A few days ago, Abi's blog pointed to a very interesting article about serious steps being taken by premier institutes in India to attract faculty and bridge the huge gap between sanctioned versus existing faculty numbers. This includes providing new faculty with high start-up grants needed to set up labs, streamlining hiring processes, and creating opportunities for spousal employment (especially at institutes where location might cause a disadvantage).
At around the same time, I came to know that 4 new mathematicians had been hired at IISER Pune. They will be increasing not only our numbers, but also the research specialities represented by the Maths group here. This made me wonder: How is it that new institutes like IISER Pune have managed to build a promising and vibrant Mathematics community while several institutes seriously struggle to even get Mathematics faculty to apply, leave alone join? Is it merely because Pune has a location advantage or are the reasons far deeper? If a mathematician were to write an article along the same lines as the ET article mentioned above, what factors would they consider important to attract Mathematics faculty (especially at a new institute)? ``Huge" start-up grants are not such an important issue because most of us don't need to set up labs. How does an institute attract and retain its mathematicians?
While many of a mathematician's requirements overlap with those of faculty in other sciences, a few of these requirements are more crucial (in my opinion, make or break for new institutes) for Maths. Being at IISER Pune, I can't help but write about how this institute in particular has reached out to its Mathematics faculty and has fostered an overall sense of professional satisfaction. I hope that this post will lead to a healthy discussion about what makes an academic work place work for the people who join it.
Firstly, a key factor that can propel the growth of a baby department is the presence of accomplished researchers who can provide a leadership and mentoring role to it. In a country where even established institutes are short of Maths faculty, this may be wishful thinking for new institutes. However, even if a new department has one such accomplished researcher, they can attract more people to apply. In many ways, they become the face of the department. One good hire leads to interest in the department from more job candidates, the department gets a pool of strong applications and soon starts to build non trivial research groups in diverse areas. Such a person becomes a bridge between the institute-level administration (director, deans etc) and younger faculty members in the department. Their strength in research as well as leadership abilities inspires the confidence of the younger faculty and the respect of the admin. These mentors, being Mathematicians themselves, can understand the needs of Maths faculty better, the faculty can unhesitatingly put forward their requirements or concerns or suggestions to them and they become effective channels to convey these points to the senior administrators. This is particularly important for Mathematics because some of its needs and practices with respect to publishing etc are different from others and this often needs to be convincingly conveyed to senior administrators.
Of course, several new departments are functioning without such mentors. At these departments, younger faculty members are entrusted with such a role. Faced with the task of building up their research programmes and play a leadership role, they work very hard to do so (even with their very limited experience), but I believe that someone who has more experience and has already built a strong research programme will be much better able to undertake such a role.
Secondly, the library plays the same role for a mathematician that a laboratory plays for an experimentalist. Whenever a prospective Maths job candidate visits an institute, invariably, one of the first few things that they want to know about is the library. Many candidates even choose to spend a couple of hours at the library during their job visits and I know of some institutes which even schedule this as part of a candidate's job visit. While talking to departmental members, they have questions about which journals or book series the library subscribes to and how easy is it to order new books or journals for the library. This single factor plays a huge role in ensuring the professional satisfaction of Maths faculty. While it is great to have electronic access to journals or books of their choice, the ideal situation would be to also have them in hard copy. Mathematicians often come up with research ideas while in the library. They don't necessarily visit the library to gain access to a particular book or journal: instead they browse through shelves (somewhat like what people do at bookstores), pick up a journal volume or book that catches their interest and often come up with good questions or ideas while going through its contents. That is why many Mathematics departments at universities across the world have their own libraries and members are given unrestricted access at any time of the day or night on any day of the week. While this may not be immediately possible at new institutes (due to shortage of space), recognizing the central role that a library plays for a mathematician and giving members the freedom and opportunity to order books and journals in a smooth and timely manner is a great start!
Thirdly, it is very important for mathematicians to attend conferences/workshops/ seminars on a regular basis. Almost all job candidates have queries about travel grants for national and international travel, flexibility to attend conferences during term time and so on. This applies to all sciences and has been addressed in many articles (including the one mentioned above) - so, I need not elaborate upon it too much. However, some comments: Pune's closeness to Mumbai and therefore easy accessibility to conferences and short-term research programmes organized at TIFR and IIT Bombay undoubtedly played some role in attracting the first few Maths faculty members to IISER Pune. The rules and procedures to attend scientific meetings, claim travel reimbursement etc (especially with respect to balancing central government regulations about airlines with Pune airport's scheduling constraints) are very smooth and faculty-friendly here [1]. Also, I have mentioned before that the Mathematics department here is provided with resources and tremendous administrative support to organize conferences. The recognition by the institute of the importance of such meetings for Mathematicians was one of the factors that motivated me to apply here.
