The 2008 Graduate Student Topology Conference, March 2008

University Of Illinois At Urbana-Champaign, Urbana IL

Investigators

Abstract

Building upon the success of the tri-annual MidWest topology seminars, graduate students in Geometry and Topology from several MidWest institutions began an annual Graduate Student Topology Conference. Now in its sixth year, the University of Illinois will be hosting the conference in 2008. The plenary speakers will be Mike Hopkins from Harvard and Yael Karshon from Toronto. In addition, 27 talks by graduate students, run in parallel sessions, will be delivered. The grant is primarily to provide travel assistance for participants and speakers. The conference will run two days and provide ample opportunities for informal discussions and new introductions to occur. Historically, these conferences have provided an excellent opportunity for positive support and fruitful collaborations to begin. The result has often been to increase student's success rate both in school and during the critical transition soon after finishing ones doctorate. Because of the traditionally high participation rate among usually under represented demographics at these conferences combined with the conferences effectiveness as an aid to students during a critical transition period, partially supporting the approximately 160 participants is an effective investment in the science. The Graduate Student Topology Conference is a two-day event in which graduate students from across the country meet to share their work, gain experience presenting at conferences, and hear from some of the most distinguished geometry and topology professors in the nation. Now in its sixth year, the conference draws around 160 graduate students from across the United States. The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign will be hosting the conference in 2008, with grant funds primarily aimed at providing travel assistance for participants. The conference consists of twenty-seven talks given by graduate students, in addition to two plenary talks by visiting professors; this year the plenary talks are given by Mike Hopkins from Harvard University and Yael Karshon from the University of Toronto. Through its unique combination of research and expository talks, the Graduate Student Topology Conference creates a supportive environment to encourage future researchers and to allow them to make contacts amongst one-another that can lead to future collaboration. Additionally, the experience of presenting at a conference allows speakers to refine their speaking skills and grow into more effective communicators. The conference also encourages communication among different geographic regions. Participants come from very diverse schools all across the country and include graduate students at all years of study with a high participation rate among usually under represented demographics.