Mon rapport sur l`école de Salta

LABORATOIRE D’ANALYSE ET DE MATHÉMATIQUES APPLIQUÉES
CNRS UMR 8050
Report on the CMPA Research School held in Salta, Argentina, 2-13 November 2015
Alain Damlamian
The Research School on “Dynamics on Cantor sets” was organized at the Universidad
Nacional de Salta by the Department of Mathematics, mainly by Jorge Yazlle and Camilo
Jadur, with Fabien Durand of the Université de Picardie as foreign co-organizer.
The Universidad Nacional de Salta is a young institution with limited funding in these times of
financial difficulties in Argentina. Nevertheless, the material conditions for the school were
excellent, in a large room with video projector as well as a large blackboard, and with wifi
access everywhere. The young participants were housed on Campus, while the speakers were
put up at the Hotel Presidente, in the center of the city (a twenty minute bus ride away), lunches
were taken on the Campus. Dinners were taken individually in town (except for the banquets);
each young participant received a Bus pass and appropriate cash for the dinners, and so did the
speakers (as well as the CIMPA representative !).
The program was very interesting, although perhaps a little too dense. The lecture notes were
made available in advance on the RS web site, and most young participants took advantage of
this capability. The speakers clearly made an effort to present the subject matter of the school
in a coherent way. And a special initiation course on the Software package SAGE was also
given in the computer lab in order to experiment with models.
The total number of young participants was 33, of whom 18 were from Argentina (10 from
Salta proper). The non Argentinians were supported by CIMPA for their local expenses and for
their travel, except for the Chilians whose travels were covered by a special grant from the
CMM of Santiago, Chile.
The local organizers made every effort so that the school be successful. For example, I
suggested to use a microphone on the very first day, and it was available for the next lecture.
The organizers passed around an evaluation sheet, which is always very instructive. It is clear
from the answers that the lectures were very much appreciated.
The organizers are also arranging for the publication of the lecture notes with Cambridge
University Press, which will be an excellent consequence of the school.
From the point of view of the CIMPA representative, the only somewhat negative point is the
fact that the attendance of the local participants from Salta was not as important and consistent
as could have been hoped for. Without doubt, this is connected to the heavy teaching load of
many of them, and also to the fact that some have teaching duties at extension sites of the
University, some of which are located far away (for example, Camilo Jadur, who is part of the
organizing committee, is the Dean and teaches at the extension of Metán - Rosario de la
U.M.L.V. : Cité Descartes- 5, boulevard Descartes – CHAMPS-SUR-MARNE- 77454 MARNE –LA-VALLÉE CEDEX 2
PARIS 12 Val-de-Marne : Faculté des Sciences et Technologies – 61, av. du Général de Gaulle – 94010 CRÉTEIL CEDEX
LABORATOIRE D’ANALYSE ET DE MATHÉMATIQUES APPLIQUÉES
CNRS UMR 8050
Frontera, more than two hours away by car). It may have been better to organize the RS at the
time of an academic break, but this is not always possible.
Annex: Financial expenses for CIMPA.
The agreement between CIMPA and the Argentinian ministry (MINCYT) was unexpectedly
suspended for economic reasons just before the beginning of the RS. This grant was supposed
to support the young Argentinian participants. A special grant of €4000 was given by CIMPA
to compensate for this unfortunate cancellation. This grant was handled directly by the
organizers (like for an EMALCA) and is not subjected to the same rules as the regular CIMPA
support.
Support of young participants from CIMPA’s contribution:
Travel and Dinners:
€3741
Lodging :
€4100
Miscelleneous:
€700
TOTAL; € 8541
Ratio of support for young participants: 71%
Other expenses:
The other expenses are indicated in the organizers’ financial report.
The total cost of the RS is 35700 €. The contribution of CIMPA (not counting the exceptional
grant to compensate for the MINCYT) is 33%. Including the special grant, it is 45%.
Globally, the share of the total expenses which was directly for young participants (from
Argentina and abroad) is about 50%.
Finally, on the personal level, I would like to thank Jorge Yazlle for the warm welcome and
great help he extended to me during my stay in Salta.
U.M.L.V. : Cité Descartes- 5, boulevard Descartes – CHAMPS-SUR-MARNE- 77454 MARNE –LA-VALLÉE CEDEX 2
PARIS 12 Val-de-Marne : Faculté des Sciences et Technologies – 61, av. du Général de Gaulle – 94010 CRÉTEIL CEDEX