*Concerns of Young Mathematicians* Volume 3, Issue 19 June 7, 1995 An electronically distributed digest for discussions of the issues of concern to mathematicians at the beginning of their careers. Please, direct submissions and questions to Emil Volcheck, volcheck@acm.org , editor for the month of June. Next issue: Wednesday, June 21. May Editor: Franklin Mendivil mendivil@math.gatech.edu June Editor: Emil Volcheck volcheck@acm.org July Editor: Kevin Madigan madigan@math.nwu.edu To subscribe: Contact Charles Yeomans at cyeomans@ms.uky.edu Back issues and other information are available via anonymous FTP to ftp.ms.uky.edu, in pub3/mailing.lists/ymn-list. Or connect to the YMN homepage on the WWW, the URL: http://math34.gatech.edu:8080/YMN/ymn.html The views expressed here do not necessarily represent those of the administrative board or membership of the Young Mathematicians' Network. The editorial policy of this newsletter is to encourage discussion of issues, and facilitate the dissemination of information, relevant to the concerns of young mathematicians. Table of Contents Item # Title ------ ----- 1 Editor's notes 2 Childcare Survey 3 Philippine Balik-Scientist Program 4 European Union Research Networks 5 Employment Prospects for New PhDs in Brazil 6 Closing Credits _______________________________________________________________ Item #1 Editor's notes: My name is Emil Volcheck, and I'm pleased to have the opportunity to serve as this month's editor of the *Concerns*. This week, we start off with Bob Dobrow's report on the YMN Childcare Survey. Then in Item #3, we have some information for young mathematicians of Filipino background looking for positions in the Philippines. In item #4, we have a report on a form of research funding by the European Union which helps young scientists to network and develop contacts within their area of research. The article explains how you may be able to indirectly benefit from this program, even if you're not from an EU member nation. Although job prospects are very difficult in the US, research universities in Brazil have trouble recruiting enough PhDs. In item #5, we interview two members of a mathematics department at a Brazilian university about employment opportunities for new PhDs in Brazil. _______________________________________________________________ Item #2 Childcare Survey Below are the results of the YMN Childcare Survey. The Survey appeared in the "Concerns of Young Mathematicians," as well as in the Newsletter of the Association for Women Mathematicians and Notices of the American Mathematical Society. First some overall impressions: Thirty-six people responded to the Survey. Most were parents (26) and strongly in favor of some type of childcare services being provided at joint meetings. Many commented favorably on the services provided by the Canadian Mathematical Society at their recent Toronto meeting. (See Concerns, Vol. 3, Issue 17.) Most respondents indicated that the lack of childcare would not prevent them from attending joint meetings; at the same time many stated that the availability of childcare would make it more likely for them to attend. Note that there was considerable "variability" in how people responded to the Survey. Many people did not answer all the questions or sent in comments instead of a direct response. These comments were *very* helpful in getting a sense of how people feel on this issue but made the job of compiling a neat set of statistics more difficult. Reprinted at the end of this compilation are comments about the current situation at meetings and services, particularly at the last joint meeting in San Francisco, as well as the responses to Question #7 of the Survey soliciting suggestions on how the situation can be improved. Finally, many thanks to all who responded. Your responses are greatly appreciated. Hopefully the Survey results will contribute to improving the joint meetings and allowing for fuller participation of parents. Bob Dobrow dobrow@cam.nist.gov ================================================================= Responses to Survey: #1 Would you be more likely to attend the joint meeting---next year it's in Orlando, Florida---if child care were available at the meeting? Yes 17 No 6 (with children) No 6 (without children) #2 Will lack of childcare prevent you from attending the meeting? Yes 5 No 14 (with children) No 7 (without children) Don't know 3 #3 If daycare were provided at the conference center, perhaps at a moderate fee, would you be certain, likely, or unlikely to use it? Certain 7 Likely 12 Unlikely 4 (with children) Unlikely 6 (without children) #4 How much would you be willing to pay for daycare at the joint meeting? (in dollars per child per hour) $ 2 15 $ 3 14 $ 4 10 $ 5 7 $10 1 Don't know 5 #5 For what age children would you be requiring daycare? 