Alberta, US, and Mexican Governments to Give Full Funding for the Banff International Research Station

PIMS Magazine Vol. 9 Issue 1 Fall 2005 Alberta, US, and Mexican Governments to Give Full Funding for the Banff International Research Station Three months after a thorough international review of the Banff International Research Station (BIRS), the Alberta government—at the recommendation of the Alberta Science Research Agency (ASRA)—has pledged $CAD 3,424,000 in support of the scientific activities of BIRS for a period of five years starting in 2006 (see page 4 for the official award letter from Minister Victor Doerksen). This decision came at the heels of a recommendation by the Division of the Mathematical Sciences (DMS) of the National Science Foundation for the full funding ($US 2,641,500) of BIRS for the next 5 years, coupled with a pledge New Chair of the PIMS Board of Directors of $CAD 550,000 from Mexico’s CONACYT for this groundbreaking North Ameri- In June 2005 can collaboration. In addition, the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de Mexico Brian Russell (UNAM) has committed substantial funds to support Mexican participants in (Vice President, BIRS activities. Veritas DGC Inc, NSERC’s decision however, has been regrettably delayed until April 2006. In Calgary) became the new Chair of view of this delay, the NSERC executive has extended the old BIRS grant by one the PIMS Board year. This delay is due to a serious restructuring that is currently under consider- of Directors. ation within NSERC’s Research Grants Programme. The current Major Facilities To read an Access (MFA) envelope is in the process of being redesigned to reflect major interview with international collaborative initiatives such as BIRS. As of the day of writing this, Brian turn to we are still awaiting the new criteria/guidelines affecting such a programme and page 5. consequently the funding decision for BIRS. Continuted on page 3. Inside this Issue University of Regina, Rustum Choksi Director’s Notes 2 Now a PIMS Affiliate New SFU Site Director Call for PIMS Scientific Proposals 2 We are pleased to announce that the Rustum Choksi became the new PIMS Site Di- BIRS Hosts Heads of G8 Research Councils 4 University of Regina is joining PIMS rector at Simon Fraser University on Septem- Mexico: A Full Partner in BIRS 4 as an affiliated institution. The con- ber 1, 2005. An Interview with Brian Russell 5 tact person for PIMS at the Univer- Rustum Choksi is an Associate Professor of Ap- PIMS’ Position on Women and Mathematics 6 sity of Regina is Shaun Fallat. He is an plied and Computational Mathematics in the De- Call for Proposals for BIRS 2007 Programme 6 Associate Professor in the Department partment of Mathematics at SFU. PIMS PDFs 7 of Mathematics and Statistics. Dr. Choksi received his PhD from Brown Uni- Women in Science by Barbara Lee Keyfitz 8 Katherine Bergman, Dean of Science, versity in 1994. He is the University of Regina represen- Computation at the Heart of Mathematics 9–10 held postdoctoral tative who will be at PIMS Board meet- positions at the PIMS Scientific Programmes 12–15 ings as an observer. Courant Institute, Collaborative Research Groups 16–20 Continued on the back page. 1995–97, and the BIRS 2006 Calendar 21 Center for Nonlin- Renaissance Banff 22 ear Analysis at Other BIRS News 23 PIMS Collaborative Carnegie-Mellon PIMS Industrial Programmes 24–26 Research Groups: University, 1994– MITACS News 26 New and Ongoing 95. PIMS Education Programmes 27–31 Please see pages 16–20. Continued on PIMS Fund Drive 2005 32 page 7. Rustum Choksi, SFU. Director’s Notes We all know how important BIRS has been to from an influx of graduate students from Latin the Canadian mathematical community. This is America. why PIMS has put a major effort into the BIRS You will also notice that PIMS and MSRI are renewal—writing a new proposal and preparing launching a Pacific Rim initiative by convening the site visit. This effort has met with the strong in Banff the directors of the leading mathemati- support of the Canadian and US scientific com- cal institutes of the region. The responses we munity, and also, for the first time, the Mexican have had have been enthusiastic, which indicates scientific community. As I write, it appears that there is a clear desire for scientific cooperation BIRS will be getting the full funding we requested between our institutions. from ASRA, NSF, and CONACYT in Mexico, Indeed challenges are now global in science as Ivar Ekeland, PIMS Director, and the NSERC part still being under discussion. in economics and politics, and the solutions have Alejandro Adem, PIMS Deputy Director. Such success would not have been possible with- to be sought globally. There is a great need for out the commitment and leadership of Nassif more science and more scientifically literate am pleased to