Graduate Blog

Invitation - requires registration!

The International Student Festival is intended to bring all the 
international students together to celebrate their presence in 
Toronto and Canada. They'll get a chance to meet people from 
different countries of origin and take in the multicultural essence 
of Toronto.

It is going to be a day full of Entertainment, Performances, Food, 
Awards and Prizes,  valuable Information, Networking and many more 
fun activities!

The details are mentioned below;

Date: Saturday, October 6th 2012
Time: 12:00pm - 4:00pm
Location: Nathan Phillips Square (100 Queen Street West, Toronto)

All International Students, Friends and Family are all welcome!

Student can register online by October 3rd at: 
http://www.toronto.ca/quality_of_life/international_students.htm

There are many opportunities to win great prizes for those who register!

NSERC POSTGRADUATE SCHOLARSHIP DEPARTMENT DEADLINE -
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 10, 2012

- citizenship restrictions: must be Canadian citizen or
Canadian permanent resident
- other eligibility requirements are listed at
http://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/Students-Etudiants/PG-CS/BellandPostgrad-BelletSuperieures_eng.asp
- there are two levels of awards: PGS-M and PGS-D; please review the above link carefully
for which to apply

NSERC Video Tutorial for Students:
http://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/Students-Etudiants/Videos-Videos/SFTips_eng.asp

Application is completed on-line:
https://ebiz.nserc.ca/nserc_web/nserc_register_e.htm

NSERC FAQ page:
http://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/OnlineServices-ServicesEnLigne/FAQ-FAQ_eng.asp

Step by Step Application Instructions:
http://www.nserc-crsng.ca/OnlineServices-ServicesEnLigne/Instructions/201/e.asp

- Students must order official updated transcripts from any university
they have attended in North America, including U of T transcripts for this
semester even if no grades are showing.  Students can hand-deliver the
sealed transcripts to the math graduate office by Wednesday, October 10,
or request the transcript to be mailed directly to the unit by the deadline.  

- For students who took U of T courses in summer 2012, please wait till after 
September 26th to order your transcript. Your summer grades will not appear
on a transcript before then.

- The Math University Designate who will upload the transcript(s)
is Ida Bulat, ida@math.toronto.edu

- Two reference reports on student are required.  Referees will be
sent notification regarding the request for a reference.
They must complete their reports on-line and must do so by
the October 10th deadline.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact Ida.

If interested in this scholarship, please make sure you qualify
and then apply through the Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarship website
(http://www.vanier.gc.ca/eng/home-accueil.aspx).   Please scan/e-mail
or print your complete application and submit to me no later than
Monday, October 1st.  A departmental committee will review all
applications received and will be allowed to nominate only two
applicants.  Thanks.  Ida

Please note: this program is different from the regular NSERC postgraduate
scholarship program, which is  open only to domestic students.  
Info about this program will be coming up shortly.

2013-2014 VANIER CANADA GRADUATE SCHOLARSHIP (NSERC)

DEPARTMENTAL DEADLINE: MONDAY, OCTOBER 1, 2012
(SGS Deadline: October 10th, 2012)

The Vanier CGS program aims to attract and retain world-class 
doctoral students by supporting students who demonstrate both 
leadership skills and a high standard of scholarly achievement 
in graduate studies in social sciences and humanities, natural 
sciences and engineering, and health.

Canadian and international students are eligible to be 
nominated for a Vanier CGS. In an effort to support students in 
broadening their research horizons and seeking new challenges, 
the Vanier CGS program strongly encourages candidates to pursue 
their studies beyond the university that granted their 
undergraduate and graduate degrees. Students wishing to apply 
for a Vanier CGS must do so through the Canadian university 
to which they are applying for doctoral studies. 
The Vanier CGS Scholarships are valued at $50,000 per annum 
for a maximum of three years.

2013 Competition Timelines

October 1st, 2012:	Math Department Deadline
October 10th 2012:	Nominations due to SGS from Graduate Units (application goes off-line)
November 06th 2012:	UofT deadline to submit Vanier nominations to federal granting agencies
April 2012:		Communication of results to nominees by tri agencies

Eligibility for Nomination

To be considered for a Vanier CGS, applicants must:

- be nominated by only one Canadian university, which must 
have received a Vanier CGS allocation;
- be seeking financial support to pursue their first doctoral 
degree (or combined MA/PhD or MD/PhD);
- intend to pursue, in the summer semester or the academic 
year following the announcement of results, full-time doctoral 
(or combined MA/PhD or MD/PhD) studies and research at the 
nominating university;
- have completed no more than 20 months of doctoral studies 
as of May 1, 2013 (see website);
- have achieved a first-class average (A-), in each of the last two 
years of full-time study or equivalent; and
- have not already received a doctoral-level scholarship or 
fellowship from NSERC to undertake or complete a doctoral degree 
(or combined MA/PhD or MD/PhD). 