1 7 1 7 2 7 3 6 4 3 5 4 5 5 #6 If you do not have children now, but may in the future, do you think you would use childcare services if they were available at the joint meetings? Yes 5 ********* COMMENTS ON CURRENT SITUATION AT MEETINGS AND SERVICES IN SAN FRANCISCO ***************** We found the "parent-child" room [in San Francisco] very convenient, although we were unhappy with the restriction that a PARENT, not just a responsible adult, had to accompany the children. [The hospitality room in San Francisco] was in an odd place and was always locked with nobody in it. People could very well just sit on their butts in their hotel rooms if there is nothing more to a hospitality room than an empty room.... We were really hoping to have an opportunity to talk with more parents. The room provided did absolutely nothing to help in this endeavor. In Vancouver, 2 years ago, the parent-child room was located too far away from where the talks were. I was in San Francisco and had my wife and young daughter with me. We saw that there was a room for people at the meetings with young children. All it was was an empty room! We went there hoping to meet other "mathematics families" with young children. But nobody was ever there. Not that that is any surprise. Why sit around an empty room? At least in our hotel rooms we had all the toys we brought. It was very disappointing. It would have been nice to meet some other people in situations similar to us, trying to deal with young children in addition to the pressures of a new career. Additionally, I'm sure there were others where only 1 of the 2 parents were in town for the meeting. It sure would have been nice if "the other parents" could have met. Then maybe they could have "buddied around" S.F. together. As it was, my wife and daughter spent much of the time I was at talks in our hotel room. It was rather unfortunate. ******* SUGGESTIONS (Response to Question #7: Any suggestions for how this situation can be improved?) *********** Providing a space for children to play and perhaps some toys is sufficient for me.... What is needed is a room in the conference hotel staffed by reputable daycare providers. The AMS and their local organizing committee are probably the only ones with the resources to set this up.... Why not hire a local babysitter (hotels can usually arrange someone, but the costs are exorbitant) to wo/man the room? We can get commitments in advance of people who need baby- sitters and when (put it on the advance registration form). 1. Provide information about the location and phone numbers of some of the local daycares (maybe recommended daycares). 2. Check which of the local daycares would accept drop-ins. 3. Make an arrangement with a chosen daycare to accept children from the conference participants and arrange transportation to that daycare. It would be nice if better efforts were made to coordinate activities, or have people with children share hotel information. Something so that folks with small children could really get together. It would be nice if the hotels indicated whether or not the rooms could accommodate cribs.... Maybe use parents to help staff the facility (under the direction of a licensed day care provided, of course). Compensate parent volunteers with credits for childcare, e.g., if you volunteer for 1 hour you can leave your kids there for 2 additional hours. A drawback to this is control over the quality of care (and liability issues?). If not already provided, books, toys, VCR, and small library of children's tapes, etc., could all help make the temporary facility more inviting for the kids. Follow the lead of some progressive mathematical societies, like the Canadian Mathematics Society. Daycare should be provided at *any* meeting and on any workplace. The childcare services should be located in the same building as the meeting location. For older children (and maybe for some of the smaller ones, too) some field trips to nearby sites of interest, special hands-on mathematical activities (using real mathematicians as teachers), etc., would be nice. I think that it is important to provide childcare that people can be comfortable with. I would not feel comfortable if the childcare consisted of teenage children of local faculty, working during the meeting to make some extra money. I think it is important that the childcare workers be certified in some way---be from a professional daycare centers or something. 1. Childcare in the form of special activities for kids during opening banquet and main invited addresses. This has been done (at least for opening banquet) in the past. 2. I have used the parent-child room at past meetings. This is a good idea that I hope will be continued for parents who want to "trade off" and need a place to meet or hangout.... VCR and cribs are certainly important for such a room, but tables, refrigerator, a donated toy or two, sofa for an older child to nap would also be helpful. A comfortable place for nursing moms would also be helpful. 3. I think a big problem with providing childcare at all times is finding a way to provide childcare that parents can trust and be comfortable with. I'm sure there are liability and licensing concerns from the provider's point-of-view, especially given the short-term nature. I would think finding a baby-sitter list from a local university (with references) would be one option that would make it easier for the AMS-MAA to avoid certain problems. Also, approaching a day-care center in the area might lead to some answers. Frankly, one of the greatest problems is that, even in the "family rooms" at the meetings, there is very little for the children to do. If there were a day-care center not far from the meetings, they would have toys, etc., more appropriate for the situation. Some day-care centers even provide busing for children. The one trick is that there should be some way for parents to scope out the center the first day and meet some of the personnel. I think this would make it more likely that people would use the child care. Strollers, highchairs, etc., to rent would be nice as they are hard to bring. The ideas in the