Women In Mathematics

Department of Mathematics

What is WIM?

WIM Meeting

Women in Mathematics is a group of undergraduate students, graduate students, postdocs, instructors, and other faculty members of the mathematics department at Penn State. Our main objective is to provide support and information  within the mathematics community at PSU at all levels, from undergraduate students to faculty members. While the WIM group was created to support women in mathematics, it welcomes all peoples regardless of gender-identity or expression.

Our activities include:

  1. Meeting monthly to share information about career opportunities and to discuss issues facing women in science and mathematics;
  2. Supporting undergraduate and graduate students in their research;
  3. Sponsoring visits of women mathematicians to the mathematics department;
  4. Getting together in a friendly atmosphere for refreshments.

Join Us!

If you are interested in our activities and would like to receive our emails, please sign up using the Registration Form on this page. You must be affiliated with the Pennsylvania State University. If you have a valid psu account, please sign up here. Only psu.edu accounts will be subscribed.

Registration Form

Registration Form

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Meet with Us!

The next WIM lunch will be on Thursday, September 11, from noon to 1 p.m. in 114 McAllister. If you would like to attend the lunch, please email Victoria Sadovskaya  sadovskaya@psu.edu by Wednesday, September 3.

The last WIM lunch took place on Tuesday, April 22, 2025.

Activities supported by WIM

Our student activities are open to all students with focus on women who undertake  research in Mathematics.

  • Math Lions: U-Science – WIM Summer Mathematics Camp for High School Girls: During Summer 2024, the 2-day camp focused on Modular Arithmetic for RSA Cryptography and had other Math-related activities, such as Barbie Bungee and a study of surfaces using Zome Bubbles. The 2024 Schedule is available here. For information about next year’s camp, stay tuned to the U-Science Summer Camps.
  • WIM Scholars: WIM will partially support undergraduate students undertaking Mathematics research at Penn State. We welcome applications from third and fourth-year students especially. For more information, click here.
  • WIM Travel Grants: WIM will provide some support to send graduate students and postdocs to research meetings with a preference to those that present a paper or poster. For more information, click here.
  • WIM will partially support visits by women speakers in a Department seminar. WIM will support up to four visits per semester and cover half of the cost up to $300 per visitor. If you are a faculty member and are hosting a speaker, please email Kirsten Eisentraeger to inquire about support. For a list of sponsored talks, click the Talks tab.

AWM Travel Grants

The AWM, together with the NSF, sponsors Travel Grants to attend mathematical conferences in the US and abroad. You must have a PhD to apply. Deadlines are  February 15, May 15, October 1 annually. Mentoring Travel Grants are also available with deadline  October 1 annually. For more information, visit the AWM Web site.

Topics of discussion

WIM Mentoring

These are some topics we discussed in our previous meetings:

  • Future opportunities in Mathematics and related fields.
  • Gender, the teaching and the learning of mathematics.
  • Facets of majoring in Mathematics for women.
  • What’s it like to be a female mathematician at NSA?
  • A discussion on the annual survey by the American Mathematical Society on employment in the Mathematical Sciences.