EventsHigher Degree ResearchUncategorized

Women in Mathematics Day 2021

On May 12, it’ll be International Women in Maths Day. This is a joyful opportunity for the mathematical community to celebrate women in mathematics. The goal of the day is to inspire women everywhere to celebrate their achievements in mathematics, and to encourage an open, welcoming and inclusive work environment for everybody. The celebration takes place every year, all around the world. The first Women in Mathematics Day was held in 2019. But why May 12? Because that is the birthday of Maryam Mirzakhani (1977 – 2017). In 2014, Maryam Mirzakhani was awarded the Fields Medal for her outstanding contributions to the dynamics and geometry of Riemann surfaces and their moduli spaces, becoming the first woman to be recognised for her mathematical achievements by this top mathematical prize.

In 2019  the Australian Centre for Excellence for Mathematical and Statistical Frontiers created posters that celebrate women in mathematics and statistics, mainly in South Australia but with representatives from across the world.

In 2020 we were all in lockdown due to COVID-19 but the day did not go by unmarked! Have a look at ACEMS Women in Maths to find videos from prominent women in mathematics (and statistics!) including SCU consultant Marijke Welvaert and SCU Director Alice Richardson. In 2021 the main event from ACEMS is a virtual panel discussion on the day itself, 12 May.

It doesn’t escape my attention that the same day will this year mark the 201st birthday of Florence Nightingale. You can read the Conversation piece I co-wrote for her 200th birthday last year which focused on the healing power of data. Florence was a prodigious writer, which possibly makes her something of a role model for HDR students struggling to put pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard!) Indeed I think Florence would do very well with the text-based communication of the 21st century, and I imagine her with smart phone in hand like this.

Her vast array of correspondence means that she has provided us with a large number of quotable quotes for many situations. My favourite is the comment she made about her time in the Crimea 1854 – 1856, and the data she drew together from that experience to inform the reform of the British health and military systems as a result. However exhausted I might be, the sight of long columns of numbers was perfectly reviving to me.

I think many statistical consultants would feel the same way. The sight of a long column of numbers means data is available to address a research questions, and it’s the intersection between questions, data and methods where advice from a statistical consultant can make the biggest difference to a research project.

#May12 #WomeninMaths #May12WIM

Associate Professor Alice Richardson is Director of the Statistical Consulting Unit (SCU) at the Australian National University. Her research interests are in linear models and robust statistics; statistical properties of data mining methods; and innovation in statistics education. In her role at the SCU she applies statistical methods to large and small data sets, especially for research questions in population health and the biomedical sciences.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

*