This project is to support a Binghamton University Graduate Conference in Algebra and Topology(BUGCAT) which is a venue for algebra and topology graduate students in all stages of their research to present their work and meet other mathematicians with related research interests. This year it will be a two-day conference on the Binghamton University campus during November 6-7, 2010. Participants will include graduate students at all levels, postdocs, and professors. Approximately 150 participants are expected, with about 100 of them traveling from outside of a one-hour-driving radius from Binghamton. The aim of the conference is to provide a comfortable environment for graduate students from a diversity of backgrounds and schools to share their research. Graduate students will have the priority for talk space. In addition, Moon Duchin from the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor and Richard Foote from the University of Vermont at Burlington will serve as keynote speakers at the conference. Participation from all areas of topology and algebra is encouraged.
The conference strives to strengthen the sense of academic community among mathematics graduate students. Besides giving exposure to the research of advanced graduate students, the conference is an invaluable opportunity for students who have not chosen a research area yet to explore what topics are currently being fruitfully studied. The faculty members who attend serve an essential role in both providing new ideas as well as probing the ideas of graduate students, suggesting ideas for future study, and encouraging students to meet and work with people interested in their areas of research. Graduate students who attend the BUGCAT are better equipped to find academic positions and continue research and collaboration. The conference also promotes diversity in the mathematical sciences, both by encouraging women and minorities to attend and by encouraging participation from a broad range of graduate programs. The conference organizing committee, all graduate students, is remarkably diverse in gender, ethnicity, and background, and hence is well positioned to encourage participation by women and minorities.
The Binghamton University Graduate Conference in Algebra and Topology (BUGCAT) is a venue for math graduate students specializing in algebra or topology to present their work and meet other mathematicians with related research interests. The aim of the conference is to provide a comfortable environment for graduate students from a diversity of backgrounds and schools to share their research. Graduate students are given priority for talk space. In addition, there are two keynote speakers--one in algebra and one in topology. Participation from all areas of topology and algebra is encouraged. The conference strives to strengthen the sense of academic community among mathematics graduate students. Besides giving exposure to the research of advanced graduate students, the conference is an invaluable opportunity for students who have not chosen a research area yet to explore what topics are currently being fruitfully studied. The faculty members who attend serve an essential role in both providing new ideas as well as probing the ideas of graduate students, suggesting ideas for future study, and encouraging students to meet and work with people interested in their areas of research. Graduate students who attend the BUGCAT are better equipped to find academic positions and continue research and collaboration. The conference also promotes diversity in the mathematical sciences, both by encouraging women and minorities to attend and by encouraging participation from a broad range of graduate programs. The conference organizing committee, all graduate students, is remarkably diverse in gender, ethnicity, and background, and hence is well positioned to encourage participation by women and minorities. The third annual BUGCAT took place November 6th and 7th, 2010, on the Binghamton University campus and was supported by NSF Grant No. DMS1066160 as well as the Binghamton University Mathematical Sciences Department. With 140 participants from 32 colleges and universities, the conference was a great success. There were thirty-seven presentations at this 2-day conference, for which Moon Duchin of the University of Michigan and Richard Foote from the University of Vermont were the keynote speakers. Over 78% of speakers were graduate students. Approximately 28% of speakers were women, and about 10% of speakers were underrepresented minorities. The conference was also diverse in terms of international participants. Two students represented non-US institutions in Tunisia and Malaysia, and there were many more international attendees representing US institutions. Those participants were from China, Macedonia, Russia, Poland, Germany, India, Albania, Ukraine, Colombia, Morocco, Turkey, and more.
