The 2020 Graduate Student Topology and Geometry Conference

Indiana University, Bloomington IN

Investigators

Abstract

The 2020 Graduate Student Topology and Geometry Conference will be held on April 11-12, 2020 at Indiana University Bloomington. This conference will advance knowledge by exposing graduate students to a variety of research topics, stimulating new collaborations and connections between fields in geometry and topology. Furthermore, it will provide an inclusive space for graduate students to present their work, learn about the current research being done in related fields, and network with their peers and faculty members in an environment that fosters these interactions. Specifically, new graduate students will get a first taste of the nature of research, as well as an overview of a variety of topics that might not be covered at their home institutions. More advanced graduate students will present ongoing research, which will open doors towards progress on unsolved problems, foster bridges between different areas and potentially initiate new collaborations among young mathematicians. Additionally, faculty speakers will inform the participants of the current state of progress in their fields. Furthermore, the conference will offer a safe and inclusive space for graduate students of all levels, representing and encouraging under-represented minorities in these fields and welcoming everyone regardless of race, gender, or sexual orientation. The conference will involve about 200 graduate students of all levels from all over the country. The conference will consist of: 28 graduate students giving 30 minute talks on expository and original research topics in geometry/topology; 20 graduate students giving 5 minute lightning talks on original research topics in geometry/topology; 3 plenary speakers who are all prominent in their respective fields and excellent expositors: Ciprian Manolescu (Stanford) in geometric topology, Sarah Koch (University of Michigan) in geometry, and Brooke Shipley (University of Illinois at Chicago) in algebraic topology; 6 young faculty speakers: Lisa Piccirillo (Brandeis University), Bahar Acu (Northwestern University), Viveka Erlandsson (University of Bristol), Dami Lee (University of Washington), Sarah Yeakel (University of Maryland), Inna Zakharevich (Cornell University). The talks in this conference will cover various active fields in topology and geometry and will be aimed at graduate students from a variety of fields. The conference is structured on three main areas of research: geometric topology, geometry, and algebraic topology. This structure is reflected on the choice of faculty speakers. Their research areas include low-dimensional topology, symplectic topology, contact topology, Bers-Teichmuller theory, rational maps, mapping class groups, minimal surfaces, complex dynamics, hyperbolic geometry, curve counting, chromatic homotopy theory, equivariant homotopy theory, fixed point theory, category theory, topological modular forms, and algebraic K-theory. The graduate student talks will cover further active areas of geometry and topology. A myriad of new developments and specializations have emerged within the past few decades. The conference will provide graduate students the opportunity to learn about the frontiers of current research and corresponding open problems that are not represented by faculty interests at their home institutions. More details are available at https://gstgc20.sitehost.iu.edu/ This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.