article in the YMN Newsletter about the Canadian Math Meeting in Toronto this summer sounded great! The model for the Canadian Math meeting sounds find with me. I'm just brainstorming, but perhaps someone could organize a cooperative arrangement where parents take turns caring for each others' children. Childcare is extremely expensive, even when it's "cheap". Putting together a coop of parents--or providing a way for parents to arrange a coop at a meeting--would mean a lot less strain. Would it be possible to organize a cooperative babysitting arrangement where parents took turns supervising the children. If you had a room and a few toys and could get people to commit their time it might work. Even parents whose spouses were attending the meeting might welcome the opportunity to get out of the hotel room with their young children and to meet some other parents. Have sponsoring/organizing agencies (AMS, etc.) convinced of the necessity. _______________________________________________________________ Item #3 Philippine Balik-Scientist Program The Philippine Department of Science and Technology is sponsoring the Balik-Scientist Program to encourage technically-trained Filipino citizens or persons of Filipino descent to return to the Philippines. The Program will cover relocation expenses and provide certain tax exemptions. Research grants may also be awarded. For more details, please contact: Dr. Lydia G. Tansinsin, Assistant Secretary, DOST lgt@dostmis.gov.ph Submitted by Mark J. Encarnacion mje@acm.org . Mark has been looking into the program himself and would also be willing to answer questions you may have. _______________________________________________________________ Item #4 European Union Research Networks Research Networks sponsored by the European Commission In April 1994 the European Community started the Fourth Framework Programme covering several activities in research and technological development. This programme has a duration of 5 years and a budget of ECU 12.3 billion (1 ECU = US$1.30). In particular, one of the activities covered by the programme is the so-called programme for the Training and Mobility of Researchers (TMR), devoted to promoting postdoctoral research training, to improving the mobility of European researchers, as well as to developing scientific cooperation and cohesion among Community members. Although TMR is intended to give financial support also to individual (especially young) scientists who want to spend a period at an European research laboratory, the main part of the budget (about ECU 335 million) is reserved for the implementation of research networks. A network is composed of at least five research teams that want to work together on a scientific project and promote the training and mobility of young researchers. The teams must come from at least three different countries. The structure of such a network may become clearer by looking at the allowable costs covered by the Community. So, a network of research teams can get funding for the following activities (plus associated administrative overhead of up to 20%): 1) Visiting Researchers: this means either postdocs (for longer periods up to 3 years) or more experienced researchers (for shorter periods only). The invited researchers must come from a different country than the one of the host institute. 2) Networking Costs: mainly mobility costs for the organizers or costs for communication and publications. 3) Direct operating costs: for supplies needed by the project. In other words, only visiting researchers, and not the 'usual' research staff from the host institute may get financial support from the Community. Neither can machines and infrastructural costs be covered. The first deadline for the submission of proposals is 15 June, so the first networks may start their work in winter 1995. Although most European countries are eligible to join a network, only Community members will receive funding. This holds also for the visiting researchers (see 1). This means, in particular, that only European postdocs may get a fellowship in the framework of such a network. In addition, such a postdoctoral fellowship would be then bound to the project, i.e., the young researchers have to participate in the realization of the scientific goal of the network. The budget for a network should not be smaller than ECU 1 million, and therefore, it is expected that it includes most of the European teams involved in a certain field. Moreover the EC seems to have learned from the previous programmes that it is better to support only networks of teams really intending to work together on a precise research project, rather than groups sharing only vague common interests. Because each network represents the combined European efforts in solving a particular problem, you should consider contacting a network in your area of interest, even if you're not eligible for direct funding. Collaboration with members of a network could even help you get research funding from your own country. Further information about the EU Fourth Framework Programme can be found on the EU CORDIS Webpage at URL http://www.cordis.lu . Submitted by Roberto Pirastu Roberto.Pirastu@risc.uni-linz.ac.at _______________________________________________________________ Item #5 Employment Prospects for New PhDs in Brazil We received a question asking about the job market in Latin America, in particular, Brazil. The *Concerns* conducted this interview by email with two members of the