{"id":529,"date":"2013-01-22T16:55:38","date_gmt":"2013-01-22T21:55:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.ams.org\/phdplus\/?p=529"},"modified":"2013-01-22T16:55:38","modified_gmt":"2013-01-22T21:55:38","slug":"the-awm-mentoring-travel-grant-or-how-i-got-to-spend-three-months-doing-research-in-paris","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.ams.org\/phdplus\/2013\/01\/22\/the-awm-mentoring-travel-grant-or-how-i-got-to-spend-three-months-doing-research-in-paris\/","title":{"rendered":"The AWM Mentoring Travel Grant, or how I got to spend three months doing research in Paris"},"content":{"rendered":"

As you may or may not know, I recently spent three months of my pre-tenure sabbatical doing math research in Paris. This was, in large part, thanks to a grant I received from the Association for Women in Mathematics (AWM). In this short blog post, I just wanted to advertise the AWM travel grants<\/a>, and in particular the AWM Mentoring Travel Grant<\/a>, since the deadline to apply is quickly approaching (February 1).<\/p>\n

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A scene from one of my "work from home" days, with scribbles in my notebook and Mathematica on my laptop.<\/p><\/div>\n

The Mentoring Travel Grant is ideal if you have a specific mentor (established, senior mathematician) in mind. This is a perfect opportunity to work closely with someone for an extended period of time (the travel grant is intended for one-month stays). I got the grant to work with Leila Schneps<\/a> at the Institut de Mathematiques de Jussieu<\/a> on a brand new project (for me). I had met her many years ago at an Arizona Winter School<\/a> and was still interested in the material we had discussed. When my sabbatical was coming up I approached her about a possible collaboration and was very lucky she was interested too. The travel grant allowed me to pay for my plane ticket, one month’s rent, and a per diem. I was able to add two more months of rent thanks to an internal grant from Bates College.<\/p>\n

The experience was what I imagine a (very short) postdoc would be like. Because I was there for three months, we met once or twice a week and the rest of the time I would work on my own. This allowed me to be independent but also gave me the chance to get in-person feedback and have fruitful discussions. We sometimes figured out more on the board in one meeting than during the whole previous week. I guess that the big difference between a “mentoring” experience and a regular collaboration is that you are not just working on research with someone, you are also learning to be a more confident and independent mathematician. As someone who skipped the postdoc and now works at a small liberal arts school, this was certainly something I needed. I am no longer in Paris (alas) but I am still working on the project we initiated there, and feel very confident that we are going to get good results. A caveat: the mentee has to be female (although the mentor does not).<\/p>\n

The AWM has other travel grants, intended for specific things like attending a conference or a workshop. It also has two travel grants focused on mathematics education.<\/p>\n

In short, since this grant allowed me to have an excellent research experience, I thought I would spread the word. You still have about ten days to apply if you’re interested. But beware, the application is pretty involved so get started right away.<\/p>\n

<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As you may or may not know, I recently spent three months of my pre-tenure sabbatical doing math research in Paris. This was, in large part, thanks to a grant I received from the Association for Women in Mathematics (AWM). … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

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