The Banff International Research Station (BIRS) for Mathematical Innovation and Discovery was established in 2003. It provides an independent research institute for the mathematical sciences in North America, a counterpart to the

Oberwolfach Research Institute for Mathematics The Oberwolfach Research Institute for Mathematics (german: Mathematisches Forschungsinstitut Oberwolfach) is a center for mathematical research in Oberwolfach, Germany. It was founded by mathematician Wilhelm Süss in 1944. It organizes weekl ...

in Europe. The research station, commonly known by its acronym, "BIRS", hosts over 2000 international scientists each year to undertake research collaboration in the

mathematical sciences The mathematical sciences are a group of areas of study that includes, in addition to mathematics, those academic disciplines that are primarily mathematical in nature but may not be universally considered subfields of mathematics proper. Statisti ...

Research activities

The research that takes place at the Banff International Research Station is either in

pure mathematics Pure mathematics is the study of mathematical concepts independently of any application outside mathematics. These concepts may originate in real-world concerns, and the results obtained may later turn out to be useful for practical applications, ...

applied mathematics Applied mathematics is the application of mathematical methods by different fields such as physics, engineering, medicine, biology, finance, business, computer science, and industry. Thus, applied mathematics is a combination of mathematical s ...

, or in other areas of science where they intersect with mathematics. There is
wide range of research publications
citing lectures, meetings and reports from BIRS.

Research program

The Banff International Research Station host
five types of meetings
# ''5-Day Workshops'': These make up the core program at BIRS, with up to 42 participants per workshop, 48 weeks per year. Some workshops have only 21 participants, and they share a week at BIRS, running concurrently. # ''2-Day Workshops'': Weekend workshops, typically consisting of 25 people, and typically from the surrounding areas in

Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...

and

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

. # ''Focused Research Groups'': Up to 8 people from different institutions meet for 1–2 weeks, to work on a specific problem or finish up major projects. # ''Research in Teams'': 2–4 people from different institutions meet for 1–2 weeks to concentrate on their research. # ''Summer Schools and Training Camps'': instructional meetings for up to 40 students for up to 14 days. Th
core program of 5-day workshops
is created two years in advance. Every summer, BIRS issues
Call for Proposals
soliciting applications for workshops from the global scientific community. Each year, it gets more competitive to get a space in the 48 available weeks at BIRS: 79 proposals were received for the 2003 program, and 168 were received for the 2014 program. An extensive peer-review process by international experts culminates in the selection of the scientific program for a given year. Summer schools and training camps must apply through the same process as 5-day workshops. An example of a summer school is th
International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO) training camp
to prepare high school students for competing at th
IMO
The other types of meetings are far less competitive, and may be applied for at any time, through th
BIRS website

Meeting facilities

The Banff International Research Station occupies two buildings on the campus of the

Banff Centre Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity, formerly known as The Banff Centre (and previously The Banff Centre for Continuing Education), located in Banff, Alberta, was established in 1933 as the Banff School of Drama. It was granted full autonomy as ...

, in

Banff National Park Banff National Park is Canada's oldest National Parks of Canada, national park, established in 1885 as Rocky Mountains Park. Located in Alberta's Rockies, Alberta's Rocky Mountains, west of Calgary, Banff encompasses of mountainous terrain, wi ...

. One of the buildings, Corbett Hall, is a residence building that provides bedrooms, a common lounge area, a small library, and space for small teams of people to work. The other building, TransCanada PipeLines Pavilion, hosts administrative offices, two lecture rooms, and a series of smaller rooms for break-out sessions and research teams. As part of the Banff Centre campus, BIRS researchers have full access to all of it
amenities and services
The idea behind this choice of location for a research facility is to create an atmosphere where scientists can remove themselves from day-to-day life, and immerse themselves in their research.

Automated lecture capture

In 2012, the Banff International Research Station installed a fully automated

lecture capture Lecture recording refers to the process of recording and archiving the content of a lecture, conference, or seminar. It consists of hardware and software components that work in synergy to record audio and visual components of the lecture. It is wi ...

system. It provides live video streaming and

video recording Video is an electronic medium for the recording, copying, playback, broadcasting, and display of moving visual media. Video was first developed for mechanical television systems, which were quickly replaced by cathode-ray tube (CRT) system ...

of the lectures that take place in its main lecture room. Video recordings are automatically posted on th
BIRS website
within a few minutes after a lecture ends. Use of the system is opt-in, decided by the individual lecturers at the time of their lecture, via a

touchscreen A touchscreen or touch screen is the assembly of both an input ('touch panel') and output ('display') device. The touch panel is normally layered on the top of an electronic visual display of an information processing system. The display is often ...

panel in the lecture room. The automated system at BIRS employs high quality cameras to ensure that mathematics written on chalkboards can be seen clearly. Embedded

microphones A microphone, colloquially called a mic or mike (), is a transducer that converts sound into an electrical signal. Microphones are used in many applications such as telephones, hearing aids, public address systems for concert halls and public ...

and audio processing systems capture both the lecturer and questions from the audience. Recent research videos recorded at BIRS are also available in th
iTunes podcast directory

Funding

The Banff International Research Station is funded by four governments: # The federal government of Canada, through the

Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council The Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC; french: Conseil de recherches en sciences naturelles et en génie du Canada, CRSNG) is the major federal agency responsible for funding natural sciences and engineering rese ...

(NSERC) # The provincial government of Alberta, throug
Alberta Science and Research Authority
(ASRA) # The U.S.

National Science Foundation The National Science Foundation (NSF) is an independent agency of the United States government that supports fundamental research and education in all the non-medical fields of science and engineering. Its medical counterpart is the National I ...

(NSF) # Mexico's

National Science and Technology Council The National Science and Technology Council (NSTC) is a council in the Executive Branch of the United States. It is designed to coordinate science and technology policy across the branches of federal government. History The National Science and ...

, (CONACYT)

References