welcome our newest affiliate, the Ghoussoub, the Scientific Director of BIRS, people around the world. University of Regina, to the PIMS community. David Eisenbud, the Director of MSRI, José There is no science without mathematics. We This year and next see the start of five new Antonio de la Peña, the Director of the Math- cannot afford to let interest for science and math- Periods of Concentration of PIMS Collabora- ematics Institute at Universidad Nacional ematics slip in our society, nor to write off large tive Research Groups. Five other CRGs are Autónoma de Mexico (UNAM), and Arvind segments of our population as being less prone winding down their activities, and I am very grate- Gupta, the Scientific Director of MITACS. We to scientific education. On the contrary, as Bar- ful to everyone involved for making this also owe a great deal to the vision and leadership bara Keyfitz so aptly says later in this newslet- programme so successful and varied. of the Alberta government, who have recognized ter, we need to bring into science people from as I would like to conclude with a word of the strategic importance of BIRS, and who have many origins as possible, because we are facing thanks, and a challenge. The word of thanks been steadfast supporters of PIMS from the very a greater variety of problems than in the past, goes to Michael Boorman, who is retiring from early days. This means that, right through to and we need more imagination to tackle them. the PIMS Board and from academic life. He has 2010, Banff will continue to attract the best sci- Certainly, mathematics has changed tremen- been an outstanding chair of the board, always entists in the world, and that the mathematical dously since I began working in the field, and so ready with advice and support, and an excellent community will continue to benefit from their have the applications which used to be limited friend in times of need. The challenge goes to presence. to engineering and now stretch to biology, fi- the PIMS community. PIMS is a collective ef- PIMS has seized the opportunity to develop nance, and beyond. I feel it is also much more fort. In a few years, it has established itself at working ties with UNAM. PASI 2005 in fun and exciting to do mathematics now. the forefront of the international mathematical Santiago gave us the opportunity to develop We should be able to convey this sense of fun scene. The success of BIRS, for instance, and of similar ties with CMM, the Center of Math- and excitement to society at large, particularly the Vancouver bid for ICIAM 2011, can be as- ematical Modelling at the University de Chile. the younger generation. Traditionally PIMS has cribed to the strong scientific presence of PIMS. A delegation from CMM visited PIMS last May, been very good at that. Our outreach and educa- But this is a very competitive world, and new and already in 2005 two workshops have been tion activities, such as Pi in the Sky, GIMMC powers are emerging especially in science. Not organized to explore topics of common interest and IPSW, Math Fairs, ELMACON and Math only do we want to maintain our position but in pure and applied mathematics. A PIMS/ Mania continue to be huge successes. In addi- also to take on the challenges of growth and ex- UNAM summer school in algebra will take place tion, PIMS has been encouraged by the BC gov- pansion with the many international opportuni- at BIRS next July. Our vision is to launch Inter- ernment to launch an education initiative towards ties that we are creating. To realize this we must national Collaborative Research groups with First Nations communities. Preliminary con- continue to be strong, and this ultimately relies CMM and UNAM, to start next year, and to tact has been established, and we also expect to on the will of the individual PIMS scientists. I develop them into a network encompassing all benefit from the experience of the University of challenge the PIMS community to put forward of Latin America. The PIMS community would Regina. The university has already collaborated scientific proposals that reflect the enthusiam benefit from the specialized expertise and in- with First Nations communities. and innovative spirit of our community. dustrial connections of UNAM and CMM, and Which brings me to my next piece of news. I Ivar Ekeland, PIMS Director Call for Scientific Proposals in the Mathematical Sciences PIMS now welcomes applications for support for conferences, workshops, seminars and related activities in the Mathematical Sciences, to occur after April 1, 2006. PIMS also invites scientists of PIMS universities to submit letters of intent for a Period of Concentration of a PIMS Collaborative Research Group. The deadline for applications is September 30, 2005. The results will be announced by January 31, 2006.

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