WIMSIG Conference 2024

Plenary speakers

Grace Chung (Director, Google Research Australia) - My journey to AI

Leah Edelstein-Keshet (University of British Colombia) - Mathematical modelling applied to women's health

Antonietta Mira (Università della Svizzera italiana) - From noise to insight: unveiling hidden patterns by estimating the data intrinsic dimension

Valentina Wheeler (University of Wollongong) - Geometric flows and partial differential equations: the mathematics of bushfires and blood cells

Program and Events

See the timetable tab for more detail on the programme.

Monday 30 September:

09.00 – 16:30 AustMS-WIMSIG Early Career Workshop event (satellite event: must have chosen ECW event or ECW-only registration category). Link to ECW event schedule.

17:00 WIMSIG Welcome Reception 5-7pm, The Women's College, 15 Carillon Avenue, Newtown (light refreshments).

Tuesday 1 October:

09:00 Arrival at conference, Lecture Theatre 101, New Law Building Annexe, The University of Sydney. Coffee/Tea will be provided during the morning tea break.

12:30 Lunch provided for all participants.

17:00 Close

18:30 Conference Dinner at the Darling Rooms, Dockside, Cockle Bay Wharf, from 6:30pm. Professor Bronwyn Fox (UNSW DVC Research and Enterprise) will join us at the dinner and give a short address.

NB: participants must have registered for the Conference Dinner (included in the registration fee).

Wednesday 2 October:

09:30 Arrival at conference, Lecture Theatre 101, New Law Building Annexe, The University of Sydney. Coffee/Tea will be provided during the morning tea break.

12:30 LGBTQI+ and Allies Lunch, for those registered. (Lunch provided for all participants.)

16:45 Close

Tuesday afternoon: parallel discussion/panel sessions

On Tuesday afternoon at 4pm there will be three parallel discussion/panel sessions for participants to choose from:

Careers Beyond Academia (panel): organised by Harini Desiraju. Hear from these panellists and ask them questions!

Soraya McPhail (Australian Bureau of Statistics)
Catherine Meister (SMRI Communications Coordinator)
and two panellists from the Australian Signals Directorate

Culture and Community (discussion): co-led by Natalie Thamwattana and TK Le

This discussion session invites conversations about the culture of mathematical research in Australia, including how it works, how it can be improved and how we can affect change. Recognising that culture and community are deeply intertwined, the session will also explore ways that we can build an inclusive and welcoming mathematical community, highlighting how community practices can shape and enhance the culture of mathematics.

Equations of balance: Navigating work, life and part-time careers (discussion): co-led by Ajani De Vas Gunasekara and Catherine Penington

This discussion session invites participants to share their experiences and insights on managing the balance between career and personal life, particularly within part-time roles. We will explore the challenges of setting boundaries between professional and personal responsibilities, and how these boundaries can foster both personal well-being and career success. The discussion will also address strategies for creating flexible career paths that support sustainable work-life integration, while contributing to a fulfilling career in mathematical sciences.

Satellite Event: AustMS-WIMSIG Early Career Workshop (ECW)

The AustMS-WIMSIG Early-Career Workshop (ECW) will be held at the University of Sydney on Monday 30 September 2024, the day before WIMSIG Conference 2024. All higher-degree research students and early career mathematicians (up to roughly 5 years post-PhD, excluding career interruptions) are welcome and encouraged to attend.

The ECW aims to provide opportunities to develop community amongst other early career researchers and discuss topics relevant to this early stage of your career, with four interactive sessions throughout the day.

You can now register for the Early Career workshop through the registration process for WIMSIG Conference 2024: either by adding this as an event (if you're already registered for WIMSIG Conference 2024), or by choosing the ECW-only registration category (if you will not be attending WIMSIG Conference 2024).

The AustMS-WIMSIG ECW Program is now available.

Accommodation

If you wish to stay relatively close to the University of Sydney campus, three local hotels are kindly offering a conference rate for WIMSIG2024 participants. Click here for more information.

Travel awards for early career researchers and students

The WIMSIG Conference 2024 Travel Award Scheme for ECRs is now closed. Thank you for your applications.

WIMSIG members who are not eligible for this ECR Travel Award Scheme may wish to apply for the AustMS-WIMSIG Cheryl E Praeger Travel Award. The next round closes on 1 October 2024.

Organising committee

Harini Desiraju (SMRI)

Kate Doyle (SMRI)

Catherine Greenhill (UNSW Sydney) - Chair

Xiaoping Lu (University of Wollongong)

Catherine Penington (Macquarie University)

Rachel Wang (University of Sydney)

Registration information

Registration is now closed.

Late Full: $300 AUD
Late Student or Unwaged: $180 AUD
Earlybird Full (until 2 September): $250 AUD
Earlybird Student or Unwaged (until 2 September): $150 AUD

See “Program and Events” below for some information about the Welcome Reception, Conference Dinner and LGBTQI+ lunch (you will be asked whether you'd like to attend these events when you register).

Important dates

1 May 2024 - Earlybird registrations open, abstract submissions open
1 June 2024 - Travel award scheme opens (see below)
16 August 2024 - Travel award scheme closes
2 September 2024 - Earlybird registrations close
3 September 2024 - Late registrations open
8 September 2024 - Abstract submissions close
20 September 2024 - Late registrations close
26 September 2024 - final day to edit abstracts

You can submit an abstract when you register, or register first and submit your abstract later.

Please note, for anyone who doesn’t have regular childcare, we will also be organising one or two carers for children of participants who need it - you will be asked whether you need this service when you register.

Special sessions

A matter of scale: mathematical modelling of infectious disease dynamics at the population, people and pathogen levels

Organisers: Alexandra Hogan (UNSW), Patricia Campbell (Melbourne) and Eva Stadler (Kirby Institute, UNSW)

Algebra and Mathematical Physics

Organisers: Asilata Bapat (ANU), Justine Fasquel (Melbourne), Bregje Pauwels (Macquarie) and Milena Radnovic (Sydney)

Building confidence in mathematics of secondary and tertiary students

Organisers: Kerri Morgan (RMIT), Ingeborg Koch (RMIT) and Stella Stylianou (RMIT)

Geometric and analytic properties of partial differential equations

Organisers: Serena Dipierro (UWA) and Valentina Wheeler (Wollongong)

Hybrid modelling: Leveraging the nexus between domain-based modelling and machine learning

Organisers: Rachael Quill (Dept of Energy, Environment and Climate Action), Melissa Humphries (Adelaide), Sevvandi Kandanaarachchi (Data61) and Ainura Tursunalieva (Data61)

Mathematical Histories

Organiser: Rowena Ball (ANU)

Modelling for decision making

Organisers: Isobel Abell (Melbourne) and Lucinda Harrison (Melbourne)

Modelling the immune response to diseases

Organisers: Punya Alahakoon (UNSW) and Claire Miller (Auckland)

Recent Advances in Statistics and Biostatistics

Organisers: Shila Ghazanfar (Sydney) and Rachel Wang (Sydney)

Shiny Math Bio: Non-traditional approaches to mathematical biology

Organisers: Angese Barbensi (UQ), Adriana Zanca (Melbourne) and Meagan Carney (UQ)

Topology

Organisers: Jessica Purcell (Monash) and Zsuzsanna Dancso (Sydney)

Work Integrated Learning (WIL) for Mathematics and Statistics

Organisers: Geetika Verma (RMIT) and Asha Rao (RMIT)

There will also be a session of contributed talks.

Every talk in the special sessions or contributed talks session will have up to 25 minutes (including time for questions), allowing 5 minutes for people to change rooms between talks.