The ninth annual Graduate Student Topology and Geometry Conference is to be held April 2-3, 2011, at Michigan State University in East Lansing. The conference will take place over two days and involves more than 140 graduate students of all levels from all over the country. The conference will consist of: 1) 24-32 graduate student talks on expository and original research topics in geometry and topology; 2) Three plenary speakers who are prominent in their respective fields and excellent expositors: Ralph Cohen (Stanford), John Etnyre (Georgia Institute of Technology) and Karsten Grove (University of Notre Dame); 3) Four talks meant to introduce graduate students to a selection of open problems led by young faculty: Dave Futer (Temple University), Teena Gerhardt (Michigan State University), Matthew Hedden (Michigan State University) and Jean-Francois Lafont (Ohio State University). There will be talks in many subfields of topology and geometry, which may include hyperbolic geometry, three-manifolds, homotopy theory, symplectic geometry, dynamics, knot theory, category theory, Teichmuller theory, four-manifolds, differential topology, geometric group theory, and algebraic K-theory.
This conference provides a venue for communication among young mathematicians from different geographic regions. Participants come from dozens of different schools, and include graduate students at all years of study. Although there are many conferences dedicated to topology and geometry, this is the only one (that we are aware of) dedicated to graduate students. The experience of presenting at this conference allows graduate students to refine their speaking skills and grow into more effective communicators. Because of the opportunity to meet other students in related fields, the environment also encourages collaboration now and throughout the participants' careers. Additionally, both geometry and topology are growing mathematical fields with deep connections to many other areas of research, including dynamical systems, physics, computer science and mathematical biology. This conference serves to further communication about research in these areas, and to enable and encourage graduate students in these fields. More information about the conference can be found at http://math.msu.edu/related/gstgc/.
(GSTGC), with generous support from the National Science Foundation, was held April 2-3, 2011. Meeting at Michigan State University in East Lansing, Michigan, the GSTGC brought together 180 participants in the fields of topology and geometry for a weekend of talks by students, young faculty, and distinguished faculty. Starting from a small gathering of topology graduate students from Midwestern universities in 2003, the conference has expanded to include students from 61 institutions all over the US, Canada, and as far away as the UK and Korea. The primary goal of the GSTGC is to give students a chance to present their research to their peers. In addition to the 32 student expository and original talks on topics ranging from knot theory to hyperbolic geometry to geometric analysis, four young faculty speakers spoke on their areas of expertise with an emphasis on tractable open problems. Four distinguished speakers spoke about fundamental problems driving their fields, speculating on the future of their subjects. As well as allowing students to gain experience presenting their research, the GSTGC aims to connect students and faculty, and encourage relationships that will last throughout the research career. Suring lunch breaks and teas, students and faculty could be found using the common areas to discuss problems new and old. Next year's Tenth Annual GSTGC will be held at Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana. For abstracts of the talks from the Ninth Annual GSTGC and photos from the conference, see www.math.msu.edu/related/gstgc
