PIMS Funding Announcements

PIMS Awarded $7.45 Million in Funding From NSERC & the Alberta Gov’t

PIMS is pleased to announce that it has received renewed funding from its government partners. This includes $6.25 million in funding from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) for 2014-19, as well as $1.2 million from the Alberta Government over a three-year period. 

“The recent generous grants from NSERC and Alberta Innovation and Advanced Education are vital to the health of PIMS and show that both the Alberta and Canadian governments are acutely aware of how important mathematics is to the growth of a modern economy in Canada based on science, engineering and technology” remarked Brian Russell, Chair of the PIMS Board.

The NSERC grant will contribute to the funding of multiple scientific, training and industrial activities throughout Western Canada, which include the support of conferences, workshops and lecture series, funding Collaborative Research Groups and hosting postdoctoral fellows and distinguished visitors. The funding will also provide dedicated support for the Canadian Statistical Sciences Institute (CANSSI), the Atlantic Association for Research in the Mathematical Sciences (AARMS) and the establishment of a national institute innovation platform in the mathematical sciences.

The funding commitment  by the Alberta Government’s Ministry of Innovation and Advanced Education will be disbursed through PIMS’ member universities in Alberta – the universities of Alberta, Calgary and Lethbridge – and will support PIMS activities in that province.

PIMS Director, Alejandro Adem, remarked, “We are very grateful to the Alberta Government for the renewal of its support for PIMS activities. This funding will be used for key scientific, training, industrial and educational activities, as well as for a strategic initiative connected to the energy sector. Alberta scientists play a leading role at PIMS and this support will have a significant impact.” 
 

PIMS to Launch Training Centre in Stochastics

As part of our renewed funding, PIMS will be launching the PIMS Postdoctoral Training Centre in Stochastics (PTCS).
 
PIMS has world class groups in probability theory and its applications, and these groups have an excellent track record of postdoctoral supervision and placement. These groups will come together through the new PIMS PTCS to train an outstanding cadre of postdoctoral fellows in probability theory. The program has already attracted $550,000 in NSF funds for our UWashington site, as well as support from the Province of Alberta. The PTCS will organize summer schools in probability and mathematical finance, develop networking between PIMS sites as well as with groups in Microsoft Research and Eastern Canada and support visits by distinguished visitors.

The program will be directed by Martin Barlow (UBC) and activities are scheduled to begin in 2015.