Bishop’s math professors work in a wide range of disciplines, giving you the possibility to work on the cutting edge of several fields of mathematics. Faculty research interests include Representations of Algebras, Computational Topology, Imaging, Differential Equations, Differential Geometry, Mathematical Physics, Geometric Analysis and Functional Analysis.

Bishop’s is an associate member of the Institut des Sciences Mathématiques, (ISM) a consortium of the mathematics departments of major universities in Quebec (Concordia, McGill, UQAM, Montréal, Sherbrooke, UQTR, Laval). The ISM provides funding to students wishing to attend conferences and colloquia. The member universities also share their teaching resources.

Each year, in collaboration with the University of Sherbrooke, we organize the Meeting in Representation theory. About 30 people (including renowned researchers from all over the world) join forces to present the most recent advances in representation theory of algebras. We regularly receive visitors and postdoctoral fellows from many countries, giving our students access to the most-up to date topics in modern mathematics.

Research Groups

Even though Bishop’s does not currently offer graduate programs in mathematics, most of our professors have adjunct status at institutions where such programs are offered, so it’s possible for our honours students to pursue their studies at the graduate level under the supervision of a Bishop’s professor. Our students can also be introduced to research in mathematics by postdoctoral fellows.

Summer Research

Every summer, mathematics students have the opportunity to work with one of our professors or postdoctoral fellows. Through NSERC’s USRA (undergraduate students research awards) program and through ISM grants, they are introduced to research in mathematics. Students are guided through the discovery of new results that will eventually be published in scholarly journals, giving them a very good idea of what it is to be a mathematician, and a serious advantage for the job market. Past subjects included Quantum computing, Cryptography, Graph theory and Quadratic forms. The following publications were written by our students during a USRA/ISM stage. If you are interested in doing summer research, please contact the Dr. Huard ( fhuard@ubishops.ca ).

Putnam

The Putnam contest is a North American mathematics competition held in December each year. It is a one-day competition during which students have to solve 12 problems. The problems, which don’t require much mathematical knowledge, nevertheless require good mathematical intuition and deep thinking. Typically, the median score for the Putnam is around 0/120, meaning that about half of the participants end up with a score of 0. Each year, interested Bishop’s mathematics students participate in the Putnam. It is above all a fun activity during which every cubic inch of your neurons is required. Prior to the contest math students meet on a weekly basis with a faculty to prepare for P-day, and about a month before the contest, we go to the Colby math meet in Maine to prepare with students from Colby, Bowdoin, Bates and the University of Maine. If you are interested in joining our Putnam team, don’t hesitate to get in touch with one of your professors.

Official Putnam website

Work Opportunities

There are several work opportunities for math students. This is an excellent way of developing interpersonal and pedagogical skills while reinforcing your mathematical knowledge, and of course, earning some money! The following jobs are available:

Resources:

Conferences and Social Events

In order to keep our students in touch with the mathematical community, we encourage them to attend conferences in Canada and the United States, and organize at least one trip each semester to a local conference. We’re regular attendees at the Colby Math Meet in Maine and the Hudson River Valley Undergraduate Mathematics Conference, which held every year at a university in New England or upstate New York.

Twice a year, normally at the beginning of each semester, we organize a math party. These are typically held at one of our professor’s houses. The purpose of these social events is to encourage exchanges between students and professors outside of class hours. In recent years, we’ve added an exotic twist to those parties by giving them special culinary themes. Among other things we organized a sushi-making session in which students made and ate their own sushi! We also had a beach party (at 30 below zero) with fajitas! Last year it was create your own original poutine!