Second Workshop for Women in Computational Topology (WinCompTop 2)

Union College, Schenectady NY

Investigators

Abstract

This award will support the participation of 10 US-based participants at the Second Workshop for Women in Computational Topology (WinCompTop 2), during July 1-5, 2019. WinCompTop2 is a workshop that facilitates the formation of new and lasting research collaborations between junior and senior women working in the field of computational topology, a field that seeks to identify underlying patterns and mathematical structure in data from areas ranging from medical imaging to networks of sensor arrays. WinCompTop 2 is designed to grow the network of women active in this field by providing both research opportunity and a unique environment for mentoring, collaboration, and cohort building. This type of event is critical, since despite numerous initiatives and undeniable progress over the past few decades, gender imbalance in mathematics and computer science remains significant. In particular, mathematics and computer science are two of three disciplines with the lowest percentage of women attaining PhDs, according to recent data collected by the National Science Foundation. There is considerable evidence that conferences and workshops such as WinCompTop2, geared toward women can and do make a significant impact, and participants report that they see strong benefits from these workshops, which support collaborations, broaden contacts, and raise visibility in the greater mathematical community. The WinCompTop2 workshop fits under the broad umbrella of Research Collaboration Conferences for Women, which the Association for Women in Mathematics encourages and supports. The majority of the time at the workshop will be spent tackling open problems in small working groups headed by established leaders in the field. The schedule consists of long blocks of time for the working groups to do research. At two or more points during the week, all participants will convene and one member from each group will provide a brief summary of their team's progress. In addition, there will be a poster session for graduate students and early-career participants as well as other crucial networking and mentoring opportunities between women at different points in their career as well as between peer colleagues. These relationships will foster a supportive and community-oriented atmosphere that is ideal for generating professional connections and collaborations. The conference website may be found here: https://maths.anu.edu.au/news-events/events/women-computational-topology. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.