MPE2013-Net 8: November 2013 An Email Newsletter from Mathematics of Planet Earth 2013 Editor: Christiane Rousseau, Centre de recherches mathématiques 1. Moving from MPE2013 to MPE 2. Diderot Mathematical Forum 3. MPE2013+ Kickoff Workshop: Challenges and Opportunities - Introducing Participants to MPE2013+ Topics 4. MPE2013+ in the US 5. CANP 2014 highlighting MPE in Tanzania 6. MPE in Portugal until June 2014 7. MPE in India 8. Moving to MPE in Australia 9. MPE Exhibitions 10. Reporting on MPE2013 and future MPE projects 11. Subscribing to MPE2013-NET _____________________________ 1. MOVING FROM MPE2013 TO MPE A year now that Mathematics of Planet Earth 2013 (MPE2013) started… What has been accomplished and where are we going? By now, most mathematicians and many more scientists are aware of Mathematics of Planet Earth 2013, the year-long program created to encourage research on a range of topics related to Planet Earth. The distinctive logo has been featured at many conferences, workshops, and lectures. MPE2013 also made its way among the public, the medias and the school. The program has grown to an international year involving more than 140 partners. The MPE2013 activities included more than 15 long-term programs at institutes all over the world, 60 workshops, dozens of special sessions at society meetings, two big public lecture series, summer and winter schools for graduate students, research experiences for undergraduates, an international competition and an international Open Source MPE Exhibition, special issues of mathematical magazines and the development of high-quality curriculum materials for all ages and grades. All these materials, including the winning designs of the competition, are available free of charge on the web. What will happen after 2013? Clearly, identifying the research problems is not enough. Mathematics moves slowly, the planetary problems are very challenging and we cannot expect great results in just one year. MPE2013 has been a great start, but we need go further and increase the research efforts on planetary topics in partnership with other disciplines. Hence, MPE2013 moves to a permanent MPE which will support and centralize the initiatives in the different countries. With support from the NSF in the US, the MPE website will be maintained and will post future MPE related events, as well as additional educational and outreach material. Plans for more MPE activities exist in several countries, in the form of workshops, summer schools or even the creation of new graduate programs on Mathematics of Planet Earth (see several items below). We are now asking our partners to let us know their plans for the future and post them on their website. _____________________________ 2. DIDEROT MATHEMATICAL FORUM 2013 Mathematics of Planet Earth Berlin/Exeter/Zagreb, December 17th 2013 The cycle of conferences "Diderot Mathematical Forum" was introduced by the European Mathematical Society in 1996. Each conference takes place simultaneously in three European cities exchanging information by telecommunication, addresses a specific topic, and has both a research and a public component. The Committee for Raising the Public Awareness of Mathematics of the EMS initiated the renewal of the cycle for 2013, with the topic Mathematics of planet Earth. The conference is to be held on December 17th 2013 in Berlin (Germany), Exeter (United Kingdom) and Zagreb (Croatia). The tentative list of speakers is as follows: - Berlin : Rupert Klein, Björn Stevens, Carlo Jäger - Exeter: Mark Baldwin, Robert Beare (to be confirmed), Matthew Collins, Peter Cox, David Stephenson - Zagreb: Eduard Marusic-Paloka, Branko Grisogono, Senka Macesic & Nelida Crnjaric-Zic (joint talk), Franka Miriam Brueckler & Vladimir Stilinovic (joint talk). In each of the cities several talks on applications of mathematics to various topics related to planet Earth (meteorology and climate, oceanology, ecology, crystallography, etc.) will be given, and the conference will end with a round table discussion held simultaneously in all the three cities. All the talks will be broadcasted over the Internet., as well as recorded to be available online later. All information can be found on the web-page http://mathematics-in-europe.eu and on the EMS Home Page (http://www.euro-math-soc.eu/). To register, please contact Franka Miriam Brueckler or Mireille Chaleyat-Maurel E-mail: dmf_fmb_mcm@yahoo.com _____________________________ 3. MPE2013+ KICKOFF WORKSHOP: CHALLENGE AND OPPORTUNITIES -- INTRODUCING PARTICIPANTS TO MPE2013+ TOPICS A workshop “Mathematics of Planet Earth: Challenges and Opportunities” will be held at Arizona State University January 7-10, 2014, http://dimacs.rutgers.edu/Workshops/MPE2013PreWorkshop/. The workshop aims to expose students and junior researchers to the challenges facing our planet, the role of the mathematical sciences in addressing those challenges, and the opportunities to get involved in the effort. The workshop will provide introductions to the role of the mathematical sciences in addressing problems of the planet. There will be an introduction to the six major themes of MPE 2013+: global change, natural disasters, sustainable human environments, data-aware energy use, management of natural resources, and education for the planet earth of tomorrow. Expository lectures and discussions will be presented