EMSW21-RTG: Training Students in Geometry and Topology at Stanford University

Stanford University, Stanford CA

Investigators

Abstract

The goal of this project is to enhance the education of students in the areas of geometry and topology at Stanford by providing them with interactive forums in which to broaden their knowledge and by providing them with the time, through financial support, to participate in those forums. Stanford has a broad and active research group in geometry and topology with researchers in geometric analysis, differential geometry and minimal surfaces, symplectic geometry and topology, low-dimensional topology and hyperbolic geometry, geometric and algebraic topology, and algebraic geometry. Aside from the breadth of fields covered, the Stanford research group in geometry and topology is connected by a network of overlapping interests and activities. The purpose of this project is to attract students into this group and to allow them to more fully benefit from the broad expertise it represents. In order to facilitate the interaction between students and faculty representing these varied interests, specific seminars are planned. These will be run by senior faculty members and will involve graduate students, postdoctoral researchers, and, in some cases, advanced undergraduates, who are interested in these fields. Examples of such seminars include the following: 1) Classics seminar: Students will present, under the supervision of a faculty member, various ``classical papers" that transformed their respective areas of mathematics. 2) Progress seminar: More advanced graduate students and postdoctoral researchers will discuss their work in detail, as they are working on it. 3) Physics for mathematicians seminar: Geometry/topology students will study a relevant area of Physics under the joint supervision of the Mathematics and Physics faculty. The proposal is designed to bring more US citizens/permanent residents to the Stanford graduate program in mathematics. Special attention will be given to attracting more women and minorities to the program. The activities proposed here should also increase the size and improve the quality of the pool of Stanford undergraduates who go to graduate programs at US universities; the majority of these students are US citizens or permanent residents.