Joint LMS-SAMS-SAMSA meeting will be hosted in South Africa in the first week of September. The meeting will have a scientific component, but its main goal is to identify and establish/strengthen mathematical partnership(s) between UK and Southern Africa. SAMS members are requested please to write an email to SAMS President (president@sams.ac.za) if they have suggestions who could be included/invited from Southern Africa or the UK to participate in the meeting (self-nominations are welcome). SAMS is looking for mathematicians (at any stage of their career) who are most likely to engage in long-lasting collaboration across UK and Southern Africa in mathematics and its applications (existing collaborations included if there is a prospect for strengthening them). Resources are limited and we cannot guarantee that we will be able to approach/invite all individuals identified. Preference will be given to those who work in areas that are well established and well represented in Southern Africa or the UK and those who lead a group in a particular area. Please provide context with the nominations (if there are existing collaborations, with whom, and what are the indications that the person is interested in such collaborations). Nominations should please reach the SAMS President by 10 May, but later nominations may also be considered.
Category: Call
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Jack Carr PhD Internship Programme
Jack Carr PhD Internship Programme
Two internships are available to current PhD students in an
African University to spend up to 6 weeks doing research related to their PhD topic at the Maxwell Institute for the Mathematical Sciences in Edinburgh (in partnership with Heriot-Watt University and Edinburgh University). A grant of up to £ 4,000, offered by the Jack Carr Fund, will cover travel, accommodation and subsistence costs for the duration of the internship. Those interested can find more details in the attached poster.
The South African Mathematical Society (SAMS) strives to foster international collaborations with other societies. Currently, there are ongoing communications with the American Institute of Mathematical Sciences (AIMS). The director of AIMS suggested that South African representatives could organize special sessions at the 2026 AIMS Conference in Athens, Greece (see https://aimsconference.org/conferences/2026/index.html).
There is already a proposal to organize a special session on the topic “Evolution equations and operator semigroups” by Christian Budde (UFS). Anyone else who is interested in organizing a special session at the AIMS Conference is kindly asked to contact Christian Budde (BuddeCJ@ufs.ac.za or secretary@sams.ac.za).
Regarding funding for attendance of special session organizers at the AIMS Conference, we have to negotiate with the AIMS Council. However, we first would like to table some suggestions for special sessions before asking for support.
European Statistics Awards Programme
Eurostat is pleased to announce the final round of the European Statistics Awards for Web Intelligence, with a focus on Multinational Enterprise (MNE) Groups Data: Discovery & Extraction Challenges. Running in parallel, these competitions aim to drive innovation, develop new methodologies, and benchmark approaches for processing web content in MNE Group data analysis.
Both competitions are now open for registration and the deadline for registering is 22 April 2025.
By running both challenges simultaneously, the European Statistics Awards Programme aims to strengthen MNE Group Data analysis by enabling those participants that develop integrated pipelines to benefit from possible synergies, while also allowing specialised teams to fully focus on either of the two challenges.
The competition focuses on three main objectives: fostering innovation in web intelligence for statistics, benchmarking methods for identifying financial MNE Group data sources, and assessing extraction techniques using advanced technologies. This initiative contributes to refining methodologies and enhancing statistical practices in MNE Group analysis.
Do you know how to code in Python or R? Register by 22 April 2025 and try your chances on your own or with a team of colleagues.
You and your team have the chance to win up to €50 000 by securing first place in all three award categories across both competitions.
The top prize breakdown per competition includes:
- €10 000 for Accuracy Award
- €10 000 for Reusability Award
- €5 000 for Innovativeness Award
Additionally, second and third place prizes are awarded as follows:
- Accuracy Award: €5 000 (2nd place) | €3 000 (3rd place)
- Reusability Award: €5 000 (2nd place) | €3 000 (3rd place)
- Innovativeness Award: €3 000 (2nd place) | €1 000 (3rd place)
By placing first in all three categories in one competition, your team could win up to €25 000, and by doing so in both competitions, you could win a total of €50 000.
For more information on the European Statistical Awards Programme, please refer to the European Statistics Awards website or drop us a line to learn about any further details.
Many thanks in advance for considering signing up, and for sharing this information,
The European Statistics Awards secretariat
In (early) preparation for this year’s AGM meeting at the 69th annual SAMS Congress scheduled to take place at Nelson Mandela University in December 2025, the current SAMS Council is requesting nominations for two positions that will become vacant when the terms of the respective Council members come to an end. Specifically, these include the important portfolios of the President and Financial Manager, currently held by Prof. Zurab Janelidze and Dr. Wen-Chi Kuo, respectively.
