, I spent most evenings having a good cry in a different country than my partner (the infamous two-body problem). But, for every terrible experience, there were the collaborators who patiently listened to me, mentors who pushed me and that look on people’s faces when they slowly but surely started to realize that I was actually not too bad at this whole math thing.
How important is travelling?
Extremely. The best math comes from constantly pushing outside of your comfort zone. The only way to do that is by exposing yourself to new ideas and new people. In addition, math, especially pure math, takes a very long time to write and publish, so most new ideas won’t be available in written form for years. The only way to stay current is to stay an active member of the community. Plus, it’s fun.
Do you have any advice for others who are starting a mathematical career?
Discipline. A lot of the classical advice on math careers circles around the more romantic aspects of the career – the daydreaming, the excitement of a good seminar talk, the joy of just trying to solve a problem. All of that is good advice and I suggest you really hold on to those moments of joy that come from problem solving. But, at the end of the day, this is an extremely competitive, desirable profession that attracts some of the brightest, most educated minds in the world. So, you set a goal, you get organized and you get it done.
The other advice I think people really overlook is to study “the profession.” In grad school you get the impression that the career is only about doing math and writing papers. This is absolutely not true. Of course, you need to write papers – but pumping out papers won’t guarantee you any type of future. They need to be “good” papers in the “right” area and known to the “right” people.
The best advice I could offer is to pay close attention to the work people are doing. If any hiring is going on in your department, pay close attention. If you are on the market next year, pay close attention to the market this year. If you’re up for promotion, ask those recently promoted what they think of the process, etc.
And of course, always try to work at that level that is just a little “too high” for your skills.
Colva Roney-Dougal
What is your name and what do you do?
I’m Colva Roney-Dougal, and I’m Professor of Pure Mathematics at St Andrews, in Scotland. My research area is group theory, where I mostly work on finite groups, but I’m particularly interested in questions linking group theory and combinatorics, and connections to computer science.
Why do you do mathematics?
I decided to become an academic as it seemed like a rather safe and secure kind of job and I liked the idea of setting my own working hours. The fact that it’s mathematics in particular is a bit coincidental: I originally went to university to do English and Philosophy, but switched to Mathematics as it seemed easier to get PhD funding. I also spent some time as a postdoc in Computer Science, but switched back to Mathematics as I found the research culture more to my taste. I’m rather omnivorous in my interests!
What is a typical work day like for you?
This really depends on the time of year: dealing with email is the only constant. During term time I might teach a class, prepare the next class class, meet with an undergraduate student, and read some student work: if I’m very lucky I’ll do a little bit of my own work, but probably polishing drafts rather than coming up with something new. During the holidays I like taking full days to properly think about problems, on the other days I’ll referee papers, meet with PhD students, and read their work. As I’ve got older I’ve become much quicker at doing the preparation for teaching, but conversely I now sit on more committees.
What keeps you in research?
I get really obsessed with particular problems when I’m starting out with them, and then at the writing-up stage I worry about letting my coauthors down if I don’t get on with it! I’m usually working on multiple problems at once, and my biggest headache is needing to decide not to start thinking about something interesting rather than the other way around.
How important is travelling?
Very. I often get interested in new ideas whilst at conferences, and that’s how I’ve met all of my collaborators. That said, too much travelling can be exhausting, and as I’m getting more senior I’m increasingly picking and choosing between events to concentrate on the most important ones.
Do you have any advice for others who are starting a mathematical career?
Not really, I’ve never been much of a planner. I tend to say yes to as many openings as possible in the hope that serendipitous events will happen, and then see what works out. Making good friends in your research community can be really helpful: one of the reasons I became a computational group theorist was that there were so many lovely people in the field.
Guofang Wei
What is your name and what do you do?
My name is Guofang Wei, and I am Professor of Mathematics at University of California at Santa Barbara. My work is in the field of differential geometry, with focus on the relation between curvature and topology, eigenvalue problems and geometric analysis.
Why do you do mathematics?
In China in the eighties, one chose a subject right after high school. I liked math in high school and naively chose math thinking one does not need to write an essay for math. Only after my PhD I got to know the profession of being a mathematician. I questioned my choice at that time, about being a teacher, writing proposals. Now I really enjoy my work, very happy about my choice. Being in academia, there is so much freedom, and I like solving problems, mentoring students, teaching and research fit perfectly.
What is a typical work day like for you?
I don’t have a fixed schedule. Usually start the day with emails and read the new papers in arXiv in differential geometry. Then it depends on the day, meeting students, postdocs, teaching and office hours. Also try to think about a problem, and write papers every day. More services and committee work are involved now. Before, taking care of kids was also part of daily activities.
What keeps you in research?
The enjoyment of learning and solving problems. Working on a problem makes me focused and fully engaged Before I would be frustrated not being able to solve a problem. Now I enjoy the learning process more and know that the dots will connect when time comes.
How important is travelling?
Travelling is important to make presentations and make connections.
Do you have any advice for others who are starting a mathematical career?
Trust yourself and talk to people.