Spring 2010 Newsletter
Opportunities for Graduate Students at MathFest
MathFest 2010 will quickly be upon us. Registration is now open. Prospects for graduate students to participate are ever-growing. Let’s look at some of the events:
- Graduate Student Poster Session
Graduate students are invited by the MAA Committee on Graduate Students and The Young Mathematicians' Network to submit abstracts for this session. The posters should be 48” (length) by 36” (height). Posterboard and fastening materials will be available on-site. Some funding to cover transportation costs (up to $600) for poster authors is available. At most one graduate student will be funded per poster, and funded presenters are expected to take full part in the meeting. Abstracts submitted by Friday, April 23, will be given precedence in considering applications for travel support. All abstracts must be submitted by Friday, June 11. Questions on this session can be directed to Jim Freeman at jfreeman@cornellcollege.edu. - Graduate Student Special Session
This session is aimed at graduate students who plan to enter the job market within the next year. The majority of academic jobs available to mathematicians involve teaching undergraduate students. Many of the interviews for these jobs require a presentation to be made to undergraduates, yet most graduate students have not had the opportunity to give these types of presentations. This session gives graduate students the opportunity to give a 20-minute expository talk aimed at post-calculus undergraduate students. These talks should excite undergraduates about mathematics, and abstracts should be written to appeal to undergraduates. Each participant in this session will receive private feedback on his or her presentation from an established faculty member and an undergraduate student. Abstracts must be submitted by Friday, April 30. The session is co-sponsored by the MAA Committee on Graduate Students and The Young Mathematicians' Network. Questions on this session can be directed to Jim Freeman. - Graduate Student Panel Discussion
This session is aimed at PhD students and at recent PhD's. An overview of the employment process will be given with ample opportunity for audience members to participate. Questions that will be addressed include: How do you find which jobs are available? How do you choose which jobs you want to apply for? What are academic and other employers looking for in the materials that you send? What should you be doing now? How do schools conduct interviews? How can you best prepare for these interviews? How do employers choose to whom they will make offers? How do you negotiate once you have an offer? - Graduate Student Workshop
Hiding behind every mathematical result are many interesting stories, and one of the most difficult skills in formulating a mathematical presentation is finding the story that is right for a particular audience. Almost any mathematical topic can be pitched at a variety of levels: the topological genus of a surface can be described in terms homotopy or the number of “holes,” measures of central tendency can be described probabilistically or as “averages,” and two things being isomorphic can be described technically in terms of preservation of algebraic structure or as their simply being “the same.” In this workshop the participants will engage in hands-on activities to learn and practice the skills of determining an appropriate mathematical level for a variety of audiences and formulating an appropriate story to tell, with emphasis on presenting to undergraduate students.
If you are interested in this workshop, please sign up (at no cost) when you register for the meeting. Questions about the workshop should be sent to Aaron Luttman at aluttman@clarkson.edu.
Participants in the Poster and Expository Talk session are eligible for travel support (up to $600) from the MAA. Funded presenters are expected to take full part in the meeting. Information on travel support will be available at www.maa.org/students/grad/.