20/07/2021

Karen Uhlenbeck advocates for support among women scientists.

Crédito: Reprodução

Mathematician Karen Uhlenbeck faced considerable resistance early in her career in a male-dominated field and believes that female scientists should support each other . In an interview organized by the National Institute of Science and Technology of Mathematics (INCTMat), the American researcher, the only woman to win the Abel Prize, spoke about the challenges women face in science, collaborations with Latin American countries, as well as her academic career and research. The online event, which was supported by IMPA, is available in its entirety on YouTube . The interview was conducted by professors Jaqueline Mesquita (UnB), María Amelia Salazar (UFF), Miriam da Silva Pereira (UFPB), and graduate student Patrícia Ewald (USP-SP).

Professor Emerita at the University of Texas at Austin (USA) and Senior Visiting Researcher at Princeton University and the Institute for Advanced Study (IAS), Karen transformed the landscape of mathematics with her work in geometric analysis and gauge theory. Throughout her career, she has received numerous awards and recognitions, including the Abel Prize. She is also seen as a role model in advocating for gender equality in science and mathematics. She was one of the founders of The Women and Mathematics Program, created in the 1990s to recruit women for mathematical research at all stages of their careers.

Karen recounted that, being a woman, she faced considerable resistance at the beginning of her professional career. But she also benefited from the struggle of the feminist movement of the time and the interest of the American government in investing in mathematics and science after Russia launched the first satellite into orbit, Sputnik, in 1957, in the midst of the Cold War.

“The government believed that encouraging research in this area was so important that it said, ‘We even want women and minorities.’ In the 70s and 80s, I was the only female professor in one of the leading mathematics departments in the United States, and I felt a lack of support. Therefore, I felt I should help other professionals who were also very isolated. When I went to the University of Texas, I immediately formed a group with all the women in mathematics, engineering, and science. For me, the main point is: don't try to solve the problem alone,” argues the American.

In the interview, the researcher also spoke about the relevance of IMPA to the study of mathematics in Brazil and Latin America. "From an early age, I always thought of Brazil as an important place to do mathematics, particularly IMPA. I studied Global Analysis, which includes Dynamical Systems, and IMPA was a very relevant place in the study of this area," she recalls.