A renewed call to the international mathematical community for the support of Azat Miftakhov

The Azat Miftakhov Committee renews its appeal to the international mathematical and scientific community for the support of Azat Miftakhov. This call is made more urgent by the recently confirmed information that the FSB is currently in the process of fabricating a new criminal case against Azat, which may result in an additional lengthy prison sentence for him.

Azat Miftakhov, an opposition pro-democracy activist in Russia, was originally arrested by the FSB on February 1, 2019 in Moscow. Except for a brief few hours release on February 7, 2019, he has remained imprisoned since then. At the time of his arrest Azat Miftakhov was a mathematics graduate student in the Faculty of Mathematics and Mechanics of the Moscow State University. Azat was charged in relation to the January 2018 political protest at an office of the United Russia party in Moscow that came to be known as the “broken window” case. While in pretrial detention, Azat was extensively tortured by the guards in the attempt to extract a false confession. The premier Russian human rights organization “Memorial” recognized Azat as a political prisoner, and his case attracted widespread attention, both in Russia and internationally. Azat has always maintained his innocence of the false charges against him.

Link to the full article (or click “Continue reading”)

Petition to protest compulsory redundancies of academics announced at the University of East Anglia

UCU, Unison and Unite at University of East Anglia (UEA) have started a petition to protest the ongoing situation with staff being served compulsory redundancies due to the financial mismanagement of the university.

Read more on: https://www.change.org/p/petition-and-open-letter-opposing-compulsory-redundancies-at-uea

Two positions of assistant professorship opened

Applications are invited for two University Assistant Professorships to commence on 1 September 2023 or by agreement. The posts are each linked to College Lectureships, one at Newnham College and the other at Murray Edwards College, to which the successful applicants will be simultaneously appointed. These linked posts are intended to support and promote the study of mathematics and research in mathematics by women.

Decision of the International Mathematical Union regarding the next ICM in Russia

Link to the full official statement.

The Executive Committee of the International Mathematical Union (IMU) has decided that:

1. The International Congress of Mathematicians (ICM) 2022 will take place as a fully virtual
   event, hosted outside Russia but following the original time schedule planned for Saint
   Petersburg.
2. Participation in the virtual ICM event will be free of charge.
3. The IMU General Assembly (GA) will take place as an in-person event outside Russia.
4. A prize ceremony will be held the day after the IMU GA, at the same venue as the IMU GA, for
   the awarding of the 2022 IMU prizes.
5. The dates for the ICM and the GA will remain unaltered.
6. We will return with further practical information regarding the two events.

[…]

We, the Executive Committee of the IMU, have analyzed the situation carefully. We strongly
condemn the actions by Russia. Our deepest sympathy goes to our Ukrainian colleagues and
the Ukrainian people.

[…]

As for the General Assembly, we consider it of vital importance to meet in person. However,
as we cannot meet in Saint Petersburg, we will find an alternative venue outside Russia for the
GA.

See also the message to the IMU Executive Committee sent by the Azat Miftakhov Committee.

Update on the case of Azat Miftakhov

On October 6, 2021, the IMU Executive Committee issued a statement concerning the case of our colleague Azat Miftakhov who has been arbitrarily detained by Russian authorities since February 2019:  “The IMU expresses its wish that Miftakhov be allowed to complete his doctorate in France, enabling him to pursue a career in mathematics, and asks that he be released at the earliest opportunity so that he can take up his studies in France.”

“Cambridge colleges accused of exploiting ‘gig economy’ tutors’’ (Guardian)

“Nearly half of undergraduate tutorials are delivered by staff who lack proper contracts, research shows

Colleges at the University of Cambridge have been accused of using overworked and underpaid gig economy workers to provide the institution’s famous one-on-one tutoring system.

Research by members of the University and College Union found nearly half of undergraduate tutorials, or “supervisions” as they are known, are delivered by precariously employed staff who lack proper contracts. One-third of supervisors are postgraduate students or freelancers, including those who have recently completed their PhDs.’’

See the full article here.

The International Mathematical Union must support Azat Miftakhov

The Azat Miftakhov Committee, supported by 308 mathematicians and 3 mathematical societies, sent the following letter to the International Mathematical Union Executive Committee, concerning the case of our colleague Azat Miftakhov. Mathematicians who wish to support this letter can sign it by filling out the form here; an updated list of signatories will be sent to the IMU in a few weeks.

UPDATE 25/09/2021: Open letter by Ahmed Abbas and Cédric Villani to the IMU.

August 23, 2021

Dear members of the International Mathematical Union (IMU) Executive Committee,

Mathematics at the University of Leicester

The London Mathematical Society has been informed that the University of Leicester is consulting over a proposal to reduce the size of its Pure Mathematics Group to be teaching only, in order to “meet the rising market demand of artificial intelligence, computational modelling, digitalisation and data science”. The Society strongly opposes this proposal and believes it to be seriously flawed for the following reasons.
Source: https://www.lms.ac.uk/news-entry/09022021-1444/mathematics-university-leicester