The Pacific Institute for the Mathematical Sciences (PIMS) is a mathematical

institute An institute is an organisational body created for a certain purpose. They are often research organisations ( research institutes) created to do research on specific topics, or can also be a professional body. In some countries, institutes ca ...

created in 1996 by universities in

Western Canada Western Canada, also referred to as the Western provinces, Canadian West or the Western provinces of Canada, and commonly known within Canada as the West, is a Canadian region that includes the four western provinces just north of the Canada� ...

and the

Northwestern United States The Northwestern United States, also known as the American Northwest or simply the Northwest, is an informal geographic region of the United States. The region consistently includes the states of Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana and Wyoming. ...

to promote research and excellence in all areas of 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. Statist ...

. It provides training and support for graduate students and post-doctoral researchers hosted at member institutions. It also supports visiting researchers and hosts events ranging from individual lectures to multi-year "collaborative research groups (CRGs)" in the mathematical sciences. Additionally, PIMS has a large educational outreach program aimed at promoting mathematics at all levels but with particular focus on primary and secondary levels (

K–12 K–12, from kindergarten to 12th grade, is an American English expression that indicates the range of years of publicly supported primary and secondary education found in the United States, which is similar to publicly supported school grades ...

Structure

PIMS has a distributed structure. Its central offices are located on the campus of the

University of British Columbia The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a public research university with campuses near Vancouver and in Kelowna, British Columbia. Established in 1908, it is British Columbia's oldest university. The university ranks among the top thre ...

. The members of the institute are: * 10 full members:

University of Calgary The University of Calgary (U of C or UCalgary) is a public research university located in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. The University of Calgary started in 1944 as the Calgary branch of the University of Alberta, founded in 1908, prior to being ins ...

University of Alberta The University of Alberta, also known as U of A or UAlberta, is a Public university, public research university located in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. It was founded in 1908 by Alexander Cameron Rutherford,"A Gentleman of Strathcona – Alexande ...

University of Regina The University of Regina is a public university, public research university located in Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada. Founded in 1911 as a private denominational high school of the Methodist Church of Canada, it began an association with the Unive ...

University of Victoria The University of Victoria (UVic or Victoria) is a public research university located in the municipalities of Oak Bay and Saanich, British Columbia, Canada. The university traces its roots to Victoria College, the first post-secondary insti ...

University of Saskatchewan A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, ...

Simon Fraser University Simon Fraser University (SFU) is a public research university in British Columbia, Canada, with three campuses, all in Greater Vancouver: Burnaby (main campus), Surrey, and Vancouver. The main Burnaby campus on Burnaby Mountain, located ...

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW, simply Washington, or informally U-Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1861, Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast; it was established in Seattl ...

University of Lethbridge , mottoeng = '' Let there be light'' , type = Public , established = , academic_affiliations = Universities Canada , endowment = $73 million (2019) , chancellor = Charles Wease ...

, and

University of Manitoba The University of Manitoba (U of M, UManitoba, or UM) is a Canadian public research university in the province of Manitoba.University of Portland , mottoeng = The truth will set you free , established = 1901 , type = Private university , religious_affiliation = Catholic (Congregation of Holy Cross) , endowment = $218 million , president = Robert D. Kelly , students = 3,731 (fall 20 ...

University of Northern British Columbia The University of Northern British Columbia (UNBC) is a small, research-intensive public university in British Columbia, Canada. The main campus is located in Prince George, with additional campuses located in Prince Rupert, Terrace, Quesnel, and ...

and Athabasca University. PIMS receives funding from

NSERC 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 ...

and provincial governments. In 2007, the institute became a ''Unité Mixte Internationale'' of the French CNRS. PIMS Directors: Nassif Ghoussoub (1995-2003),

Ivar Ekeland Ivar I. Ekeland (born 2 July 1944, Paris) is a French mathematician of Norwegian descent. Ekeland has written influential monographs and textbooks on nonlinear functional analysis, the calculus of variations, and mathematical economics, as well a ...

(2003-2008),

Alejandro Adem Alejandro Adem, FRSC is a professor in the Department of Mathematics at the University of British Columbia and President of the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada. Previously he was Director of the Pacific Institute for ...

(2008-2015), Martin Barlow (2015-2016), James Colliander (2016-2021)
Jayadev Athreya
(2021-2022).

Research program

Research at PIMS includes both hosting of events and support for personnel. Post-doctoral researchers, visitors and graduate students supported by PIMS are hosted at one of the sites for the duration of their stay. The event programs include individual lectures, seminar series and scientific meetings. An international scientific review panel adjudicates event applications and decides on the scientific programs. Longer term projects are supported as Collaborative Research Groups which will typically include a series of thematic activities such as summer schools and workshops, as well as postdoctoral fellow. PIMS also supports an International Graduate Training Centre (IGTC) which is focused on Mathematical Biology.

Education and outreach

PIMS is involved in all levels of mathematical education from Elementary School onwards. In

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, ...

, PIMS organizes the Elementary Math Contest (Elmacon), an annual competition open to grades 5, 6 and 7. Math Mania is directed at high school students and uses interactive games and demonstrations to introduce students to mathematical concepts. PIMS also runs teacher workshops in many rural areas and conferences. For example, the annual 'Changing the Culture' conference which brings together teachers and educators to discuss issues and new developments relating mathematics education. Outreach to Aboriginal and First Nations students is also a strong focus for the BC and Saskatchewan sites, with annual summer camps, programs and resources aimed at providing increased learning opportunities for those students, for example th
Aboriginal Perspectives
website established in 2009.

mathtube.org

In October 2011, PIMS launched a new multimedia site
mathtube.org
This site includes lecture videos, slides and notes from significant PIMS lectures from the past decade, as well as recent events. The site was created to meet the increasing demand to see lecture content online. The site features notable speakers such as

Edward Witten Edward Witten (born August 26, 1951) is an American mathematical and theoretical physicist. He is a Professor Emeritus in the School of Natural Sciences at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton. Witten is a researcher in string theory, q ...

, Ram Murty,

Dusa McDuff Dusa McDuff Fellow of the Royal Society, FRS Royal Society of Edinburgh, CorrFRSE (born 18 October 1945) is an English mathematician who works on symplectic geometry. She was the first recipient of the Ruth Lyttle Satter Prize in Mathematics, w ...

and George Papanicolaou, George Papanicolaou's personal website
stanford.edu. . and is updated regularly.

References

External links