Fwd: Topology at the VU

[Timothy Porter <t.porter@bangor.ac.uk>]

Dear All,

This is something that the categorical community may feel strongly
about. I was circulated by the Alg Top List having initially been sent
to various other lists by people at Amsterdam.

Tim
--------------------------------
Dear ...

My university has put forward a plan to close the Geometry Section of
the department of mathematics. This means that 4 mathematicians - Jan
Dijkstra, Rob de Jeu, Dietrich Notbohm and Tilman Bauer - will lose
their jobs. For me personally there is no problem since I will take
early retirement by January 1, 2012. This I decided already more than
one year ago since I want to spend my remaining good years on
mathematics and nothing but mathematics and traveling around the
globe. But for my colleagues, this is a terrible disaster and it is
also a disaster for topology. You can help them by signing the
petition below by clicking on the link and follow the necessary steps.
Please forward this message to mathematicians in your community. We
need your help now. Only if many mathematicians will protest, this may
have an effect.
Best wishes,
Jan van Mill

http://www.gopetition.com/petitions/save-pure-mathematics-at-the-vu-university-amsterdam.html

As with most universities in the Netherlands, the VU University
Amsterdam suffers from financial underfunding. All faculties and all
departments at the VU are asked to take measures to deal with this
problem. For the Department of Mathematics a committee of applied
mathematicians has put forward a proposal to close the Geometry
Section, which consists of six tenured positions and focuses on
algebraic K-theory, algebraic topology, and general/geometric
topology. At the same time, some of the funds freed up by the
abolition of the Geometry Section are to be used for the creation of
two additional positions in the Analysis Section. This proposal has
received the endorsement of the Dean of the Faculty of Sciences and of
the Executive Board of the university. Two members of the Geometry
Section will retire in the next two years and closure of the section
will allow for termination of the other four tenured positions. Thus,
the proposal's drastic measures will merely cut the total number of
positions by two.
Of the four positions slated for termination, one is in
general/geometric topology and has been held since 2001 by Jan
Dijkstra. The other three people were appointed less than four years
ago: Dietrich Notbohm, Rob de Jeu, and Tilman Bauer. This introduced
algebraic K-theory and algebraic topology as new research subjects at
the VU. In 2010, a research evaluation of all Dutch mathematics
departments by an international committee took place. The committee
welcomed these changes very much, stating that strong young people
provided new impetus to the group in mainstream mathematics and
offered promise for the future.
What are the consequences of the closure of the Geometry Section for
the university? Algebra, algebraic topology, and general/geometric
topology will vanish. Algebraic K-theory and general/geometric
topology will cease to exist in the Netherlands, and only Utrecht will
be left with research in algebraic topology. No pure mathematicians
will be on the staff anymore. The university will give up central
areas of mathematics and adopt a narrow research profile. The
education of students offered at the VU will also become much
narrower, which may lead to a drop in the yearly intake of students,
and will certainly compromise the academic chances for VU graduates.
This petition asks for a reconsideration of this plan. By signing it
you will help to save the Geometry Section at the Department of
Mathematics at the VU!
Petition:
I appeal to the Department of Mathematics, the Faculty of Sciences,
and the Executive Board of the VU University Amsterdam to repeal the
plan to close the Geometry Section. Proceeding with the proposal as it
stands would severely damage the quality of research and teaching in
mathematics at the VU. Laying off capable tenured faculty and hiring
new faculty at the same time is intolerable.
**


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