2012-13 Vanier Quota

The Vanier allocations for the University of Toronto are provided 
below. Accordingly graduate units may each submit the following 
number of Vanier applications to the School of Graduate Studies this year:

NSERC Agency
University Quota: 19
Mathematics Department Quota: 2

Vanier Application Process:

Please refer applicants to the Vanier website for eligibility requirements, 
nomination and step-by step application instructions;

Please note the following:

The ResearchNet application will be live and accessible by applicants 
until Oct 10th. Applicants have been instructed to contact their 
proposed graduate unit regarding internal deadlines and submission requirements.

Students may only complete one Vanier application and must choose 
to apply to for an NSERC, SSHRC or CIHR Vanier Award

Students will be expected to complete and electronically submit the 
online application to ResearchNet by the unit’s internal deadline

Students are required to provide the graduate unit with a paper 
copy of the complete application including all original transcripts 
(a current  UofT transcript is required of all registered UofT students)

Please remind students to request transcripts and complete the 
“Identify Referee” task on ResearchNet well in advance. 
Referee assessments must be completed and submitted to ResearchNet 
before students can submit their application.

The students’ proposed research project and doctoral program of 
study must be eligible within the mandate of the agency to which 
the nomination will be submitted. If in doubt, or the application 
involves interdisciplinary fields of research, or disciplines that 
span the mandates of two or more of the federal research granting 
agencies, students are urged to seek confirmation in advance of 
submitting their application. Additional information on mandate and 
subject matter eligibility is available on the Science.gc.ca website.

Scholarship application time is starting soon.  SGS is offering a workshop
tomorrow about the NSERC/OGS application process.  As soon as I
receive the university deadlines for these awards, I will be setting
departmental deadlines.  Domestic students are eligible for both
awards.   International students can apply only for the OGS.
We expect all qualifying students to apply.  More information is
forthcoming. Thanks, Ida

NSERC/OGS Award Information Sessions for Students

Information sessions for Federal and Provincial awards applicants 
are available to students interested in applying for an NSERC and/or OGS.

Sessions will provide general program information including eligibility 
requirements and application process.

Those unable to attend a workshop can access the slide presentations on the 
SGS website after September 17th  

St. George Campus - Friday, September 14
Room 2118, Sidney Smith Hall, 100 St. George Street
12:00 pm to 1:30 pm - NSERC/OGS program information

UTmail+ is the new student email and calendaring service for students at the University of Toronto. UTmail+ gives students 10 GB of email storage plus 7 GB of online storage, Microsoft Office Web Apps, and more.

Student UTORmail is now phasing out service. Students who have not switched to UTmail+ are now being directed in batches to the enrolment page until all students have switched to the new service. All students with UTORmail accounts must switch to UTmail+ and transfer the desired e-mail contents to the new inbox by October 31, 2012.

For more information on UTmail+ enrolment and features, please visit the UTmail+ web site at: http://email.utoronto.ca/

Should you have any questions about this service, please contact the Information Commons Help Desk (416-978-HELP (4357) or help.desk@utoronto.ca).

PLEASE NOTE: The university will only communicate with you through a University of Toronto-issued e-mail address, either a UTmail+ address (firstname.lastname@mail.utoronto.ca) or a math department e-mail address (name@math.utoronto.ca). Please make sure that your e-mail address on ROSI complies with these rules, and please also indicate this e-mail address on your enrolment form.

I would like to extend a warm welcome to all new students and
a warm welcome back to returning students.

The following information will pertain to all students, returning and
new, and I hope you all take a moment to read the few items below.

1.  We have a new graduate coordinator.  Prof. Dror Bar-Natan left his post
on August 20 and he has been replaced by Professor Almut Burchard. Her
office is located in Room HU1024, 215 Huron St.  She is easily reachable
after her real analysis core class on MWF at 1 pm.  The class takes
place from MWF 12-1 in BA 6183.