Instituto de Matematica (department of mathematics) of the Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), in Porto Alegre, Brazil. The department includes pure and applied mathematics, together with statistics. Vilmar Trevisan is on the faculty of the department, and Ken Weber (PhD, Kent State, 1994) is visiting the department this year. Ken came to UFRGS from a temporary teaching position at Baldwin-Wallace College (Berea, OH). Concerns: How is the job market for new PhDs in Brazil generally? KW: There is a hiring freeze for government-run university permanent faculty positions until October, but people are being hired on a temporary basis with hopes that they can be offered a permanent position when the hiring freeze is lifted. These temporary positions have the same structure as if they were permanent--the contracts are just short-term. VT: As far as I know, there are no PhDs in math without a job. In fact, there is a severe shortage of PhDs in the Mathematical Sciences. All universities, except, maybe, three, cannot fill the positions they have in Mathematics with PhD candidates. Most universities need to lower qualification requirements, say to the Masters level, in order to attract candidates. Concerns: How serious is the hiring freeze? Do you think it may be extended past October? VT: The hiring freeze is only at the federal universities. It should be lifted by October at the latest. Most likely it is going to be lifted earlier for universities. Concerns: What are the prospects for employment outside academia? VT: There are few non-academic positions available. The non-academic jobs would involve national laboratories and are academic related. Only now big companies are beginning to "think" about opening research and development departments. Concerns: What are the research universities in Brazil? VT: Research universities are generally of two kinds: federal and state universities. There are a handful of private universities that do research. The best universities, that means those that would have the best rank in the US, are from the state of Sao Paulo and the city of Rio de Janeiro. Only a few others would have good rank, like UFRGS in Rio Grande do Sul, UFMG in Minas Gerais, UFPE in Pernambuco, UFBA in Bahia, and UNB in Brasilia. Concerns: How well is research funded? VT: There are three federal funding agencies, CNPq, CAPES and FINEP, and each state has their own local agency. Some states, like Sao Paulo (SP), Rio Grande do Sul (RS), Minas Gerais (MG), Ceara (CE), and others, have good local funding. In general terms these agencies are prepared to fund small projects (up to 100 thousand US dollars) and give scholarships to students (both undergraduate and graduate). I would say it's reasonably easy to get funding. Concerns: Do you have good computing equipment? KW: Here at UFRGS, we have a few Sun workstations and a DEC Alpha in the math department, and access to a 2 node Cray Y-MP and a 4 node Silicon Graphics machine (among others) in the Supercomputing Center. VT: Computing facilities vary tremendously and depend on the university. Concerns: Could you tell us a bit about how Brazilian academic rankings compare to the American system? Vilmar, what would your position correspond to in the American system? VT: My academic rank here is "adjunto" which means (a little higher than) assistant professor. The career is divided into 4 ranks: Auxiliar, Assistente, Adjunto, and Titular (Titular is a full professorship). Each rank is subdivided into 4 subranks (In my case I'm Adjunto II). With a PhD you go automatically to the rank of adjunto. All permanent jobs, including titular, are filled by means of something called a "concurso", which is a public examination, open to all people with the qualification required (like a Master's or PhD in the required area). Concerns: What's the teaching load like at UFRGS? VT: The teaching load is about 8 hours a week (typically 2 courses per semester). At most universities it is lower than that, but comparable. If you do not do research, you need to teach 16 hours a week (typically 3 or 4 courses). The classes are offered by semester like in the US, and faculty have 6 weeks of vacation per year. Concerns: What are starting salaries like? VT: The salary for Adjunto I (that means entering the university with a PhD degree) is between R$ 35K and R$ 41K. (This is the gross salary.) To get the equivalent in US$, you should multiply by 1.15. Concerns: Thank you very much! _______________________________________________________________ Item #6 Closing Credits Charles Yeomans cyeomans@ms.uky.edu Mark Winstead mwwinst@pic.net Nancy Wilson nwilson@stmarys-ca.edu Emil Volcheck Emil.Volcheck@risc.uni-linz.ac.at Frank Sottile sottile@math.toronto.edu Vic Perera vicum@math.ohio-state.edu Franklin Mendivil mendivil@math.gatech.edu Kevin Madigan madigan@math.nwu.edu Leigh Lunsford lunsford@math.uah.edu Steve Kennedy skennedy@mathcs.carleton.edu Matt Hudelson hudelson@math.washington.edu Silvia Heubach silvi@cinenet.net Bob Dobrow dobrow@cam.nist.gov Greg Dresden dresden@fireant.ma.utexas.edu Lyle Cochran lcochran@fresno.edu Kevin Charlwood kec1@bradley.bradley.edu Neil Calkin calkin@math.gatech.edu Wendy Brunzie brunzie@mathfs.math.montana.edu Curtis Bennett cbennet@bgnet.bgsu.edu Frank Arlinghaus frank@math.ysu.edu Edward Aboufadel aboufade@sun.scsu.ctstateu.edu _______________________________________________________________ End of Journal -- Next week: The Discussion Continues