by organizers of planned events around these themes. All participants will be invited to participate in a following kickoff workshop in one of the theme areas. Funds are available to support “early career” participants from the United States (graduate student, postdoctoral and new faculty) to attend this workshop and to participate in follow-up activities. Further information and an application form for travel support can be found at http://dimacs.rutgers.edu/Workshops/MPE2013PreWorkshop/. Interested applicants should include both a registration form to attend and an application for financial support. Review of applications will continue until all slots are filled. Non-U.S. applicants are not eligible for MPE 2013+ travel funds (see item 4), but are encouraged to apply for acceptance to attend. _____________________________ 4. MPE2013+ IN THE US The Mathematics of Planet Earth 2013-Plus (MPE 2013+, http://mpe2013.org/mpe2013index/) program was initiated to build on the momentum of Mathematics of Planet Earth 2013 (MPE 2013) to propel it beyond the year 2013. MPE 2013+ aims to involve scientists in laying the groundwork for a long-term effort to surmount the sustainability problems facing our planet. MPE 2013+ activities will be organized around six clusters of topic: management of natural resources, sustainable human environments, natural disasters, data-aware energy use, global change, and education for planet earth of tomorrow. After an overall kickoff workshop for MPE2013+ on “Mathematics of Planet Earth: Challenges and Opportunities,” to be held in January 2014, each cluster will have a kickoff workshop held in 2014 or 2015. Follow-up activities will include focused research workshops, small group meetings, collaborative programs, educational efforts, etc., each organized by one of the six cluster organizing committees. MPE2013+ is sponsored by the U.S. National Science Foundation and the kickoff workshops will be held in the U.S., but we seek non-U.S. partners for cluster activities and some of these activities are already scheduled for outside the U.S. For more information about the MPE2013+ program, see http://mpe2013.org/mpe2013index/ or contact Dr. Eugene Fiorini at mpe2013p@dimacs.rutgers.edu. One of the goals of MPE2013+ (http://mpe2013.org/mpe2013index/) is workforce development, preparing a new generation of mathematical scientists, exposed to and prepared to work in the new multidisciplinary environment of science in the future, as reflected by but by no means limited to the problems we will explore in MPE2013+. We hope that getting grad students involved in MPE2013 will encourage them to stay in grad school and continue in the field, and that getting postdocs and junior faculty involved will excite them to work in MPE2013 but also give them a way to draw in others into STEM disciplines. _____________________________ 5. CANP 2014 HIGHLIGHTING MPE IN TANZANIA The fourth Capacity and Network Project (CANP4) Program is planned to be held on September 1-12, 2014 in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. The proposed CANP 4 aims to build capacity in mathematics education and create a sustainable regional network with a common goal of improving mathematics education. It is anticipated that more than 50 participants from Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda and Rwanda will attend the two-week program to be held at the Aga Khan University Institute for Educational Development East Africa, in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Participants will mostly be mathematics teachers, teacher educators and curriculum developers with some representation from the international mathematics education community. Capacity development in mathematics will be around three integrated themes: a) Mathematics for Planet Earth; b) ICT in mathematics education; c) Language and culture in mathematics. The program includes a variety of highly relevant activities including public lecture(s) demonstrating mathematical modeling on real life issues related to mathematics for Planet Earth; keynote address(es) on significant aspects of mathematics education in the region; teacher development workshops on mathematics topics drawn from the regional high school curriculum; media engagement sessions; and opportunities for the wider community to participate in mathematical activities. ICMI Liaison Officer: Ferdinando Arzarello, ICMI President Local Program Chair: Anjum Halai, Aga Khan University Institute for Educational Development East Africa, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania _____________________________ 6. MPE IN PORTUGAL UNTIL JUNE 2014 MPE2013 in Portugal has been a great success due to a major interest from the media and to a huge involvement from several institutions and the population. The interdisciplinary activities were really prepared in collaboration. An impressive number of finds in the media are collected at: http://www.mat.uc.pt/mpt2013/imprensa.html. Past activities include scientific conferences and workshops, several initiatives for schools and general public, a session in collaboration with the Real Academia de Ciencias de Madrid (http://www.rac.es/7/7_1_1.php?id=267), an afternoon special session at the Academia de Ciências de Lisboa (http://www.acad-ciencias.pt/wordpress/ano-internacional-sobre-a-matematica-do-planeta-terra/) and