New Zealand Statistical Association Newsletter 57
March 2003
NZIMA
The NZ Institute of Mathematics and its Applications (NZIMA) has been established as one of the seven Centres of Research Excellence selected by the NZ government in 2002. The NZIMA is hosted at the University of Auckland and headed by Fields Medallist Vaughan Jones DCNZM FRS FRSNZ (based at Berkeley) and Prof Marston Conder FRSNZ (Auckland), with involvement of many of the best pure and applied mathematicians and statisticians from across the country.
Principal aims of the NZIMA are to:
a)
create and sustain a critical mass of researchers in concentrations of excellence in mathematics and statistics and their applications,b)
provide NZ with a source of high-level quantitative expertise across a range of areas,c)
act as a facilitator of access to new developments internationally in the mathematical sciences, andd)
raise the level of knowledge and skills in the mathematical sciences in NZ.The NZIMA will build on the activities of the NZ Mathematics Research Institute Inc. (NZMRI), which was set up some years ago with similar aims and since 1994 has organised annual summer meetings to which world experts have been invited to engage in research with NZ mathematicians and statisticians and to give short courses of lectures accessible to graduate students.
The extension of the NZMRI to the NZIMA is being modelled on similar mathematical research institutes in other countries, notably the Fields Institute (Canada), MSRI (Berkeley), and the Newton Institute (UK). In particular, it will place considerable emphasis on world-class research in fundamental areas of the mathematical sciences and the use of high-level mathematical techniques in modern application areas.
Key activities of the NZIMA will include
·
the organisation of 6-monthly programmes on themes drawn from a range of fields of interest·
associated workshops held at various locations around NZ·
establishment of postdoctoral fellowships in the theme areas·
establishment of PhD and Masters scholarships in the theme areas·
establishment of a small number of scholarships for open competition to research students (from NZ or worldwide) in unrestricted areas of the mathematical sciences, on a merit basis·
establishment of annual Maclaurin Fellowships (*), to enable mathematical scientists from NZ or worldwide to take time out from their usual occupations and undertake full-time research in New Zealand (or partly overseas if based in New Zealand).(* Richard Cockburn Maclaurin was a graduate of Auckland University College who went on to study at Cambridge, where he won the Smith Prize in Mathematics and Yorke Prize in Law, and was appointed as Foundation Professor of Mathematics at Victoria University College in 1899, and later Dean of Law and Professor of Astronomy. In 1908 he was invited to become President of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), and helped transform that institution into the world-class research-based technological university it is today.)
Decisions on initial NZIMA programmes, fellowships, scholarships and a number of small grants were made (with the help of an International Scientific Advisory Board) in October, as follows:
Ø
The first Maclaurin Fellows will be Prof. Rod Downey (Victoria University of Wellington) for all of 2003, and Prof. Richard Laugesen (University of Illinois at Urbana), who will be visiting NZ for the first half of 2003.Ø
The first two fully-supported thematic programmes in 2003/04 will be one in Logic and computation, led by Prof. Rob Goldblatt (Victoria University of Wellington), and one in Modelling cellular function, led by Dr Nicolas Smith (University of Auckland).Ø
Partial funding has been offered to two programmes in 2003 that have support from other sources: one in Numerical methods for evolutionary problems, led by Prof. John Butcher (University of Auckland), and one in Phylogenetic genomics, led by Prof. Mike Steel (University of Canterbury).Ø
NZIMA scholarships have been awarded to four students who are about to begin or who are in the early stages of their PhDs in the mathematical sciences: Jean Zhaojing Gong (University of Canterbury), Garry Nathan (University of Auckland), Tissa Senanayake (University of Waikato), and Krasimira Tsaneva-Atanasova (University of Auckland).Ø
Scholarship support is also being offered by the NZIMA for students involved in a mathematics-in-industry style programme in Industrial Mathematics, being organised by Prof. Robert McKibbin (Massey University).Ø
A special grant of $10000 has been made to the NZ Mathematical Olympiad Committee to assist with expenses in training and sending a New Zealand team to the 2003 International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO).Ø
Eight other small grants (of between $5000 and $10000) have been offered to help with the costs of several local conferences and workshops as well as research visitors, to— Prof. Mike Atkinson (Otago), for conference on Permutation Patterns (February 2003)
— Assoc. Prof. Steve Haslett (Massey), for conference on Multilevel Modelling (December 2002)
— Dr Ross Ihaka (Auckland), for visit by John Chambers (Bell Labs)
— Dr Mike Meylan (Massey), for visit by David Evans (Bristol)
— Dr Arkadii Slinko (Auckland), for visit by Murat Sertel (Istanbul)
— Prof. Geoff Whittle (Victoria), for NZMRI summer meeting (January 2003)
— Dr Thomas Yee (Auckland), for visit by Trevor Hastie (Stanford)
— Dr Ilze Ziedins (Auckland), for visit by Kavita Ramanan (Lucent Technologies).
Call for proposals and applications
The NZIMA is now calling for a second round of proposals for programmes (for 2004 and 2005) and applications for Maclaurin fellowships (for 2004), postgraduate scholarships and small grants (for 2003 and 2004). Application deadlines are as follows:
NZIMA postgraduate scholarships 31 January 2003
NZIMA small grants 31 January 2003
Preliminary proposals for NZIMA programmes (for 2004 and 2005) 15 March 2003
Maclaurin Fellowships (for 2004) 15 March 2003.
Decisions on postgraduate scholarships and small grants are expected to be made by mid-March 2003, and preliminary decisions on programme proposals by mid-April 2003 (after which full proposals would be invited for submission by mid-May 2003), and final decisions on programmes and Maclaurin fellowships by early August 2003.
Contact details (including the expected format of proposals and applications and other such information) are available on the NZIMA's website http://www.nzima.auckland.ac.nz
Further information can also be obtained from the NZIMA's Executive Administrator, Margaret Woolgrove, by email <woolgrove@auckland.ac.nz> or by telephone (09) 3737599 extn 82025.