2022 April

Scaling limits of random walks on random graphs: An electrical resistance approach

In describing properties of disordered media, physicists have long been interested in the behaviour of random walks on random graphs that arise in statistical mechanics, such as percolation clusters and various models of random trees. Random walks on random graphs are also of interest to computer scientists in studies of complex networks. In ‘critical’ regimes, many of the canonical models exhibit large-scale fractal properties, which means it is often a challenge to describe their geometry, let alone the associated random walks. In this talk, I will describe an approach suitable for understanding various ‘low-dimensional’ models of random walks on random graphs that builds on the deep connections that exist between electrical networks and stochastic processes.

Discussion Theme (for the 2nd part of the event) : 

Working in different places, and especially in different countries, naturally leads one to draw comparisons. Through such, one learns more about the working cultures of each. After some brief general musings on this topic, I plan to share some of my experiences from the UK of working on a departmental committee that was responsible for staff welfare (including work-life balance and gender equality).

Feedback for Breakout  Room  Discussion from participants : 

・ 外国に長期間滞在することは，研究活動の観点から重要なのはもちろんですが，異国の文化に身近に接し自らの文化的背景が相対的なものに過ぎないことを実感するためにも重要です．大学院生やポスドクの方々には何とか機会を見付けて外国での長期滞在を経験されることをお勧めします．

・ 第二部で言及されていた、女性研究者の割合が、学部では多くても、大学院の修士、博士と進むと、一般的に、どの分野でも少なくなるという事実は知らなかったため、大変参考になった。外国の例をあげていただいたことで、日本特有の問題でない部分もあるということがわかった。女性研究者にとって、キャリアと生活の両立が難しいことが、一因であろうという指摘は、確かにその通りかもしれないと感じた。研究者としてのキャリアの先行きは一般的に見通しがたいものであるということは、性別を問わず、研究者を目指す人を少なくする原因の一つかもしれないと感じた。

・ スピーカーの方が紹介されていたいろいろな情報のリンクを載せていただけるとありがたいです。

※ 講演で紹介された様々なリンクのリストです。講演のスライドをご覧になりたい方は、世話人までご連絡ください。

Some links from the second part of the meeting

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The Situation of Gender Equality in Mathematics in Japan:

http://www.math.keio.ac.jp/~bannai/Report_MathGender_en.pdf

Resources from the London Mathematical Society:

https://www.lms.ac.uk/women/good-practice-scheme

https://www.lms.ac.uk/sites/default/files/LMS-BTL-17Report_0.pdf

https://www.lms.ac.uk/about/committees/women-mathematics-committee

https://www.lms.ac.uk/diversity-statements-policy-advice

Some surveys of gender balance/inclusivity initiatives relevant to individuals/departments:

Reflections and Actions for Creating an Inclusive Research Environment

https://doi.org/10.1002/cpet.43

Gender bias in academia: A lifetime problem that needs solutions

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuron.2021.06.002

Athena SWAN

Background:

https://www.advance-he.ac.uk/equality-charters/athena-swan-charter

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Athena_SWAN 

Some example applications:

https://www.maths.ox.ac.uk/members/good-practice/athena-swan

https://www.maths.cam.ac.uk/internal/faculty/equality-and-diversity/women-in-mathematics/athena-swan

https://www.bristol.ac.uk/maths/working-environment/swan/

https://www.ucl.ac.uk/maths/equality-and-diversity/athena-swan

Some review studies:

https://doi.org/10.1186/s12961-020-0527-x

https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(18)33213-6

https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.m3975

Some other links from Japan:

Progress and problems of gender equality in Japanese academics and geosciences

https://adgeo.copernicus.org/articles/53/195/2020/adgeo-53-195-2020.pdf

Unconcious bias pamphlet (in Japanese)

https://www.djrenrakukai.org/doc_pdf/2019/UnconsciousBias_leaflet.pdf

And elsewhere:

Sexual Harassment in Academic Science, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM study)

https://www.nationalacademies.org/our-work/sexual-harassment-in-academia

Elsevier's reports on gender in research

https://www.elsevier.com/connect/gender-report

Gender inequality in academia: Problems and solutions for women faculty in STEM

https://doi.org/10.1002/jnr.24631

When You Put It that Way: Framing Gender Equality Initiatives to Improve Engagement among STEM Academics

https://academic.oup.com/bioscience/article/71/3/292/5998476

The Failure of Gender Equality Initiatives in Academia: Exploring Defensive Institutional Work in Flemish Universities

https://doi.org/10.1177%2F0891243220914521

RIMS Gender Equality and Diversity webpage:

https://www.kurims.kyoto-u.ac.jp/kyoten/en/gender_equality.html

https://www.kurims.kyoto-u.ac.jp/kyoten/ja/gender_equality.html

And finally, if you get this far, some cartoons to enjoy!:

https://www.unwomen.org/en/news/stories/2021/6/news-winners-of-the-comic-and-cartoon-competition-generation-equality-picture-it