several exhibitions (http://www.mat.uc.pt/mpt2013/programacao.html). In particular, three modules of the MPE2013 competition, including the winning "The Sphere of the Earth", have being exhibited permanently at the National Museum of Natural History and Science of the University of Lisbon: http://mpe2013.org/2013/06/07/the-sphere-of-the-earth-at-the-national-museum-of-natural-history-and-science-of-lisbon/. On Sunday, November 3rd, there was a solar eclipse visible as total in the island of Princípe (a former Portuguese colony). This is a very fortunate coincidence, because it has happened at the same place as the total solar eclipse of May 29, 1919, photographed by the expedition of Arthur Eddington, and used to test Einstein’s general theory of Relativity. The Portuguese MPE2013 and several institutions, in cooperation with astronomers and physicists, prepared a series of events, both in Portugal and in Príncipe, under the name "ECLIPSE2013 -Science and History in Príncipe Island". The success of ECLIPSE2013 is due mainly to the fact that we could count with the partnership of the former committees of both International Year of Astronomy 2009 and International Year of Physics 2005. The ECLIPSE2013 activities are described here: http://www.mat.uc.pt/mpt2013/eclipse-2013.html. MPE2013 in Portugal will officially continue till June 2014 with activities linking MPE2013 with the International Year of Crystallography 2014. Portuguese MPE2013 oficial website: www.mpt2013.pteclipse-2013.html. _____________________________ 7. MPE2013 IN INDIA “Explore and Exhibit” was an Intercollegiate All-India Exhibition Competition for MPE exhibit modules. It generated a lot of enthusiasm and awareness around the country. The jury will decide the winners soon. The International Centre for Theoretical Sciences (ICTS) and Center for Applicable Mathematics (CAM) of Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR) are now preparing an MPE exhibition (based on four major themes: Waves, Networks, Optimization, Structures) to be held at Visvesvaraya Industrial & Technological Museum, Bangalore of National Council of Science Museums (NCSM), between November 22 and Dec 1 2013 (see also http://imaginary.org/event/mathematics-of-planet-earth-structures-networks-optimization-and-waves). During the exhibition, there will be various outreach activities for school students and teachers like open quiz, hands on astronomy based activities (since Comet ISON is a large Sun-grazing comet whose perihelion will occur on November 29, 2013 exactly during the exhibition dates), Comet ISON poster exhibition, Mathematics workshops, demonstration of Mathematical models, puzzles etc. We have already held two workshops on MPE which have generated a lot of enthusiasm amongst college students and school teachers. ICTS is also in talks with the National Council of Science Museums in India to explore if this exhibition can travel around India during the coming year(s) to some of the museums in their network. We will aim to add some of the Indian modules to the permanent Open Source MPE exhibition. _____________________________ 8. MPE IN AUSTRALIA Mathematics of Planet Earth 2013 has been the largest sustained mathematical theme program in Australia to date. The Australian Mathematical Science Institute coordinated Australian participation in the year with 18 partner organisations. Highlights from the year: - A dedicated website (www.mathsofplanetearth.org.au) which has had over 65,000 visits from 150 countries to date. - Hosting the first Simons Foundation MPE Public Lecture with 400 attendees - 17 MPE scientific events funded with 3235 attendees (www.MoPE.org.au/events-funded-by-mpe-australia) - 2000+ people engaged through social media (www.AMSI.org.au/Facebook) - An international MPE Australia conference in Melbourne in July - 150 entries to mathematics and statistics themed photography competitions (www.MoPE.org.au/photography-competitions) - 2500 subscribers to the MPE Australia Monthly newsletter - 332 MPE blog posts from 48 contributors - 1000+ students participated in MPE Pi Day Beyond 2013 MPE Australia will be used as a model for national programs to be delivered by the planned National Mathematical Sciences Research Centre. A MPE partnership network has been established between Australian government agencies and universities. Young agency staff will engage with university students and academics to increase awareness of the work they do across the maths of planet earth spectrum. _____________________________ 9. MPE EXHIBITIONS >>> General: The MPE-exhibition is hosted with all modules at www.mpe2013.org/exhibition or http://imaginary.org/exhibition/mathematics-of-planet-earth The module authors do constant updates (for example of the MPE winner modules) and we are working on adding additional material (background-information, manuals, etc.). In September we launched the Spanish version of the platform and exhibition page: http://imaginary.org/es/exhibition/matematicas-del-planeta-tierra Most of the contents have been translated to Spanish. The next languages to be launched are German, French and Portuguese. >>> Exhibitions and Events: 2013: 5.3.2013 Launch of the MPE exhibition and platform in Paris More info: http://imaginary.org/event/mpe2013-exhibition-in-paris http://mpe2013.org/2013/03/07/impressions-from-the-first-mpe-exhibition-at-unesco-in-paris/ Pictures in high resolution: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/k2jq63b4wn0sxr9/wW9PSlAR6r 4.4. - 2.6.2013 Exhibition “Sense of Scale, Measure by Color: Art, Science, and Mathematics of Planet Earth” in Bowdoin, USA. http://imaginary.org/event/mpe2013-in-bowdoin-usa Pictures: I did not get any pictures (I asked for pictures several times, do you know more about this exhibition?) approx. May 2013 - 31.12.2013 A special MPE module was added to the Formas & Formulas exhibition in Lisbon, Portugal. Info and pictures: http://imaginary.org/event/formas-formulas 23.9. - 24.9.2013 MPE-Minisymposium at the joint German and Austrian Maths Society meeting in Innsbruck, Alle Details: http://imaginary.org/event/mathematics-of-planet-earth-at-the-omg-dmv-conference-innsbruck Poster: http://imaginary.org/sites/default/files/mpe-poster-innsbruck.pdf (with full programme) Pictures: http://imaginary.org/sites/default/files/_mg_9180.jpg (Guillaume Jouvet on "What mathematicians can do to save Alpine glaciers?") http://imaginary.org/sites/default/files/_mg_9181.jpg (Peter Schuster on "Mathematical Biology") November 2013 Launch of the "IMAGINARY-Entdeckerbox" (explorer box) project which includes the highlights of the MPE exhibition (Dune Ash, Future of Glaciers, The Sphere of the Earth and Bottles of Oceanography). All modules are translated into German (also all additional material and manuals). A special explorer box booklet was prepared. The box contains 3d-prints, films, a dvd with all programs, card board sculptures, 3d glasses, posters, postcards, a catalogue, etc. It is open source (can be downloaded for free) but it can also be bought for the production prize (actually lower since part of it are sponsored). Its main focus are schools or groups working with mathematics! One of the highlights is a DVD or USB-Stick with all programs that start automatically (no installation required). More details and download: http://imaginary.org/entdeckerbox Booklet with info on the MPE programs: http://imaginary.org/sites/default/files/imaginary-entdeckerbox-2013-begleitheft.pdf Picture: https://www.dropbox.com/s/bfaisgyb0qhsvel/entdeckerbox-slideshow-03.jpg (Screenshot von einigen Programmen der Entdeckerbox-DVD) 14.11.2013 Opening of an interactive MPE installation at the MiMa - museum for minerals and mathematics in Oberwolfach (Opening talk by Prof. Dietmar Kröner from the University of Freiburg). Infos and flyer: https://www.dropbox.com/s/kho09pdvmo6m0d7/Poster-MiMa-Dietmar-Kr%C3%B6ner-final3.pdf Pictures: https://www.dropbox.com/s/vp0ndwkp7lkfagk/_MG_6801.JPG (Dune Ash Modul, exhibition Paris, March 2013) https://www.dropbox.com/s/zzqysf0ja8ksvoh/Dune-Ash-Bilder.zip (Dune Ash Screenshots) 22.11 to 01.12 2013 Mathematics of Planet Earth - Structures, Networks, Optimization, and Waves at Visvesvaraya Industrial & Technological Museum in Bangalore, India: http://imaginary.org/event/mathematics-of-planet-earth-structures-networks-optimization-and-waves. The exhibition is organized by the International Centre for Theoretical Sciences (ICTS) and Center for Applicable Mathematics (CAM) of Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR). January 2014 Exhibition "Mathematics of Planet Earth" in the Deutsches Technikmuseum in Berlin (the opening will most probably be on the 23 of January, but it is not yet confirmed). Three interactive modules will be shown (Dune Ash, The Future of Glaciers) and a new module on Tsnuamis (made by French mathematicians specially for this exhibition). Additionally detailed explanations on differential equations and their use in models and simulations are given at the exhibition. Picture: https://www.dropbox.com/s/vp0ndwkp7lkfagk/_MG_6801.JPG (Dune Ash Modul, exhibition Paris, March 2013) 15. - 20.8 2014 Exhibition at the ICM 2014 with IMAGINARY and MPE exhibits on interactive displays. The exhibition will also include images and 3d-prints and will be shown in the main public hall (COEX building) of the ICM conference, As much as possible, the MPE exhibition will also be available in several languages. The ten physical modules already exist in English and French. Several virtual modules already exist in different languages and we will post translations of the different existing modules performed by some MPE partners. If you want to provide translations please contact mpe@imaginary.org The traveling exhibition realized by Michel Darche can be rented. Just contact Michel Darche at mldarche@free.fr _____________________________ 10. REPORTING ON MPE2013 AND FUTURE MPE PROJECTS We are approaching the end of 2013 and the official end of MPE2013 as an international year. However, the spirit of MPE2013 will persist past 2013: international collaboration for research on planetary issues, training of young researchers in these issues, use of MPE material in the classroom and circulation of the MPE Exhibition. Partners are invited to prepare short reports on their MPE2013 activities and future MPE projects, and to post them on their website. Groups of partners and countries are also invited to send us information on the MPE activities they are planning, and that could be presented in one of the next newsletters or highlighted on the MPE website. Please send either your report and projects or a link to them to Christiane Rousseau (rousseac@crm.umontreal.ca).