MITACS

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MITACS UBC

• Student Council Presentation
• UBC, September 26, 2008

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Outline

• MITACS
• MITACS Resources for Students
• Student Advisory Committee Initiatives

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What is MITACS?

• MITACS networks academia, industry and the public
  sector to develop cutting edge mathematical
  tools.
• A review of Canada's top 100 corporate research
  and development spenders in 2007 reveals that 5
  companies in the top 10 are partners of MITACS.
  These include Nortel Networks, Bell Canada, IBM
  and Bombardier.
• MITACS focuses on five key sectors
• Biomedical Health
• Environment Natural Resources
• Information Processing
• Risk Finance
• Communication, Networks Security

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MITACS Projects at UBC

• Biomedical Models of Cellular and Physiological
  Systems and Disease
• Dr. Leah Keshet
• Dr. James M. Piret
• Dr. Eric Cytrynbaum
• Dr. Daniel Coombs
• Improving Genome Annotation, Molecular Structure
  and Interaction Prediction An Algorithmic Study
  of Biomolecular Functions
• Dr. Anne Condon
• Dr. Holger Hoos
• Dr. Irmtraud Meyer

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MITACS Projects at UBC

• Transmission Dynamics and Spatial Spread of
  Infectious Diseases Modelling, Prediction and
  Control
• Dr. Fred Brauer
• Modelling and Mining of Networked Information
  Spaces
• Dr. Bill Aiello
• Network for Biological Invasions and Dispersal
  Research
• Dr. Rebecca Tyson (UBC Okanagan)
• Dr. Sylvie Desjardins (UBC Okanagan)

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MITACS Projects at UBC

• Health Care Operations Research
• Dr. Martin Puterman
• Dr. Derek Atkins
• Dr. Harish Krishnan
• Dr. Maurice Queyranne
• Dr. Steven Shechter
• Simulating Physics at Interactive Rates (SPIR)
• Dr. Dinesh Pai
• Dr. Uri M. Ascher
• Dr. Robert Bridson

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MITACS Projects at UBC

• Computational Optics for High Dynamic Range
  Imaging
• Dr. Wolfgang Heidrich
• Dr. Lorne Whitehead
• Dr. Boris Stoeber
• Facility Location Optimization
• Dr. David Kirkpatrick
• Modelling Trading and Risk in the Market
• Dr. Martin Barlow
• Dr. Ivar Ekeland
• Dr. Ulrich Haussmann
• Dr. Ulrich Horst
• Dr. Rachel Kuske

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Students MITACS
"The highest priority for MITACS and its
defining aspect is the recruiting, training,
and eventual placement of graduate students."

• Approximately 80 of MITACS funding goes towards
  supporting students.
• Currently includes 1025 MSc and PhD students and
  PDFs.

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MITACS Resources for Students
Three main support programs

• Mobility Fund
• Student Awards Program
• Internship Program

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The Mobility Fund

• Supports the exchange of graduate students and
  postdoctoral fellows between projects in
  different regions of the country.
• 500 for a paper presentation for out-of-town
  travel.
• 5000 to spend up to 4 months visiting a MITACS
  node outside of the home university.
• For more information or to apply, contact
  mobilityfund_at_mitacs.ca.

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Student Awards Program

• The Student Awards Program recognizes outstanding
  achievements of MITACS students and post-doctoral
  fellows.
• Best student paper for MITACS-related research (3
  awards, one each for MSc, PhD and PDF).
• Best novel use of mathematics in technology
  transfer (up to 3 awards).
• Each award consists of a certificate and a
  monetary prize.

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ACCELERATE CANADA Program

• Funds grad student PDF interns to undertake
  research on-site with a partner organization to
  apply cutting-edge research techniques to
  real-life issues.
• In BC and Atlantic Canada, the Program is
  available to all academic disciplines (not simply
  the math sciences)
• In all other regions, the program is dedicated to
  research in the math sciences
• Check http//www.acceleratecanada.ca/ and click
  on your province for a complete look at regional
  program differences

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ACCELERATE CANADA Program

• Internship projects are 4 months in duration with
  the possibility of combining two 4-month
  internships into an 8 month project.
• An internship involves a research project related
  to a graduate students Masters or PhD thesis, or
  a PDFs research. 
• Each internship project receives 15K in funding,
  with the intern receiving at least 10K for a
  4-month internship

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Internship Spotlight at UBC

• James Bailey did two internships at BC Childrens
  Hospital.
• James investigated the formation of fibers of a
  kind of toxic protein, Islet Amyloid Poly-Peptide
  (IAPP) that occurs in the pancreas of Type 2
  diabetes patients. His combined laboratory
  experiments and modelling led to better
  understanding of the growth of these fibers, with
  a view to possible treatments.
• These internships formed the basis of his M.Sc.
  thesis in Mathematical Biology at UBC.

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Student Advisory Committee
The SAC serves as a voice for the students within
MITACS. There is representation from across
Canada

• British Columbia
• Western Canada
• Ontario
• Quebec
• Atlantic Canada

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SAC Initiatives for 2008/09

• SAC Conference/Seminar Sponsorships
• Math En Jeu
• Student Notes newsletter
• Student activities at the MITACS Annual
  Conference at Fredericton, NB, May 31, 2009  - 
  Jun 5, 2009.

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SAC Seminar Series and Sponsorships

• Seminars
• Help to organize short seminars in mathematics or
  in computer science throughout Canada
• Funds are available for up to 500 per seminar.

• Sponsorships
• Join existing conferences and offer a sponsorship
  in exchange for some visibility.
• Funds up to 1000 per sponsorship.

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SAC Seminar Series and Sponsorships

• Conferences sponsored last year
• Canadian Undergraduate Mathematics Conference (U
  of T)
• Applied Mathematics Graduate Student Conference
  (SFU)
• Canadian Young Researchers Conference in
  Mathematics and Statistics (Alberta)
• TIME2008 (UQAM)
• Pure and Applied Mathematics Graduate Student
  Conference (McMaster)

To apply for funding, contact sac_chair_at_mitacs.ca.

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Math En Jeu

• Free online computer game where players compete
  and collect points by answering mathematical
  questions.
• French and English versions at http//mathenjeu.ma
  t.ulaval.ca/
• Submit your own questions online and win prizes!

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Student Notes Newsletter

• Student Notes is a bilingual newsletter published
  three times a year by the Student Advisory
  Committee.
• Student Notes includes
• announcements
• reviews of current and past events
• student and industry interviews
• brain teasers
• other items of interest to students
• Available at www.mitacs.ca under Students.
• For more information or to submit an article,
  contact studentnotes_at_mitacs.ca.

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For more information

• Talk to your Student Council representative.
• Get in touch with your local SAC representative
  sac_bc_at_mitacs.ca.
• Look for Students at www.mitacs.ca.