The PIMS/BIRS Team Up! program provides opportunities for in-person collaboration to teams of mathematical scientists, targeting researchers whose research program may have been disproportionately affected by various obstacles like family obligations, professional isolation, access to funding, and the COVID-19 pandemic. This includes, but need not be limited to, women, gender-expansive, and minoritized groups, Indigenous scholars, individuals with visible/invisible challenges and early-career researchers with limited resources.

Successful applicants will receive lodging and meals (subject to availability) at either the Banff or Kelowna BIRS site, as well as reasonable reimbursement for travel expenses. A key goal of this program is for researchers with caregiving responsibilities to participate fully in its scientific activities. To this end, support may also be offered in the form of lodging and reimbursement of travel expenses for children accompanying the member, as well as lodging and travel expenses for a caregiver. Successful applicants of the TeamUp program who will be accompanied by children and/or a caregiver during their residency should submit their requests to PIMS (programs@pims.math.ca) at least one month prior to the event.

Program Details and Eligibility

To participate in Team Up! Applicants should meet the following criteria:

• Groups of two to six mathematicians with partial results on an established project or a clear plan for a proposed project.
• Each member of the group must have a Ph.D. in mathematics or a related area or advanced graduate standing.
• At least one team member with a Ph.D. must be based at a PIMS Member or PIMS Affiliated institution.
• Each group must apply to be in residence at a designated BIRS venue (Banff or Kelowna) for two weeks.
• All members of the group must be in residence for the full duration of the visit.
• Applicants may only apply as a member of one research group.

Application Process

One person from each group should complete the application form linked below. That form will ask for details of your existing collaboration, including:

• A brief history of the collaboration
• The context, description, and goals of the research problems to be addressed
• Timeliness and novelty of the proposed research
• Partial results obtained (if any)
• A timeline for the project, describing how the group plans to pursue this project before, during and after the residence
• A selection of preferred (and impossible) dates for your residence

In addition to these project details, you will be asked to provide contact details for the members of the collaboration. All members will be contacted (automatically, by email) and asked to complete a second form to capture their demographic and biographical information. Specifically, we will be asking for:

• A statement summarizing the applicants' current challenges and their request for resources to address these.
• A list of all members on the research team, including home institution, citizenship, year of Ph.D., current position, as well as demographic details
• A brief biographical sketch for each of the team members
• The Anticipated impact of the proposed collaboration on the applicants' career
• Details of any existing support from PIMS or BIRS provided to the applicant.

Completion of the second survey by all members of your collaboration is required for the application to be considered complete.

Applications

We are currently accepting applications for residences in the period September 1, 2024-August 31, 2025. Complete applications (including demographic information for all collaboration members) must be received by April 15, 2024. Successful applicants will be notified early the following June. If you have any questions about this program or your application, please contact events@pims.math.ca.