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Indigenising University Mathematics 20-21 Sept: registration open – all welcome

Dear Colleagues,

You are warmly invited to register for “Indigenising University Mathematics” 20-21 Sept 2021, being held simultaneously online via Zoom and in-person at the Wollotuka Institute, University of Newcastle: https://carma.newcastle.edu.au/meetings/ium/ 

This symposium is being put together to provide support, learning and collaborative opportunities around Indigenising our practices and teaching in University Mathematics and Statistics.  Increasingly, this is a responsibility that individual academics and University departments are feeling, but we do not necessarily know where to start. In some discipline areas, such as Food Science or Astronomy, the task may seem easier due to more obvious links between traditional Indigenous knowledge and course content.  In Mathematics and Statistics, the task may initially seem harder.  The purpose of this Symposium is to help.

It turns out that the challenges presented by Mathematics and Statistics may mean we may have an opportunity to do things which are deeper and more meaningful than simply incorporating isolated fragments of content, and we can do this in multiple ways.   We can utilise Indigenous pedagogies, for example using stories, symbols, maps and relationships.  We can promote inclusion and recognition.  We can compare with and learn from Indigenous ways of organising the world through structures such as kinship, that relate to graph theory and group theory and so on. And we can begin to (learn and) apply Indigenous perspectives to our own traditional content.  There is a lot to discover. 

In this symposium, we will utilise the traditional Indigenous practice of “yarning circles” to help us all get together and think through opportunities around all these and more.  To support this, the Symposium is organised around a number of themes, each of which is led by a small team of 2 or 3 Mathematicians/Statisticians/Indigenous practitioners. A presentation on each theme – see the Symposium webpage for more details – will precede the yarning sessions.  We hope to have broad representation from our Mathematics/Statistics and Indigenous communities, to facilitate sharing and the development of relationships and partnerships to support ongoing work in this area.

If you’d like to attend in person, please register soon, since places are limited to about 40 for in-person attendance, due to covid.  If you do register for in-person attendance and then cannot come in person, and you let us know by the week before, we will happily refund the difference and convert your registration to online. 

Feel free to contact me if you have any questions.

best wishes,

Judy-anne and all the organising committee.

Workshop on the Intersections of Computation and Optimisations

MoCaO (Mathematics of Computation and Optimisation) is planning a new workshop for late 2021 which is sponsored by the ANU, UNSW and AMSI. This workshop intends to bring together researchers from the areas of computation, optimisation, computing sciences and engineering interested in the cross-fertilization of ideas around the following theme:

 Optimisation often faces unique issues when there is a need to efficiently compute. On the other hand, computational techniques at times utilise optimisation within their algorithms. Both areas fundamentally need to understand approximation in all its facets which is also fundamental to computation as are the associated notions of convergence. Indeed, recent research has blurred the boundaries between optimisation (continuous and discrete), computation and areas of computing science. The area of machine learning has crept into relevance everywhere. Recently research has turned to its use in computational techniques including the enhancement of optimisation algorithms and the cycle of cross fertilisation of ideas has continued to date.

Workshop Format

We intend to run the workshop in a blended format, involving a face to face component which will be held at the ANU mathematics school in conjunction with a simultaneous\parallel online format to which both group of participants will engage. Some keynotes will present in person (streamed online from ANU) and other will engage totally online in a remote format. We encourage local and international participants to take part in the online workshop. In addition to their keynote presentations, keynotes who will be invited to give a lectorial-discussion session that will promote research questions and engage emerging researchers in these areas.