Finally, an important question that a mathematician asks is if his/her department is treated like a service department to the other departments (for example, in terms of course work etc- is there a good variety of Maths courses for students interested in learning Mathematics or does the institute only wish to offer a limited number of Math courses aimed primarily at teaching mathematical techniques required for other disciplines?) Or, is the department considered an independent and integral part of the institute? Also, does the leadership play merely a critical role or a critical as well as a facilitating role for the department? Answers to these questions can eventually determine if an institute can attract and retain its mathematicians.
Here's a simple example: let's say that a Maths department at an institute has a much smaller number of PhD students than other departments. A critical leadership will simply question the competence of the faculty and will pressurize them to take more students. However, a critical and facilitating leadership will not talk about the numbers, but of the faculty-to-PhD student ratio. It will take steps to increase the number of faculty members in the department in diverse research areas and therefore foster an environment in which it will be feasible for the department to have a full fledged PhD programme with higher number of students.
Finally, let me pen down some non-academic factors (which apply to all faculty) which can make for a very faculty friendly workplace. When I joined IISER Pune, I noticed that in order to overcome the disadvantages of a campus still under construction, the institute had made some key arrangements for the benefit of their employees. For example, since campus housing is not yet ready, we have to find an apartment outside. However, the lease is signed by IISER Pune - this one step prevents a lot of inconvenience. Many house owners prefer to rent out to a central government organization. IISER also pays the advance deposit which is a non-trivial amount and issues all rental cheques directly to the owner. Secondly, since many of us were operating from the temporary campus and classes were held at the permanent campus, there was a fleet of five buses plying students and faculty between campuses. If needed, smaller vehicles could also be made available at short notice. The whole system worked painlessly. A transport system was also in place between the guest house (for visitors and newly arrived faculty) and the campus. Did the institute have an instinctive understanding of the needs of its members from the very beginning? Probably not, but what they do have is a proper system in which members can unhesitatingly bring up their suggestions and grievances to the director and deans with the confidence that their input/feedback will be treated and acted upon in a professional manner. It is possible that these facilities were not provided to begin with, but were made available when faculty members brought them up at the correct forums. An institute where the admin works for the well being of all and where the culture is not based upon a senior/junior dichotomy but that of mutual respect and professional courtesy among all goes a long way in keeping its faculty happy, motivated and most importantly, focused on their scientific goals.
[1] Talking about smooth travel policies, a few days ago, I had to take a really early morning flight to go to Bhubaneswar for a Maths event. I was a bit worried about how safe it would be for a woman to book a cab at 3 am and travel alone to the airport. I was most pleasantly surprised to know that the institute makes airport/station pick up and drop off arrangements for employees for professional travel and that there was no need to worry.
At around the same time, I came to know that 4 new mathematicians had been hired at IISER Pune. They will be increasing not only our numbers, but also the research specialities represented by the Maths group here. This made me wonder: How is it that new institutes like IISER Pune have managed to build a promising and vibrant Mathematics community while several institutes seriously struggle to even get Mathematics faculty to apply, leave alone join? Is it merely because Pune has a location advantage or are the reasons far deeper? If a mathematician were to write an article along the same lines as the ET article mentioned above, what factors would they consider important to attract Mathematics faculty (especially at a new institute)? ``Huge" start-up grants are not such an important issue because most of us don't need to set up labs. How does an institute attract and retain its mathematicians?
While many of a mathematician's requirements overlap with those of faculty in other sciences, a few of these requirements are more crucial (in my opinion, make or break for new institutes) for Maths. Being at IISER Pune, I can't help but write about how this institute in particular has reached out to its Mathematics faculty and has fostered an overall sense of professional satisfaction. I hope that this post will lead to a healthy discussion about what makes an academic work place work for the people who join it.
Firstly, a key factor that can propel the growth of a baby department is the presence of accomplished researchers who can provide a leadership and mentoring role to it. In a country where even established institutes are short of Maths faculty, this may be wishful thinking for new institutes. However, even if a new department has one such accomplished researcher, they can attract more people to apply. In many ways, they become the face of the department. One good hire leads to interest in the department from more job candidates, the department gets a pool of strong applications and soon starts to build non trivial research groups in diverse areas. Such a person becomes a bridge between the institute-level administration (director, deans etc) and younger faculty members in the department. Their strength in research as well as leadership abilities inspires the confidence of the younger faculty and the respect of the admin. These mentors, being Mathematicians themselves, can understand the needs of Maths faculty better, the faculty can unhesitatingly put forward their requirements or concerns or suggestions to them and they become effective channels to convey these points to the senior administrators. This is particularly important for Mathematics because some of its needs and practices with respect to publishing etc are different from others and this often needs to be convincingly conveyed to senior administrators.
Of course, several new departments are functioning without such mentors. At these departments, younger faculty members are entrusted with such a role. Faced with the task of building up their research programmes and play a leadership role, they work very hard to do so (even with their very limited experience), but I believe that someone who has more experience and has already built a strong research programme will be much better able to undertake such a role.
