As an international research centre, the Isaac Newton Institute is committed to equal opportunities throughout all of our activities.
Of the ~2,500 researchers and scientists that visit INI as either programme or workshop participants throughout a typical year, roughly a third will be based in the UK, a third will be based in Europe, and a a third will be based in North America, Asia and the rest of the world. We are consequently aware that providing support to mathematical minds from all corners of the globe is key to maintaining our position at the forefront of the science.
As a result, the Institute has schemes in place to fund participants from developing countries and allow them to attend the activities that take place here. Eligible participants will be contacted directly by the Institute, so please apply for workshops in the normal way. No other action is required in the first instance.
To find out more about which nationalities may be eligible for financial support, please see the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s (OECD) Development Assistance Committee (DAC) list linked below.
Listen to a short audio interview with DAC-funding recipient Dr Surinder Kaur (Indian Institute of Technology) on her experience of using the scheme:
Read a written interview with DAC-funding recipient Praveen Kumar Dhankar (Rashtrasant Tukadoji Maharaj Nagpur University) on his experience of using the scheme.
Praveen, please tell us about your career in mathematics so far.
I am originally from a village Rasulpur in the district of Bulandshahar, Uttar Pradesh, India. Presently, I am PhD Student in the Department of Mathematics, Rashtrasant Tukadoji Maharaj Nagpur University, Nagpur, Maharashtra, India working in the research area of Mathematical Physics and Cosmology. During my PG program I learnt specialization in Linear algebra, Topology, General relativity, Cosmology and Operational research. I have secured AIR 11th in the prestigious all India CSIR-NET Examination in June 2016 similarly 3rd Nagpur University rank holder in M. Sc (Mathematics)-2013.
What attracted to you participating in the “Complex analysis: techniques, applications and computations” programme’s workshop?
I have attended two workshops in the CAT programme as first was “Complex analysis in mathematical physics and applications” from 28th October 2019 to 1st November 2019 with the theme from pioneering work of the last century on classical problems in linear elasticity, groundwater flow, and the Hele-Shaw and Stokes flow free boundary problems, several new and surprising connections to other topics in mathematical physics have emerged. Complex analysis and algebraic geometry lie at the root of many of these connections, and this workshop will bring together varied contributors in these areas. In general, application areas of complex variable theory have expanded hugely over the past 10-15 years from earlier roots in applications to fluid mechanics and linear elasticity. The workshop mainly focus on a number of key themes selected from diverse modern application areas of complex analysis such as conformal field theory, integrable hierarchies, image analysis, statistical mechanics, singularity formation in PDEs, asymptotics beyond all orders, Painlev\’e transcendents and random matrices. These emerging themes are complemented by a survey of modern approaches in the classical areas mentioned above which fascinates me. Also, the second workshop I attended on “Computational complex analysis” from 9th December 2019 to 13th December 2019 mainly focused on: (a) new and existing methods, (b) software tools, and (c) various application areas. Methods were focused on the traditional tools of the field (conformal mapping, series expansions, integral transforms, rational approximation, quadrature) as well as recent developments (Riemann-Hilbert problems). The exploitation of analyticity in numerical computations was a key theme, as is the possibility of enlarging domains of analyticity by theoretical techniques such as asymptotics. Part of the workshop were devoted to the software tools of the numerical complex analyst. This includes the traditional numerical environments such as MATLAB, NumPy and Julia as well as their symbolic counterparts Mathematica and Maple which I feel is very vital for any learners in the concerned field.
Did the potential costs involved put you off from applying to the workshop?
Yes, in fact, for a participant from a developing country the cost involved in participation is a major matter of concern. I am really obliged with the support from Isaac Newton Institute for Mathematical Sciences (DAC-funding) that helped me in building the confidence of reaching to this esteemed institute and got the opportunity to interact with the global perspectives and personalities of the subject.
What was your experience of receiving the DAC-funding support?
Mesmerizing! Yes, indeed, without DAC-funding support I could never rise in the subject to this height. That too, twice in a year! This support has enabled not only me as a person from a small place in India but lighten the hopes of many rising talents across this talent-full country.
Would you be likely to apply for future workshops at INI?
Yes, surely, I will apply and happy to be a part of INI scientific activity. I would like to learn and would like to contribute to any kind of possible activities in the concerned fields of mathematical sciences.
What would you say to anyone in a similar situation, who is considering applying to an INI workshop but might be anxious about the costs involved?
After receiving the grant from DAC-funding I would like to suggest all aspirants to surely try for this grant which in real sense meant for appealing talents from developing countries.
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