For more details on the responsibilities of the Council members and a description of these positions, kindly consult the SAMS website: https://www.sams.ac.za/governance-sams
Please send any nominations of capable individuals, accompanied by this nomination form and a short CV of the nominee, to the General Secretary of SAMS, Dr. Christian Budde, at buddecj@ufs.ac.za or secretary@sams.ac.za by no later than 1 September 2025.
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SAMS Awards: Call for nominations
As a member of SAMS, you are invited to nominate candidates for two awards of the South African Mathematical Society. The two awards are the SAMS Award for Research Distinction and the SAMS award for Advancement of Mathematics. Further information about the description of these categories, and the nomination procedure, can be found here on the SAMS website. Kindly send your nominations to the Vice-President of SAMS, Dr. Amartya Goswami at agoswami@uj.ac.za, by no later than 31 May 2025.
In preparation for this year’s AGM at the 67th annual SAMS Congress scheduled to take place at the University of Pretoria from 4 to 6 December 2024, the current SAMS Council requested nominations for three vacant positions. These included the portfolios of the Vice-President and Education, currently filled by the interim members Prof. Seithuti Moshokoa and Dr. Belinda Huntley, respectively, and the recently vacant Liason portfolio.
For more details on the responsibilities of the Council members and a description of these positions, kindly consult the SAMS website: https://www.sams.ac.za/governance-sams
We are happy to report that we received the following nominations:
- Dr. Amartya Goswami (A_Goswami_CV) was nominated for the position of Vice-President.
- Dr. Rina Durandt (R_Durandt_CV) was nominated for the Education portfolio.
Sadly, we did not receive any nominations for the vacant Liason portfolio. We hope to address this during the AGM, where we will give SAMS members the opportunity to nominate appropriate candidates, and to give their views on the suitability of the nominations already received.
We look forward to your participation in this year’s AGM.
SAMS members are invited to assist with training at the South African Mathematics Foundation’s annual Maths Olympiad camp hosted by Stellenbosch University. The countries best grade 8 to 11 learners identified through the South African Mathematics Olympiad and other SAMF programmes are invited to the camp and receive intensive training in solving non-routine mathematics problems.
- Dates: 8-13 December (classes commencing on the 9th of December)
- Venue: Stellenbosch University
- Academic Coordinators: Dr Dirk Basson (SU) and Dr Liam Baker (SU)
- SAMF Coordinator: Herman Bosman
Members who are interested can contact Herman Bosman at herman@samf.ac.za. The SAMF will pay the SAMS members’ travel and accommodation (for those outside Stellenbosch), as well as a honorarium.
TWAS and UNESCO Launch 2024: Call for Researchers in Developing Countries to Collaborate at Centres of Excellence
Researchers from developing countries working in the natural sciences are invited to apply for the TWAS-UNESCO Associateship Scheme, which provides an opportunity to visit leading centres of excellence in the Global South. The programme, established in 1994 by The World Academy of Sciences (TWAS) and UNESCO, aims to strengthen scientific collaboration and capacity in developing countries.
Eligible candidates must hold a PhD or equivalent degree and be citizens of a developing country in the South. Women scientists and those from isolated institutions are particularly encouraged to apply. Successful applicants will be appointed for three years and can visit a designated centre twice for two to three months each time to pursue collaborative research.
Most participating centres are located in Argentina, with additional centres in Africa, Asia and South and Central America. Travel support and a contribution towards subsistence costs of up to $300 per month are provided by TWAS, while living expenses are covered by the host institutions.
The application deadline is 5 December 2024.
Optiver Foundation Scholarship Programme
The Optiver Foundation Scholarship Programme at the University of Oxford is an international postgraduate scholarship programme for women in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). Over the first two cohorts, students from countries around the world, including Bangladesh, China, Colombia, Lebanon, Morocco, Nigeria and Ukraine, have come to Oxford to undertake a one-year MSc course. A video featuring some of the scholars’ stories can be seen here: Optiver Foundation Scholars Video
Applications for next year’s Optiver Foundation Scholarship Programme are now open. A third round of scholarships will be awarded to students applying to one-year masters’ courses within the Departments of Statistics, Computer Science, Physics, Chemistry and Engineering Science, or the Mathematical Institute. Female applicants from low- and middle-income countries will be considered for the awards, which provide full financial support to cover course fees and a stipend for living costs. Scholars will also receive tailored induction activities, mentoring and on-course support. View more information about the Optiver Foundation Scholarships, including how to apply, here.