The 2023-2024 Joan and Joseph Birman Fellowship for Women Scholars

The Joan and Joseph Birman Fellowship for Women Scholars is a mid-career research fellowship specially designed to fit the unique needs of women. This fellowship program is made possible by a generous gift from Joan and Joseph Birman.

The fellowship seeks to address the paucity of women at the highest levels of research in mathematics by giving exceptionally talented women extra research support during their mid-career years.

The most likely awardee will be a mid-career woman, based at a U.S. institution, whose achievements demonstrate significant potential for further contributions to mathematics. A requirement of this fellowship is that the awardee must be a member of the AMS at the time of application.

Candidates must have a carefully thought-through research plan for the fellowship period. Special circumstances (such as time taken off for care of children or other family members) may be taken into consideration in making the award. Awardees may use the fellowship in any way that most effectively enables their research - for instance, for release time, participation in special research programs, travel support, childcare, etc. The award is issued through the recipient's institution, and no part of it may be utilized for indirect costs.

The award for the 2023-2024 academic year is expected to be in the amount of \$50,000.

AMS :: Joan and Joseph Birman Fellowship for Women Scholars

Most Recent Fellowship: 2023

Jennifer Balakrishnan, the Clare Boothe Luce Associate Professor of Mathematics at Boston University, has been awarded the 2023-2024 AMS Joan and Joseph Birman Fellowship for Women Scholars. Balakrishnan's research is motivated by various aspects of the classical and p-adic Birch and Swinnerton-Dyer conjectures, as well as the problem of algorithmically finding rational points on curves.

Fellowship announcement as seen in the news release.

See previous winners

Read a feature story in Notices of the AMS about past Birman Fellows (PDF).

The application form requires the following information:

References

Please list three reference writers for this application and use the email links on the MathPrograms cover sheet to send passwords directly to the writers.

Attachments

Also upload the following:

Research description (Research Statement): Candidates must have a carefully thought-through research plan for the fellowship period (one to three pages; no more than three pages, including bibliographical references, will be accepted)
Publications List (Do not attach vita).
Provide a plan (less than one page) indicating how the resources provided by the fellowship will be used.
Current and Pending Support: A list containing the following: support status (that is, current or pending), project/proposal title, source of support, total award amount, total award period (give start and end dates for the award), location of project, person-months per year committed to the project (also indicate whether those months are for the Calendar year, Academic Year, or Summer)
A list of all positions and fellowships since PhD: (Do not attach vita). The applicants should list all fellowships and comparable research appointments, such as a term at one of the mathematical institutes.
2-3 page NSF-style biographical sketch.

Applications were accepted on MathPrograms.org from September 1 through December 1, 2022. No new applications are being accepted at this time.

For questions pertaining to the Birman fellowship,please email the AMS Programs staff.

Please use this inquiry form for questions pertaining to the Birman fellowship only.