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The WEIS Women Fellowship

NIEIS recognises that the absence of senior academic women in engineering and information sciences presents an intellectual and role model gap. To address this gap, and to enhance the research and collegiate experience of women at ANU, NIEIS has established a three-month Visiting Fellowship Program for academic women in engineering and information sciences. The program will link with other women in engineering programs for academic women, and undergraduate and postgraduate women such as PEERWISE, WISENet, and the FEIT Women's Network for undergraduate women.

The first Fellowship was awarded to Dr Anat Lerner, Head of the Computer Sciences Department at the Open University of Israel. Anat’s interests are in computer networking, especially routing protocols, frequency allocation problems, access control mechanisms, distance education, auctions, game theory, and the security aspects of computer networks. The Faculty of Economics and Commerce, with its research and teaching interests in e-commerce and information systems at the School of Business and Information Management, is a constituent member of NIEIS, and it supported Anat’s Fellowship. The Research School of Information Sciences and Engineering was able to provide office space and IT support to assist the Faculty.

The second Fellowship has been awarded to Professor Lesley Ward. Lesley is a mathematician. A graduate from ANU, she gained her PhD at Yale University, and now teaches at the small, selective, and technical Harvey Mudd College in the USA. The College is an undergraduate institution offering only Bachelor's degrees focused on mathematics, science, and engineering. Lesley has had extensive experience in encouraging and mentoring women at various levels in these disciplines, and while at ANU she is keen to investigate the further development of a mentoring program for women in engineering and information sciences.

During her fellowship she will be providing both technical seminars to colleagues and students in mathematical sciences, and colloquia to members of PEERWISE, WISENet, and the FEIT Women's Network.

The Mathematical Sciences Institute, a constituent member of NIEIS, supports Lesley's fellowship by providing office space, IT equipment and services, and the opportunity for her to share her research interests with academics and students in mathematical sciences.

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