Plenary sessions focused on TYAN’s offer to discuss and promote high-level science in different subfields, always aiming for a balance of gender and regional diversity
Brasília (Brazil), October 4, 2023 – The second day of the 9th International Thematic Mathematics Workshop of The TWAS Young Affiliates Network and the 1st TYAN-Humboldt Workshop in Mathematics continued in full swing at the University of Brasília (UnB). The meeting is organized by the Brazilian Mathematical Society (SBM) in partnership with TYAN, UnB, the Young Academy of Argentina, and the Mexican Mathematical Society.
In the morning, the organization prepared a lecture on opportunities for young researchers and in the transition phase of their professional career. The panel was composed of Maria Soledad Aronna, from the FGV School of Applied Mathematics (FGV-EMAp), and Franco Cabrerizo, Chair of the Executive Committee of the TWAS Young Affiliates Network, in addition to the remote participation of Marcelo de Araújo, representative of the Humboldt Foundation’s researcher network, and Sarah MacLeod, Head of Relations with Young Researchers of the Heidelberg Laureate Forum Foundation.
In the afternoon session of the Workshop, three researchers from the Americas discussed the importance of TYAN for the evolution of mathematics-related activities around the world. The entity’s proposal to discuss and promote high-level science in different subfields and topics, always aiming for a balance of gender and regional diversity, was reinforced.
In addition to Cabrerizo, the other protagonists of the plenary session were Pablo Bolaños, from the University of Costa Rica, and José Ferran Valdez, from the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM). The panel moderator was Jaqueline Mesquita, President of the SBM and one of the hosts for UnB.
In Cabrerizo’s view, the event is extremely important in its purpose of contributing to the integration of different research lines in Mathematics. “The TYAN Workshop creates several opportunities for scientists from all over the world, with different research lines, to work together. Because, in the end, we are talking about young and more experienced researchers learning and exchanging experiences throughout this week. And speaking of several countries means different cultures, and that is the key to the success of this event. This is a need that we are paying attention to in the area,” he approves.
Maria Soledad Aronna, from FGV, agrees with the scientific exchange at events like TYAN and believes that it is a fundamental activity for young researchers to align their research methodologies.
“Teams from different countries complement each other in terms of methodology, problems, and applications, generating innovative projects. Suddenly, a researcher from one country may be good at a technique, but one from another country may have more knowledge about how to extend, apply, or interpret that methodology. It is very enriching to hear success and failure stories from other research groups in order to be able to take advantage of this knowledge in their own team,” analyzes the Argentine mathematician.
Until next Friday (6), the expectation of the TYAN Workshop is to receive about 80 leading scientists in Brasília. “We need these events because we are the ones who should be organizing this type of event. And networking is a natural consequence, because our mission is to connect scientists, research, and their challenges. And this is one of the ways to achieve this goal,” Cabrerizo adds.
For Maria Soledad, it is gratifying to see the interest of young researchers in participating in an event of such magnitude and that is in its 9th edition in 2023. Certainly, their careers will never be the same after the experiences in the UnB classrooms and contributions from entities such as the Humboldt Foundation and the Heidelberg Laureate Forum, for example.
“Young scientists only receive a small portion of the information about the possible opportunities that exist for them. In general, they only know what their professors and closest colleagues know, while the academic world has a wide and varied range of activities, scholarships, and grants for students and young doctors. In the opportunity panel, we were able to publicize opportunities offered by FGV EMAp, the Heidelberg Laureate Forum, the CAPES/Humboldt partnership, and TYAN, which is a huge contribution to researchers,” she concludes.