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Gender gaps are progressively narrowing as more women decide to develop a scientific career in this area of knowledge
In an unprecedented milestone, in the course of a couple of weeks, two women graduated from the Doctorate Program in Applied Sciences with a mention in Mathematical Engineering from the University of Concepción, UdeC, who developed their research under the direction of the Dr. Raimund Burgeracademic of that university and principal investigator and coordinator of the Group of Numerical Analysis of Partial Differential Equations, AN of EDPs, of the Mathematical Modeling CenterCMM, from the University of Chile.
Is about Yissedt Lara Diaz Y Yolanda Vasquez Bernal, who defended their research theses on Wednesday, June 15 and Thursday, June 30, respectively. “Both have done an excellent job, which is reflected in the qualification of their thesis work for the best grade, the quantity and quality of publications generated in each case, the relevance of their respective thesis projects in the current context and the contribution to the strengthening of collaboration networks”, highlighted Dr. Bürger, also Deputy Director of the Center for Research in Mathematical Engineering, CI²MA, UdeC.
Yissedt Lara, who developed the thesis entitled Identification of parameters and applications of phenomenological and mechanistic models of epidemic outbreaks explains that “during my thesis work, studies were developed that allowed assessing the good behavior of the different epidemiological models when capturing patterns of epidemic growth or certain propagations.”
“This, continues Dr. Lara, “was done by evaluating the estimation of certain parameters of interest, with the adjustment of real and simulated data. Later, with the need presented by the spread of SARS-CoV-2 in the world, we had the opportunity to apply the models worked on, to the Colombian data.
Finally, my study extends to mechanistic models, where more dynamics and consequently more parameters are involved, the study of identifiability and sensitivity of the parameters to be estimated being challenging, for which we propose a computational adaptation for such analyses, being a computational time is difficult, which is why we want to continue with the research and apply stochastic or Bayesian tools for these studies, which does not open the door to developing links with statistical applications”.
Meanwhile, the thesis developed by Yolanda Vásquez is entitled Conservation laws with discontinuous flow modeling buoyancy columns. On the problem she addresses, the new Dr. explains that “Froth flotation is commonly used in mineral processing for the recovery of valuable minerals, such as copper and lead, from low-grade ores; and in industrial wastewater treatment, to remove contaminants that would otherwise be difficult to separate such as floating solids, residual chemicals, and oil and grease droplets.”
“Our main result”, he deepens, “is a mathematical model expressed as a system of partial differential equations that describes the behavior of three phases (solid, gas, liquid) in a flotation column; as well as obtaining desired steady states (for bubbles and solids) characterized in operation tables, which allow us to obtain desired results and not waste resources on trial/error methods. Another important result was the extension of the model to one that includes the drainage of liquid due to capillarity, making this a model a little closer to reality”.
Regarding the coincidence that two women graduated with such a few days difference from the same program, Yolanda highlighted that “with Yissedt, we have been office partners for almost the entire doctorate, and sharing this final stage with her and seeing how our goals are met is very significant for me, since during almost all this process we were two women in a field where there are almost always more men; and, despite this, we were able to make our contribution, each one in her area.
Two more women have now joined the program, I think it is a challenge to incorporate more people, I hope that our experience will serve as motivation for them to continue to be encouraged to do research at the doctoral level”.
In this regard, Yissedt stated “very happy to be able to share this achievement with Dr. Vásquez, since with her we managed to develop a bond of friendship, and on many occasions we had to deal with and overcome some difficulties, typical of the life of a student. doctorate abroad.
The little difference in our graduation dates has made us the doctorate generation with the most women graduating. I hope it will be something that happens more frequently, and I invite women scientists to be part of this doctorate. I know that the barrier is still great, and permanence, especially for women, is more difficult, but little by little, with the support and precedent of other women, we are balancing and demonstrating our contributions in the applied area”.
A similar opinion is held in this regard by the current doctoral student and member of the Gender Committee of the CMM, Yessennia Martinez Martinez. “I am happy that Yissedt and Yolanda have graduated. I believe that her degree encourages more women to join the doctoral program, in order to reduce the gap between men and women, both in mathematical doctoral programs and in the future in their jobs”. 
“Currently we are two women students in the program, for which I call for more women to join this challenge that, although it is hard, is not unattainable, and this is demonstrated by the recent graduates,” added the doctoral student.
Regarding his experience as a doctoral student, Yissedt highlighted that “it was a cycle in which I learned and grew both professionally and personally, since I was allowed to develop solid knowledge, as well as skills, especially in scientific communication, since I had the opportunity to collaborate with researchers from other countries and from other lines of research, so this opened up a path of possibilities for me to continue collaborating and contributing”.
In the same vein, Yolanda highlighted that “one of the most important aspects of the doctorate is the strong international collaboration that allowed us as students to do internships at different universities, in which we were able to create ties with other research groups.” 
Prof. Bürger also thanked “the contribution of the thesis co-supervisors: Dr. Gerardo Chowell, academic from the School of Public Health of the Georgia State University in Atlanta, USA, in the case of Yissedt ; and colleagues Dr. Stefan Diehl from the Center of Mathematical Sciences at Lund University, Sweden, and Dr. Mari Carmen Martí from the Department of Mathematics at the University of Valencia, Spain, who were Yolanda’s thesis co-supervisors”.
Yissedt Lara’s studies have been funded by ANID (Chile), ANID-PCHA/Doctorado Nacional/2019-21190640; and those of Yolanda Vásquez by SENACYT (Panama). In addition, they had the support of the ANID Fondecyt projects 1170473 and 1210610, ANID/ACT210030, CRHIAM (ANID/Fondap/15130015), and the Center for Mathematical Modeling (CMM; Basal Project FB210005).
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