Hosted by the University of Birmingham Local Piscopia Committee!
For this year’s International Women in Maths Day, we look forward to welcoming you to the Panel Event “Demystifying Careers after PhD” at the University of Birmingham.
The aim of this event is two-fold: to ‘demystify’ different career paths which PhD students studying Mathematics and related topics may wish to pursue after their degree; and to celebrate some of the incredible work of female and non-binary role models in mathematics and related disciplines.
Date: Tuesday 12th May 2026
Location: School of Mathematics, Watson building, University of Birmingham Edgbaston campus, about 2 miles away from the city centre.
The two main train stations are Birmingham New Street and Birmingham Moor Street. Additionally, Birmingham Coach Station is a 10-minute walk from Birmingham New Street Station. There are frequent trains between Birmingham New Street to University station.
Accessibility information for the University of Birmingham campus can be found here. If you have any specific queries regarding accessibility, please do not hesitate to email us.
The School of Mathematics is committed to fostering a welcoming, inclusive, and safe community for all. We encourage all participants to familiarise themselves with the Piscopia Inclusivity Charter, which can be downloaded here.
What is the event?
The main activity in this event will be a panel discussion featuring five invited speakers from across academia and industry, representing a range of career stages and paths, in diverse areas of mathematics and its applications. We will begin with short talks from each speaker to introduce their work, background and career path, and follow this with the panel discussion and a Q&A session.
The panel session is designed to address any of your thoughts, concerns and queries about your future careers, and to provide opportunities for speakers to share their experiences. It will be possible to submit questions in advance via the registration form, or to ask questions on the day.
There will of course be refreshments, coffee and networking opportunities.
The event is primarily aimed at PhD students of underrepresented genders who are considering their career options post-PhD, but it is also open to undergraduate and Master’s students, especially those considering a PhD, and to allies.
Registration:
The event is free to attend, but we request that all attendees register using this link. The deadline for registration is Friday 10th April.
Speakers:
· Prof. Sara Jabbari: Mathematical Biology; Head of Applied Mathematics and former School of Mathematics EDI Lead at the University of Birmingham
· Prof. Gwyneth Stallard, OBE: Complex Dynamics; Open University academic lead for Athena Swan and Deputy Head of School of Mathematics and Statistics
· Dr Candy Bowtell: Combinatorics; Assistant Professor and former Leverhulme Trust Early Career Research Fellow at the University of Birmingham
· Dr Azam Hamidinekoo: Associate Director at AstraZeneca, in Clinical Pharmacology and Safety Sciences; industry collaborator with University of Birmingham Centre for Doctoral Training in Topological Design
Programme:
· 13:15 – 13:35: Arrival and registration
· 13:35 – 13:40: Welcome
· 13:40 – 14:40: Talks from invited speakers
· 14:40 – 14:50: Break
· 14:50 – 15:30: Talks from invited speakers
· 15:30 – 16:00: Refreshment break and networking
· 16:00 – 17:30: Panel discussion and Q&A
Funding
We have some travel funding available for PhD students and other early career researchers. If you wish to apply for travel funding, please indicate this in the registration form. We will assess funding applications and communicate the outcome of this by Thursday 16th April. In order to take up any funding, you will be required to confirm your attendance by Monday 20th April.
Unfortunately, we are unable to provide any funding for accommodation. If you require accommodation for this event, we would kindly request that you arrange this yourself. One recommendation for accommodation is as follows:
Ibis Budget Birmingham Centre – Inexpensive hotel near Birmingham New Street train station: link
Contact Us
If you have any questions about the event, please do not hesitate to contact us at piscopia@contacts.bham.ac.uk.
Organisers
This event is jointly run by the University of Birmingham (UoB) School of Mathematics Student Experience Team, EDI team and the local UoB Piscopia Committee, which is a part of the nationwide Piscopia Initiative aiming to encourage women and underrepresented genders to pursue a PhD in Mathematics.
The organisers are Stacey Law, Michael Dymond (Student Experience Team); Susana Gutiérrez, Simon Goodwin (EDI Team); Amy Tierney, Belinda Lombard, Kylie Savoye, Alexander Früh, Hibah Saddal (Local UoB Piscopia Committee).
Acknowledgements
We are grateful to the London Mathematical Society and the University of Birmingham for their financial support for this event.
Page last updated: 21/02/2026
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