Math Monday, Study Session ft. Boba, NCUMC, WiM Career Panel, & lots more

[Berkeley MUSA]

Hello,

I hope you all are having a great last week of February. With the coming of March, we can look forward to spring break and hitting the halfway point of the semester! I want to reiterate that MUSA and our events serve the entire undergraduate math community, and it's also for anyone interested at any time. There are absolutely no membership requirements, and you are welcome to come to events in the future if you have not been going to any. I emphasized this during my presentation at the first general meeting, but I realize now that if you didn't go you would've missed out on that (ironic). Throughout March and April, there's going to be a lot of awesome, grand events, but also a few low-key ones that are perfect for those who want something more casual (see this week's event). With that being said, here are your weekly announcements.

Math Monday: Monday, February 26, 5-6pm (Evans 939)

This week's speaker is James Walsh, a third-year grad student in the logic group. His primary research area is proof theory, and he has done work related to proof-theoretic strengths of formal theories such as Elementary Arithmetic. The title of his talk is "An Introduction to Ordinal Analysis". Below is the abstract. 

Hilbert's Program was an early twentieth century research program with two goals: (i) axiomatize mathematics and (ii) prove the consistency of the axioms by indubitable means. Interest in Hilbert's Program waned after Gödel's discovery that, roughly, no interesting axiomatic theory can be proved consistent on the basis of indubitable means. This discovery sowed the seeds for a refined version of Hilbert's Program known as ordinal analysis. In ordinal analysis, the strength of axiomatic theories is measured and compared by determining what principles are necessary and sufficient for proving their consistency. I will provide a non-technical introduction to the subject with no background knowledge assumed.

Study Session + Boba Run: Thursday, March 1, 6pm (Evans 1015)

Join us for some studying to battle those last few midterms or prepare for the second round! When our brains are fried (yum), we'll run (not really) and get boba to regain energy – mostly to make up for the exercise. Snacks will be provided (as usual).

NCUMC: March 17 (CSU Fresno)

Last year MUSA sponsored transportation and registration for many of us to attend the North Conference... for Undergrads... in Math California... uhhh, I mean the Northern California Undergraduate Mathematics Conference. This year it's at Fresno State, and we are tentatively planning a trip there. Undergraduates will give short talks about their research in interesting subjects, and you can even give your own! Learn more about the conference and RSVP at their website that looks like it was made twenty years ago. Also, please fill out this form to help us plan a carpool. There are two conditions to travel with MUSA: you must register on the website before filling out the travel form, and you must be prepared to wake up very early to travel (the conference starts around 8-9am I believe so we would leave before 5am). The deadline to register for both the conference and for traveling with us is March 9.

WiM Presents: Post-Undergrad Panel: Monday, February 26, 6-8pm (Evans 1015)

The Women in Mathematics program is hosting a diverse panel about different careers and graduate pathways that a B.A. in math will open! The all-female panel includes areas such as economics & finance, computer science, statistics, public policy, geometry & topology, and natural sciences. For more information, check out their Facebook event.

Berkeley Math Tournament Problem Writers:

If you wish to torment high schoolers by writing math problems, come join BMT's team of problem writers. The tournament will be held on 3/18, and they hope to get as many people as possible to help with problem writing. Here's the link to sign up, and any questions can be directed to the BMT email: berke...@gmail.com. 

MATLAB Workshop: Tuesday, February 27, 6-8pm (Moffitt 101)

Join us for an introduction to MATLAB's Statistics Toolbox! Come learn about the perks of using MATLAB for data analysis and statistical modeling, and try for yourself applying the toolbox to real life data. Demos will include performing statistical analysis on automotive fuel economy data. You can request a MATLAB License here. There will be FREE food and MathWorks merchandise available!

Summer Research Opportunity:

You are invited to apply for the 2018 Student Mentoring & Research Teams (SMART) Program. The application deadline is Thursday, March 1. SMART is a summer program designed to encourage graduate student professional development and to foster undergraduate research through mentoring. Approximately 24 undergraduate mentees will be selected; each mentee will work with a graduate student research mentor in summer 2018 and receive a $3,500 stipend. If you are interested in applying to the 2018 SMART Program, please visit our website at http://smart.berkeley.edu/. The undergraduate application, a description of the projects for the 2018 SMART Program, eligibility criteria for undergraduates, and other information about the program can be accessed at http://smart.berkeley.edu/undergraduate/. Questions about the SMART Program should be directed to Sarah Macdonald, NSF-SMART Postdoctoral Fellow at smartme...@berkeley.edu.

Master of Arts in Teaching:

The NYU Steinhardt Embedded Master of Arts in Teaching in Secondary Education places aspiring teachers in one of our high-need partner schools from the first day of class. In just over a year, you’ll earn your Master of Arts in teaching through an immersive teacher residency paired with online course work designed and taught by NYU professors. Due to our belief that teachers are more successful when they know what they are teaching, we are looking for Science, Mathematics, History and English majors to fill the positions.

Program features include:

• Full-time residency designed specifically for high-need urban schools

• Robust learning communities with fellow residents and mentor teachers

• Regular feedback on your teaching in one-on-one and small group sessions with NYU Steinhardt faculty

• Online curriculum developed and delivered by NYU Steinhardt professors, tailored to meet the vision and mission of each individual school partner

• Living stipend or wage paid by partner schools

• Substantial scholarship money available to make this program accessible to all

Graduating seniors – Our next application deadline is March 19th and we still have spots available in our residency program in San Francisco. Visit our website to apply!

Want more information? Contact Alyssa Haag at alyss...@berkeley.edu.

Best,

Ryan Shaw

--

To join our email list visit <https://groups.google.com/a/lists.berkeley.edu/forum/#!forum/musa> or send an empty email to <musa+su...@lists.berkeley.edu>. Alternatively, feel free to stop by 938 Evans Hall Monday through Friday from 10am to 4pm during the semester or visit our website at <http://musa.berkeley.edu> to find out about our events and how to get involved.