-----Original Message-----
From: Mason A. Porter [mailto:mason@its.caltech.edu] 
Sent: 14 September 2006 00:25
To: Vacancies
Cc: Mason A. Porter
Subject: application for applied mathematics lecturer (BK/06/014) --
Porter, MA

Dear Hiring Committee:

I am sending this e-mail (with requested documents attached) to apply
for a tenure-track (assistant professor) position in applied mathematics
at the University of Oxford (reference number BK/06/014).

My research interests lie in applied mathematics and nonlinear dynamical
systems. In particular, I use techniques from dynamical systems and
perturbation theory to study phenomena in physics and other disciplines.

During my postdoctoral career at Caltech and Georgia Tech, my main
research thrust has been the study of nonlinear Schr\"odinger equations
and their applications to Bose-Einstein condensation and optics.  I have
also spent a lot of time investigating community-detection techniques in
real-world networks.  In the past few years, I have also advised more
than twenty undergraduate students in research projects, covering topics
in theoretical ecology, billiard systems, quantum chaos, pattern
formation, and complex networks (among other subjects). For my doctoral
dissertation, which I completed in May 2002 in Cornell University's
Center for Applied Mathematics, I studied quantum billiards with
time-dependent boundaries, which provide a mixed quantum-classical
description for the dynamics of small polyatomic molecules.

I would fit in particularly well at Oxford.  One a very general level,
my interests in so-called "physical applied mathematics" tend to fit
better with the organization of applied mathematics groups under the
British system as opposed to the American system.  More specifically, my
research interests in applied dynamical systems and nonlinear science
fall directly within two of the listed specialties of the OCIAM.  (I
also overlap substantially with 'Differential Equations and
Applications', with other research groups in the department, such as the
mathematical physics group, and with groups in other departments, such
as the theoretical condensed matter and ultracold matter groups in the
physics department.) To mention a few specific OCIAM faculty with whom I
envision possible collaboration, I share research interests with Jon
Chapman, Andrew Fowler, John Norbury and John Ockendon.

With respect to teaching and mentoring, I have taught a variety of
courses, including an advanced undergraduate course in mathematical
modeling that I have developed.  As I indicated above, I have also been
very active in the supervision of undergraduate research and this is
something that I think would work very well at Oxford as part of my
Tutorial Fellowship role at Somerville College (both in terms of formal
research and in terms of more informal interactions/discussions).  It is
very important for faculty to be accessible to students, and close
interactions with talented students is one of my favorite aspects of
academia.  The chance to play this kind of role at Somerville is
extremely appealing to me.

In addition to this e-mail, my application package includes a curriculum
vitae, a list of publications, and discussions of my research program
and teaching experience. (These are attached in .pdf format.)  My online
portfolio also includes several reprints and preprints, which are also
available at http://www.its.caltech.edu/~mason/papers.  I describe my
research projects in further detail at
http://www.its.caltech.edu/~mason/research.

I have solicited letters of recommendation from the following
mathematicians and physicists who know my work:

\item{Leonid A. Bunimovich (bunimovh@math.gatech.edu, 404-894-4748
[office], 404-894-4409 [fax]), Regents' Professor, Mathematics; Member,
Center for Nonlinear Science; and Director, Southeastern Applied
Analysis Center, Georgia Tech}

\item{Predrag Cvitanovi\'c (predrag@cns.physics.gatech.edu, 404-385-2502
[office], 404-385-2506 [fax]), Professor, Physics and Director, Center
for Nonlinear Science, Georgia Tech}

\item{Panayotis G. Kevrekidis (kevrekid@math.umass.edu, 413-577-1977
[office], 413-545-1801 [fax]), Associate Professor, Department of
Mathematics \& Statistics, University of Massachusetts, Amherst}

\item{Peter J. Mucha (mucha@unc.edu, 919-843-2550 [office], 919-962-9345
[fax], Assistant Professor, Department of Mathematics and Institute for
Advanced Materials, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill}

\item{Mark E. J. Newman (mejn@umich.edu, 734-764-4223 [office],
734-763-9694 [fax]), Associate Professor, Physics and Complex Systems,
University of Michigan and External Faculty, Santa Fe Institute}

\item{Michael T. Lacey (lacey@math.gatech.edu, 404-894-9237 [office],
404-894-4409 [fax]), Professor, Mathematics and former Undergraduate
Coordinater, Mathematics, Georgia Tech [teaching reference]}

Thank you very much for considering my application.  I look forward to
hearing from you in the near future.

(P.S. Please confirm the receipt of this letter of application and the
attached documents.)

Sincerely,


Mason A. Porter

Postdoctoral Scholar
Center for the Physics of Information
California Institute of Technology

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Mason