Keynote Speakers

  • Prof Gerlind Plonka-Hoch (University of Goettingen, Germany)
  • Prof. Frances Kuo (UNSW)
  • Prof Stefan Wild (Argonne, USA)
  • Prof Stephen Wright (Wisconsin, USA) 
  • Prof. Ian Turner (QUT)
  • Prof. Claudia Sagastizabal (IMECC-Unicamp and CEMEAI, Brazil)
  • Prof Martin Berggren (Umeå University, Sweden)

Important dates:

Registration Opens: 07/06/2021
Workshop Dates: 22/11/2021 to 25/11/2021

Future Announcements and Grants:

We intend to follow up with regular announcements regarding workshop accommodation, details on format and software and funding opportunities for ECR, PHD and female participants. We also wish to draw female participants attention to the possibility of applying for the WIMSIG Cheryl E. Praeger Travel Award (support for attending conferences/visiting collaborators) and/or the WIMSIG Anne Penfold Street Awards (support for careering responsible while attending conferences/visiting collaborators).

Practical Applications of Network Science 2021

We have been successful in obtaining AMSI funding to host the workshop Practical Applications of Network Science 2021, which will be held online.  RMIT University will be hosting this workshop with the aim of developing the skills of HDR students and bringing together researchers in the field. Invited research talks will cover a broad range of topics including the use of network science in transportation, biology and social media. This workshop will be held on the 22nd and 23rd of February in 2021. This workshop will consist of:

  1. Two hands-on tutorial/lab sessions  on network analytics using the R software environment. The sessions will start from an introductory level on the first day and proceed to working with real-world applications on the second day.
  2. Invited research talks showcasing network science and its applications in the afternoons followed by time for networking opportunities. 

This is a free event, but registration is essential. More details at  https://sites.google.com/view/nsworkshop2021/home

Organisers

Arathi Arakala (RMIT University)
Sevvandi Kandanaarachchi (RMIT University)
Maria Prokofieva (Victoria University)

Matrix, MFO and Leibniz association logos

Call for Proposals: MATRIX-MFO Tandem Workshop (2021)

The Mathematical Research Institute Oberwolfach (MFO), Germany and the Australian Mathematical Research Institute MATRIX invite proposals for a tandem workshop taking place simultaneously in a hybrid format at MATRIX and MFO  in the week of 5-11 September 2021

The workshop is held simultaneously in both locations.  At each institute 10-20 participants are possible, who can interact in the usual intense way locally and in addition share a certain number of joint lectures/discussions via zoom (for example Oberwolfach 9-11 am could match up with MATRIX at 5-7 pm). Talks given outside this time slot can be recorded via zoom for viewing by participants at the other institute, but not publicly.

Applications should come with a team of about  four organisers including at least two organisers planning to attend in person for each location. Organisers should aim for gender balance. The application should contain: 

  • Title of the suggested tandem workshop.
  • Description of the topic and focus of workshop, recent results, references (4-6 pages).
  • The proposed provisional program of the tandem workshop taking into account the different time zones.
  • List of 10-20 suggested participants at each institute with names, gender info and affiliation planned for each institute (i.e. two lists of intended invitees; please consider diversity issues of each institute).
  • Publication lists of the organizers.

Proposal guidelines: https://www.matrix-inst.org.au/matrix-mfo-tandem-workshop-2021-guidelines/

Please send proposals (pdf-files) by email to the director of MFO and/or upload to the MATRIX website https://www.matrix-inst.org.au/call-for-programs/ prior to the deadline Friday, 15 January 2021.

AustMS Early Career Workshop 2020

This is a reminder that the 2020 AustMS Early-Career Workshop (ECW) will be held online on Monday December 7, preceding the 64th Annual Meeting of the Australian Mathematical Society. 

The ECW is intended for current higher-degree research students and ECRs (up to roughly five years post-PhD). 

Registration is free! Speaker info, a provisional schedule, and the registration form can be found on the AustMS Early Career Workshop 2020 website.

Events

Workshop on Optimisation Topics in Australia: WOTA@Waterfront 2022

The Workshop on Optimisation Topics in Australia will be held at Deakin University’s Waterfront Campus in Geelong on 12-13 October 2022. Keynote speakers include Orizon Pereira Ferreira (Federal University of Goias, Brazil), Matthew Tam (Melbourne University), David Yost (Federation University Australia) and Alex Kruger (Federation University Australia).

For more information and registration please visit the conference page.