In this week's IRIF letter, we warmly welcome Marie-José, a new member at IRIF administration. Please, read the note on administration workload. The results of FSMP confund MathPhDInFrance are available. IRIF has a renewed intranet.
The conference on Mathematical Proof and Software Reliability coordinated by Hugo Herbelin, will be held next week. It's still time for PhD students to register for the SIF PhD training seminar.
The focus is on the winner of the 2024 Abel Prize, Michel Talagrand.
A webinar for the development of european projects is planned and a working group is organized on LabCom and the importance of an ANR for it.

Enjoy reading and have a nice weekend!

• Administration workload: Due to a heavy workload compounded by Natalia's departure, there may be delays in handling your requests. The secretariate is doing its best to address your needs. We appreciate your understanding and kindly request that you anticipate your requests as much as possible and take into account that it may take some days to process your need.

• Welcoming the new Financial and Accounting Manager: We warmly welcome Marie-Josée Iarifina who has joined the lab to replace Natalia Hacquart, who will be leaving at the end of March.

• [FSMP] Cofund MathPhDInFrance: The list of the selected candidates for step 2 is available here. If you sponsored a selected candidate, or you are contacted by some selected candidates to supervise their thesis (some candidates were accepted without having a preconized supervisor) contact the direction asap, since the candidate will need two letters (from you and the direction) by April the 28th.

• Refactoring intranet: The intranet of IRIF has been revised and expanded to be easier to use and more understandable. Have a look! If factual errors or translation mistakes have crept into the pages, please contact communication@irif.fr. It is fully bilingual. New pages concern the life at IRIF, more information for the newcomers, or comprehensive lists of funding schemes and how to use them.

• The interns welcoming day will be held on April 2nd, 2024, at 10:30am, room 3052. Participation for new interns is MANDATORY. More information to come.

• Podcast on research: After being increased in September 2023, the budget allocated to the french Higher Education and Research is finally reduced by 904 million euros. The podcast “La Science, CQFD” by France Culture wondered how French research is faring and what direction it is taking. Claire Mathieu, research director at CNRS at IRIF, intervenes.

• Football prediction: In continuation of the Fête de la Science, whose theme in 2023 was “Sport and Science,” Guillaume Geoffroy explains to us how to predict the results of a football match. Or almost… A portrait conducted by CNRS Villejuif.

• [REMINDER] “Horizon Maths” conference“: This conference series allows exploring the applications and interactions of mathematics around a different theme for each edition. The next topic is about Mathematical Proof and Software Reliability and is organized under the direction of Hugo Herbelin (Inria, IRIF). It takes place on Wednesday, March 27, 2024, from 9 am to 6 pm, at the Henri Poincaré Institute (5 rue Pierre et Marie Curie, Paris 5th), Hermite Amphitheater. All the information on the website.

• PhD student seminar: On May 31, 2024, the seminar for doctoral students of the SIF (French Computer Science Society) will be held. This year, the seminar will focus on the theme “Diversity of research methods in computer science.” The submission deadline is March 30, 2024. More information about the event on the SIF website.

• Violentomètre / Violencemeter: A violencemeter dedicated to the world of research has been created by the L'Oréal Foundation and the Gender - Intersectional Reports, Educational Relationship (G-RIRE) team at the University of Geneva, following an international survey published in 2023 by the L'Oréal Foundation and IPSOS among the research community in 117 countries. This survey revealed that 1 in 2 female scientists has experienced sexual harassment in the workplace. You can download it there.

• “Just do maths!” exhibit: The “Just Do Maths!” exhibition by the FSMP will be installed at the IHÉS and inaugurated on April 4, 2024, with a conference by Catherine Goldstein and Clémence Perronnet on the role that female models can play in advancing equality in sciences. This conference is based on the recently published book “Matheuses” by CNRS editions. You can find all the information about the conference on the dedicated webpage. It will also be possible to attend this event online via Zoom.

• Webinar on Development of European projects in collaboration: on April 16, 2024 at 2:30 (during 1h30), a webinar is organised on the development of European projects in collaboration. You can register here.

• LabCom/ANR: a french working group is organized on the subject “What is a LabCom ? Which help from the ANR”. It will be held on Thursday march 28, from 1:30pm to 2:30pm on zoom. Zoom link | Meeting ID: 998 6396 7375 | Secret code: xHtLp9

• Solemn Thesis Awards 2024: Registration for the solemn thesis awards of the Chancery will takes place through a digital platform. One award concerns scientific PhDs. The College of Doctoral Schools (CED) is responsible for centralizing and submitting the list of pre-selected candidates.
  • The deadline for sending files to the doctoral school at ufr-ed386@math.univ-paris-diderot.fr is April 8th. These files should contain 1. a cover letter in French (maximum one double-sided sheet), 2. a curriculum vitae in French (including postal, e-mail and telephone contact details), 3. a short summary of the thesis in French (between 500 and 1,000 characters maximum), 4. pre-submission reports in French or in the original language, 4. the defense report / minutes in French or in the original language, and 5. a letter of recommendation from the thesis supervisor concerning the application for the Chancellery Prize and, if applicable, of two (maximum) other members of the jury, in French or in the original language.
  • The doctoral shools will rank applications and transmit them to CED by April 23rd.
  • Pre-selected candidates will be contacted by the CED and will have to submit a complete application file by May 24, 2024.
  • More information here.

• Open-source software training: The CNRS Institutes of Humanities and Social Sciences and Mathematics jointly organize this training session which will address several issues related to open-source software. It will be held from Monday 1st July, 2024 at 2pm to Wednesday 3rd of July, 12:30pm at Villa Clythia in Fréjus, in-person only. You can register here.

• Collaboration in medecine: As part of the creation of the inIdEx, which replaces the Labex, the forming laboratory NABI (Nanomedicine, Extracellular Biology, Integratome and Health Innovations) is seeking to identify lecturers or researchers in computer science at UPC who work on problems applied to health or who would be interested in collaborations with physicians. If this applies to you, you are invited to send a message to: Bruno Andreotti, andreotti@phys.ens.fr

• Handicap PhD grant: A call for handicap PhD grants is open until April. This grant funds a doctoral contract over 3 years and extension months funded by the Ministry. For the procedure, please contact the doctoral school : ufr-ed386@math.univ-paris-diderot.fr.

Partner newsletter : Newsletters are sent sporadically to IRIF members. They are listed below.

• CNRS Sciences informatiques Newsletter #43 of March 18, 2024
• Fil Info Recherche of Université Paris Cité of March 19, 2024
• La lettre de l'INSMI - special edition of March 20, 2024
• CNRS internal letter of March 21, 2024