Note from Richard Kane (rkane@fields.utoronto.ca)

REVIEW OF CANADIAN MATHEMATICS

This note concerns the Review of Canadian Mathematics which will take place over the next year. More precisely, it deals with the self study document which will be prepared for the review and, even more precisely, it discusses the data which must be assembled to accompany that document. Assembling this data will require the cooperation of individual mathematics departments. If you wish to contact me I would ask you to use the following email

rkane@fields.utoronto.ca

Let me make some immediate points.

  1. The aim is to obtain data in as minimal and tightly presented a format as possible. We are not asking for a large written report. I anticipate that, where possible, standard forms will be provided to report the data.

  2. Another point which should be emphasized is the deadline for submission of data. I will have to ask that the material be submitted by July 15 of this year. In other words, the data will have to be assembled within the next two months.

  3. The question of data collection (both the data to be collected and the proceedure (forms) for reporting it) is not totally resolved. I have tried to explain below (in Part I) the state of things at the moment. This message is designed to give chairs a reasonable idea of what will be requested of them. It is also going to other sources such as NSERC for comment. Subsequent clarifications will follow (shortly!) Questions and comments are actively encouraged and are probably the best way of expediting clarifications.

The rest of this message is divided into four parts. Part I is a list of the requested data while Part II provides some commentary on that list. Parts III and IV are FYI. Part III sketches the current state of the review while Part IV gives some information about the self study document.

PART I: LIST OF REQUESTED DATA

  1. FACULTY

    • list of faculty broken down by area of research.
      -those who are retired but active should be included as a separate group
    • number of faculty funded by each GSC
    • demographics: distribution of faculty by age and gender
    • list of tenure track hirings in past ten years
    • any plans regarding hiring, notably areas of research

  2. UNDERGRADUATE, GRADUATE AND POSTGRADUATE PROGRAM

    • current teaching responsibilities
      • courses taught and total enrolment
        -enrolment by year
        -courses by year -the unit would be one term courses and
        -all sections of a multisectional course would be counted
      • number of courses taught by sessionals
      • number of courses taught by graduate students

    • number of Master's and PhD's produced over past 5 years
      • area of research
      • number of Canadians and non Canadians
      • gender
      • current employment if known, or next institution they went to.

    • numbers of postdoc's over past 5 years
      • area of research
      • country where PhD was acquired
      • gender
      • current employment if known, or next institution they went to.

  3. RESEARCH

    • national and international awards or other notable achievements
    • international contacts over past 3 years
      • significant collaboration as evidenced in publications
      • total number of visitors per year
      • for "longer term" visitors
        -names, speciality, origin, length of stay, significant lecture series
      • "longer term" visits to other institutions

    • links with industry and other disciplines (specify nature and with whom)
    • non NSERC funding
    • list of regular seminars and colloquium series
    • research infrastructure: support personal and facilities
    • other research related activites eg journals edited on site

PART II: QUESTIONS AND COMMENTS REGARDING DATA LIST

Here are some questions and comments regarding the above list.

  1. Are there significant problems understanding what data is being sought?

    • you are being asked to collect data on ALL faculty members in the department, even those funded by other GSC's.

  2. Are there significant problems obtaining any of the data listed below?

    • breaking down researchers into area of research needs clarification

    • the data requested about international contacts will clearly require work for any large department to prepare but it has been specifically requested by Jean-Pierre Bourguignon, the chair of the Review Committee. And if one reads the Mandate of the Review (see Part III below) it would seem to be required information.

    • a reasonable amount of data, notably that listed under Research, could be obtained by having researchers fill out a commonly agreed upon form. The completed forms could then be forwarded to me to compile and organize. The department would have less work to do and I would have the raw data availible. Is this feasible?

  3. Is there other data which might be sought? Basically, we are requesting information which will give a picture of the research profile of your math department. What other information could contribute to that picture?

PART III: SUMMARY OF REVIEW

First let me summarize the declared goal of the review. The following statements are taken from the official NSERC/Math Liaison document

  1. OBJECTIVES

    To provide the mathematics community and decision makers with an up-to-date ``Health of the Discipline'' statement and develop a vision for the future.

  2. MANDATE

    (a) To review the health and progress of Canadian mathematical research both in the context of international mathematical research and in the context of Canadian science.

    (b) To recommend any measures, such as the structuring of research funding, that it deems important to continuing and strengthening the vitality of Canadian mathematics.

  3. TERMS OF REFERENCE

    (a) Assess the health of the discipline

    (b) Assess the impact of the discipline

    (c) Assess demographic and geographic characteristics that will impact on the development of a vision for the discipline

    (d) Evaluate the funding structure of the discipline and funding strategy of the NSERC Grant Selection Committees

    (e) Assess the discipline's current communication and collaboration strategy.

    (f) Identify appropriate indicators for assessing quality and impact of the discipline

Regarding the committee, its makeup is described as follows:

"Six or eight members (of which 2 or 3 are Canadians) comprising 4 or 5 eminent members of the international mathematical community, 2 or 3 ``users and/or collaborators of mathematics'', coming either from scientific disciplines such as physics, statistics, computer science, engineering or biology or from industrial backgrounds with a strong mathematical slant".

Jean-Pierre Bourguignon, President of the European Mathematical Society and director of IHES, has agreed to be the chair of the review panel. The selection of the committee began in earnest several weeks ago. As soon as the entire committee has been assembled its membership will be made public.

Here is the tentative schedule for the review

Regarding the actual review the tentative plan is to have two major committee meetings, combined with site visits. The first would begin the review and would take place during the period October 17/18-21/22. The second would take place during the period December 5/6-8 and would, in particular, involve a stay of several days at the Winter CMS meeting in London, Ontario. It is anticipated that the review panel will have meetings with chairs both on site visits and at the CMS meeting.

It should also be emphasized that this review will, very likely, have major consequences. Notably, significant portions of Mathematics' funding will be up for review in 1998/99. That is when the next re-allocation process takes place.

I plan to attend the chairs meeting at the June CMS meeting in Calgary. I have requested that the Review be put on the agenda of that meeting.

PART IV: SELF STUDY DOCUMENT AND DATA

Let me now turn to the self study document for which data is being requested The self study document is to be prepared under my supervision with September 1 as a deadline for completion. It is a working document for the committee and will be prepared in consultation with the committee and, in particular, with the chair, Jean-Pierre Bourguignon.

Here is a basic summary of the current plan for the self study document.

  1. MATHEMATICS AS A SCIENTIFIC DISCIPLINE IN CANADA
    • history of research activity in Canada, notably the significant changes which have occurred over the past 10 years
    • survey of the current state of research
      -areas, individuals, results
    • a sense of where Canadian research is going
  2. MATHEMATICAL STRUCTURES IN CANADA
    • university departments
    • CMS
    • CAMS
    • research institutes
    • network
  3. INTERACTIONS OF MATHEMATICS
    • education
    • industry
    • other disciplines
  4. NATIONAL SUPPORT AND FINANCING OF MATHEMATICS
    • description of current financing of mathematics research
    • planning the future: directions, goals and what the discipline needs to reach them.