Secondly, the library plays the same role for a mathematician that a laboratory plays for an experimentalist. Whenever a prospective Maths job candidate visits an institute, invariably, one of the first few things that they want to know about is the library. Many candidates even choose to spend a couple of hours at the library during their job visits and I know of some institutes which even schedule this as part of a candidate's job visit. While talking to departmental members, they have questions about which journals or book series the library subscribes to and how easy is it to order new books or journals for the library. This single factor plays a huge role in ensuring the professional satisfaction of Maths faculty. While it is great to have electronic access to journals or books of their choice, the ideal situation would be to also have them in hard copy. Mathematicians often come up with research ideas while in the library. They don't necessarily visit the library to gain access to a particular book or journal: instead they browse through shelves (somewhat like what people do at bookstores), pick up a journal volume or book that catches their interest and often come up with good questions or ideas while going through its contents. That is why many Mathematics departments at universities across the world have their own libraries and members are given unrestricted access at any time of the day or night on any day of the week. While this may not be immediately possible at new institutes (due to shortage of space), recognizing the central role that a library plays for a mathematician and giving members the freedom and opportunity to order books and journals in a smooth and timely manner is a great start!
Thirdly, it is very important for mathematicians to attend conferences/workshops/ seminars on a regular basis. Almost all job candidates have queries about travel grants for national and international travel, flexibility to attend conferences during term time and so on. This applies to all sciences and has been addressed in many articles (including the one mentioned above) - so, I need not elaborate upon it too much. However, some comments: Pune's closeness to Mumbai and therefore easy accessibility to conferences and short-term research programmes organized at TIFR and IIT Bombay undoubtedly played some role in attracting the first few Maths faculty members to IISER Pune. The rules and procedures to attend scientific meetings, claim travel reimbursement etc (especially with respect to balancing central government regulations about airlines with Pune airport's scheduling constraints) are very smooth and faculty-friendly here [1]. Also, I have mentioned before that the Mathematics department here is provided with resources and tremendous administrative support to organize conferences. The recognition by the institute of the importance of such meetings for Mathematicians was one of the factors that motivated me to apply here.
Finally, an important question that a mathematician asks is if his/her department is treated like a service department to the other departments (for example, in terms of course work etc- is there a good variety of Maths courses for students interested in learning Mathematics or does the institute only wish to offer a limited number of Math courses aimed primarily at teaching mathematical techniques required for other disciplines?) Or, is the department considered an independent and integral part of the institute? Also, does the leadership play merely a critical role or a critical as well as a facilitating role for the department? Answers to these questions can eventually determine if an institute can attract and retain its mathematicians.
Here's a simple example: let's say that a Maths department at an institute has a much smaller number of PhD students than other departments. A critical leadership will simply question the competence of the faculty and will pressurize them to take more students. However, a critical and facilitating leadership will not talk about the numbers, but of the faculty-to-PhD student ratio. It will take steps to increase the number of faculty members in the department in diverse research areas and therefore foster an environment in which it will be feasible for the department to have a full fledged PhD programme with higher number of students.
Finally, let me pen down some non-academic factors (which apply to all faculty) which can make for a very faculty friendly workplace. When I joined IISER Pune, I noticed that in order to overcome the disadvantages of a campus still under construction, the institute had made some key arrangements for the benefit of their employees. For example, since campus housing is not yet ready, we have to find an apartment outside. However, the lease is signed by IISER Pune - this one step prevents a lot of inconvenience. Many house owners prefer to rent out to a central government organization. IISER also pays the advance deposit which is a non-trivial amount and issues all rental cheques directly to the owner. Secondly, since many of us were operating from the temporary campus and classes were held at the permanent campus, there was a fleet of five buses plying students and faculty between campuses. If needed, smaller vehicles could also be made available at short notice. The whole system worked painlessly. A transport system was also in place between the guest house (for visitors and newly arrived faculty) and the campus. Did the institute have an instinctive understanding of the needs of its members from the very beginning? Probably not, but what they do have is a proper system in which members can unhesitatingly bring up their suggestions and grievances to the director and deans with the confidence that their input/feedback will be treated and acted upon in a professional manner. It is possible that these facilities were not provided to begin with, but were made available when faculty members brought them up at the correct forums. An institute where the admin works for the well being of all and where the culture is not based upon a senior/junior dichotomy but that of mutual respect and professional courtesy among all goes a long way in keeping its faculty happy, motivated and most importantly, focused on their scientific goals.
[1] Talking about smooth travel policies, a few days ago, I had to take a really early morning flight to go to Bhubaneswar for a Maths event. I was a bit worried about how safe it would be for a woman to book a cab at 3 am and travel alone to the airport. I was most pleasantly surprised to know that the institute makes airport/station pick up and drop off arrangements for employees for professional travel and that there was no need to worry.
