This two-day workshop takes place in conjunction with the national meeting of the Society for the Advancement of Chicanos and Native Americans in Science (SACNAS) and showcases the contemporary research happening at NSF-funded mathematical sciences institutes around the country. It grew out of a similarly named yearly event originally organized by MSRI and first held at Howard University in 2002. It became a collaboration with SACNAS in 2006 and has been jointly organized by the Mathematical Sciences Institutes since 2008. Since 2011 this event has been funded by the NSF through the Mathematical Sciences Institute Diversity Initiative. The workshop is a mix of activities including research expositions aimed at graduate students and researchers, mini-courses aimed at undergraduates, a keynote lecture by a distinguished scientist, and a reception where participants can learn more information about the Mathematical Sciences Institutes.

Participant Experiences

• “The interaction of the speaker with the audience, and newness of the topic [are what I liked best].”
• “The talks were of very high quality, even exceptional, and well focused on an audience primarily consisting of students and young professionals.”
• “The opportunity to meet new students and colleagues from diverse backgrounds.”
• “An extremely positive, encouraging atmosphere for discussing first rate mathematics.”
• “Opportunity to meet undergraduate students, particularly minority students. My job as Director of Graduate Studies is to identify and recruit good students.”
• “I really enjoyed the networking. Because my sisters and I are first generation, I had never been exposed to so many professionals with Ph.Ds. I was able to identify and talk about the struggles that come with being a Latina in a STEM field.”