Mentoring Program For Women In Mathematics At Institute For Advanced Study

Fifty women mathematicians from across the country have gathered at the Institute for Advanced Study for a 10-day residential Mentoring Program for Women in Mathematics. The program, which extends from May14-24, is for undergraduate and graduate students and postdoctoral researchers. The emphasis of the program is on mathematics learning and research, mentoring, peer relations, and an introduction to career opportunities.

The topic of this year’s program, which is cosponsored by Institute's School of Mathematics and Princeton University, is Symplectic Geometry and Holomorphic Curves.

Princeton University professors Ingrid Daubechies and Sun-Yung Alice Chang; the College of New Jersey’s Nancy Hingston; Robert MacPherson, who is professor in the Institute’s School of Mathematics; and Princeton graduate student Cynthia Rudin are among those serving on the Organizing Committee. The program is under the direction of Karen Uhlenbeck, a former visiting scholar at the Institute, now of the University of Texas at Austin.

The program offers a variety of activities, both formal and informal, designed to encourage interaction among participants. The program includes an undergraduate/beginning graduate student lecture course; a graduate course; research seminars; course and seminar presentations by participants at all levels; working problem sessions; and a Women-in-Science Seminar.

New this year is a day on the Princeton University campus, during which there will be talks by Shirley Tilghman, president of the University, and Charles Fefferman, chair of the Department of Mathematics. Program participants will tour the campus, and meet mathematics students and faculty.

For more information on the program, go to http://www.ias.edu/math/womensprogram.