First International Meeting of the American Mathematical Society (AMS) and La Sociedad de Matemática de Chile (SOMACHI) will take place in Pucón, Chile on December 15-18, 2010. This grant will fund the travel and subsistence expenses of eleven U.S.-based mathematicians (nine early-career and two senior mathematicians) to attend this Joint International Meeting, with the object of forming longer-term north-south research collaborations in mathematics. All of the funded mathematicians will participate actively in the mathematical agenda of the meeting; the two senior mathematicians will also serve as mentors for research teams. The amount of each travel grant will be US$2,600. The American Mathematical Society will administer the grant, and requests US$60 per travel grant to cover its administrative costs. The total amount of the grant is US$29,260.
The project will be overseen by Professor Herb Clemens of Ohio State University and Professor Rubà E. RodrÃguez of Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile in consultation with the AMS-SOMACHI program committee. Professors Clemens and RodrÃguez will form six research teams, with each research team consisting of a senior mentor, one to two younger mathematicians (advanced graduate students or young professionals) based in Latin America and one to two younger mathematicians (advanced graduate students or young professionals) based in the U.S. Each research team will be brought together around a research problem of common interest related to one of the Special Sessions at the Joint International Meeting in Chile. Team mentors will be asked to frame the continuing contact and collaboration of his/her research team throughout 2011. Outcomes will include both research and advanced expository publications. This project will be a vehicle for strengthening longer-term research relations between the Latin American and U. S. mathematical communities.
This award is co-funded by the NSF Office of International Science and Engineering.
In December 15-18, 2010, the first joint meeting of the American Mathematical Society (AMS) and the Chilean Mathematical Society (SOMACHI) took place in Pucon, Chile, with six invited plenary talks, thirteen special sessions, and several panel discussions concerning education and research funding policy in the Americas. The NSF funded a small travel grant program that supported the participation at the meeting of eight U.S.-based early career mathematicians (these participants were all within plus or minus one year of receiving their doctorate) and two senior mentors, while a similar group of South American mathematicians were supported by funds obtained by SOMACHI. The goal of this program was to use the first joint AMS-SOMACHI conference as a platform to facilitate longer-term research collaborations by creating research teams comprised of both early career mathematicians and senior mentors from both the U.S. and Latin and South America. International conferences such as this allow U.S. participants to connect with researchers in other countries and facilitate the exchanges of fresh ideas and new approaches to problems. Most of the early career mathematicians who received travel grants and were part of research teams did report that they were exposed to new approaches and perspectives in the area of mathematics in which they work, and that they also received specific feedback on the results of their own work from the mentors and other members of their research teams. The meeting was clearly successful in connecting junior researchers with colleagues in other countries, working in the same research area. The connections made at the conference have led to several collaborations and to invitations for research visits in northern and southern locations. The interactions established between the junior participants across North and South and Latin America did achieve the goal of this travel grant program by connecting junior researchers with peer colleagues in the other hemisphere early in their academic careers, opening lines of communication and opportunities for research collaborations that will impact the future research careers. The model of using an international conference as a platform for creating research teams that pair junior researchers from different regions of the world, with guidance from senior mentors, is one that can be replicated to further enhance scientific collaborations within any discipline, not just mathematics.
