PIMS sponsors and coordinates a wide assortment of educational activities targeting the K-12 school sector as well as undergraduate and graduate students, women, and minorities. Many of the best PIMS research scientists are involved in these activities.
Goals of our Educational Program
Our educational program aims to increase public awareness of the importance of mathematics in the world around us. We want young people to see that mathematics is a subject that opens doors to more than just careers in science. Many different and exciting fields in industry are eager to recruit people with strong mathematical skills. Ultimately, we wish to narrow the historical gap that exists between men, women and minorities and their interest in mathematics. We believe that this “lack of interest” is due rather to the lack of opportunity of some of these groups to access the subject in challenging and meaningful ways.
Programs for Undergraduate and Graduate Students:
The International Graduate Training Centre (IGTC) in Mathematical
Biology focuses on the training of graduate students at PIMS universities.
Mathematics Modelling in Industry Workshops (MMIW) to train graduate students in industrial problem solving.
Summer Schools for undergraduate and graduate students.
Opportunities for postdoctoral fellowships.
Programs for Women and Minorities:
Occasional workshops such as “Women in Numbers” (November, 2008), to help raise the profile of active female researchers in the mathematical sciences and increase their participation in research activities.
Activities to enhance math learning in First Nations communities.
Programs for K-12 Students:
Fun and challenging math events for children of all ages, such as Math Mania and the Elementary Math Contests (ELMACON).
Access to information about math education matters for parents, teachers and university faculty through newsletters, workshops, conferences, and special publications.
Workshops to establish communication between parents, teachers, mathematicians, and math educators.PIMS Prizes in regional Science Fairs. Summer math camps.
Programs for Math Educators:
The annual "Changing the Culture" conference.The annual "Alberta Colleges Mathematics Conference."
Teacher Workshops in local schools.