2.  If you have not registered yet through rosi or by completing a
fee deferral form, please see me immediately.

3.  Classes commence on Monday, September 10, 2012.
    (http://www.math.toronto.edu/cms/tentative-2012-2013-graduate-courses-timetable/)

3.  Enrolment forms (due September 19, 2012), available on-line at

http://www.sgs.utoronto.ca/Assets/SGS+Digital+Assets/current/Student+Forms/Enrolment_Form.pdf

and in hard-copy format in the math mailroom (BA 6290A),
must be completed by ALL students, even students not registering in courses.
For students registering in courses, the course requests are made at
www.rosi.utoronto.ca, followed by submission of the enrolment form
to Ida for course approval.

Please note:

a) if you wish to take a course from another department for degree
credit or non-degree credit, you may need their approval.
To do so, please bring your enrolment form to the other department for their signature
and then return to Ida.

b) if you wish to enrol in an undergraduate course for non-degree credit, please
note that a final grade of less than 70% will be converted to a failing grade for
graduate students. Many undergraduate courses have long waiting lists and it is
suggested you request for such courses as soon as possible.

c) If you need guidance in your selection of courses, please come to see Ida.
There will be a math graduate student orientation session (see further info below)
where faculty members will present their course offerings.

4.  Orientation sessions:

a)  School of Graduate Studies Orientation
    Tuesday, September 4, 2012, 8:45 am - 4:00 pm
    (http://www.sgs.utoronto.ca/gradroom/gradorientation)

b)   Teaching Assistant Orientation (mandatory for all TA's)
     Friday, September 7, 2012, from 1:00 pm, in BA 1130, 40 St. George Street
     (http://www.math.toronto.edu/graduate/TA-Orientation-Sept-2012.pdf)

c)   Math Graduate Student Orientation
     Wednesday, September 12, 2012, 4:10 - 6:00 p.m., in BA 6183
     Pizza and cold drinks will be served in the Math Lounge at 3:30 pm. 
     A visit to a local pub will take place after this event and a free
     beer for all who attend.
     An itinerary will be available soon.

5.   I will not inundate you with further info at this date but will be in touch
     again with important information.  Your attention to this information will
     be much appreciated.

Thanks and I am looking forward to meeting you or seeing you again soon.

The Pacific Institute for the Mathematical Sciences (PIMS) invites nominations of outstanding young researchers in the mathematical sciences for postdoctoral fellowships for the year 2013-2014. Candidates must be nominated by at least one scientist or by a department (or departments) affiliated with PIMS. The fellowships are intended to supplement support provided by the sponsor and are tenable at any of its Canadian member universities: the University of Alberta, the University of British Columbia, the University of Calgary, the University of Lethbridge, the University of Regina, the University of Saskatchewan, Simon Fraser University and the University of Victoria, as well as at the PIMS affiliate, the University of Northern British Columbia.

For the 2013-2014 competition, held in January of 2013, the amount of the award will be \$20,000 and the sponsor(s) is required to provide additional funds to finance a minimum total stipend of \$40,000.

Rankings of candidates are made by the PIMS PDF Review Panel based on the qualifications of the candidate, potential for participation in PIMS programs and potential involvement with PIMS partners. PIMS Postdoctoral Fellows will be expected to participate in all PIMS activities related to the fellow’s area of expertise and will be encouraged to spend time at more than one site. To ensure that PIMS Postdoctoral Fellows are able to participate fully in institute activities, they may not teach more than two single-term courses per year.

Nominees must have a Ph.D. or equivalent (or expect to receive a Ph.D.) by December 31, 2013 and be within three years of their Ph.D. at the time of the nomination (i.e., the candidate must have received her or his Ph.D. on or after January 1, 2010). The fellowship may be taken up at any time between September 1, 2013 and January 1, 2014. The fellowship is for one year and is renewable for at most one additional year.
Deadline for complete nominations/applications: DECEMBER 1, 2012

For further information and application procedures, visit: www.pims.math.ca/scientific/postdoctoral.

(http://www.humboldt-foundation.de)

The Alexander von Humboldt Foundation promotes academic cooperation between excellent scientists and scholars from abroad and from Germany. To this end, it grants more than 700 research fellowships and research awards annually to individual researchers who become life-long members of an international network of alumni, the so-called “Humboldtians”. As a gathering of the Humboldt community in Canada, the Humboldt Colloquium “Excellence in Research” in Toronto will celebrate the German-Canadian partnership in research and will explore current trends in the making and funding of excellent research in all fields of research in both Germany and Canada.

The Alexander von Humboldt Foundation has a strong history and special commitment of promoting excellent young researchers and supporting their building of international careers and academic collaborations. Therefore, we wish to involve a group of approximately 50 researchers in the meeting who are not members of the Humboldt community yet but may wish to become fellows in the future. The Session for Early Career Researchers will give prominent space and attention to this group, allowing them to present their current work to more senior and established Canadian researchers with strong international experience and connections. The format will be a combination of presentations and a poster session. Advanced PhD students and scientists and scholars who received their PhD degree fewer than 6 years ago may participate in the full three-day event and may seek personal advice on specific sponsorship opportunities from the representatives of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation and its partner organizations, Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG), German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD), Max Planck Society (MPG) and possibly Canadian organizations.

The Alexander von Humboldt Foundation will cover the costs for the participation of early career researchers in the program and grant a lump-sum conference allowance of 150 CAD for participants attending from outside Toronto.

Applications will be accepted until 7 September under the link provided in the attached call. All applications will be reviewed by a committee of Humboldt alumni as well as staff of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation. The selection of the participants will be based on the abstracts, biography and list of publications submitted. All applicants will be notified by the first week of October.

Application:  https://mi.conventus.de/online/avh-toronto-earlycareer-2012.do?code=cbH%3FBRoG

Deadline:  September 7, 2012

Candidates seeking more information about the event should visit the website provided in the call. Should institutional partners be interested in attending the session and presenting their sponsorship or career opportunities, we kindly ask that they contact the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation:

Bianca Brinkmeier, Conference Management
Alexander von Humboldt Foundation
Jean-Paul-Straße 12
53173 Bonn
Germany
Phone: +49 (228) 833-205
E-Mail:            bianca.brinkmeier@avh.de

With kind regards from Katrin Amian and myself,

Maria-Bernadette Carstens-Behrens
Alexander von Humboldt-Stiftung/Foundation
Abteilung Foerderung und Netzwerk/Sponsorship and Network
Jean-Paul-Str. 12
53173 Bonn-Bad Godesberg
Tel: 0228-833-426
Fax: 0228-833-217
Office hours (part-time):
Mon, Wed, Thu, Fr: 8 a.m. – 12 p.m.
Tue: 9 a.m. – 12 p.m.

Hi everyone,

The CMS Student Committee (Studc) would like to invite you to submit an article for the next edition of Notes from the Margin, which is due to come out in September 2012. We are accepting opinion pieces and math-related stories as well as concise research-related articles.

The Margin a semi-annual publication whose articles are intended for a wide audience and should be accessible to all the people in the mathematical community starting from the second/third year undergraduates. It is delivered electronically to virtually all the Canadian undergraduate and graduate math students. In addition, the hard copies of the Margin are sent to the math departments of all the Canadian universities. To check out the most recent issues, click on the Notes from the Margin link on our home page at http://studc.math.ca.

Please send your submission or any questions you might have about it to student-editor@cms.math.ca. Submission deadline is August 15th, 2012. For guidelines on submissions, please see http://studc.cms.math.ca/home/documents/guidelines.pdf.

To keep up to date with the events happening in the Canadian mathematical community, visit our website at http://studc.math.ca and like us on facebook at https://www.facebook.com/studcCMS.

Regards,

CMS Studc.

We are very pleased to announce that our PhD graduate (2011) Brendan
Pass has been awarded the 2012 Cecil Graham Doctoral Dissertation Award,
an award given by CAIMS (Canadian Applied and Industrial Mathematics 
Society).  His thesis was entitled "Structural results on optimal
transportation plans" and was supervised by Robert McCann.  Brendan
is now a Max Wyman Assistant Professor at the University of Alberta.

You can see more at 
http://wiki.math.toronto.edu/TorontoMathWiki/index.php/2012_Cecil_Graham_Doctoral_Dissertation_Award 

Brendan is in town today, Monday, June 25, to give a talk on
Multi-marginal optimal transportation, as part of the 2012 CAIMS
Annual Meeting.  A schedule of events is available here:

http://www.fields.utoronto.ca/programs/scientific/11-12/CAIMS_SCMAI/program.html

Brendan's talk is at 4:45 p.m., in Room MS 2158 (Auditorium), 
Medical Sciences Building, 1 King's College Circle.