The third annual meeting of the Underrepresented Students in Topology and Algebra Research Symposium (USTARS) is to be held at Purdue University on April 19-21, 2013. The project was proposed in 2011 by a group of underrepresented graduate students in the University of Iowa Mathematics Department. The meeting is now largely run and organized by underrepresented recent math PhD. Speakers will give 30-minute research talks in various subfields of topology and algebra; these subfields include algebraic combinatorics, enumerative geometry, knot theory, and representation theory. Two distinguished graduate students will give an hour long presentation, one on a topological topic and one on an algebraic topic. Also one invited faculty member, Dr. Jennifer Vasquez of Scranton University, will give a one hour keynote address. Invited undergraduate participants will give poster presentations on algebraic and topological research topics.
USTARS promotes diversity within the mathematical community by providing a platform for collaboration and professional development. Participants are exposed to a variety of current research, ideas, and results, and meet underrepresented professors and students who will become future collaborators or colleagues. The conference also promotes diversity by encouraging women and minorities to attend and give talks. Indeed, the conference organizing committee is diverse in gender, ethnicity, and educational background, and hence is well-positioned to encourage participation from a diverse group of students. The participants of the USTARS continue to influence the next generation of students by serving as much needed mentors and encourage students in the mathematical sciences at all levels to advance themselves and participate in research and conference events. The conference website is www.ustars.org.
is a project proposed by a group of underrepresented young mathematicians. The conference organizing committee is diverse in gender, ethnicity, and educational background, and is well-positioned to actively encourage participation by women and minorities. This grant provided support for two successful meetings in April 2013 at Purdue University and April 2014 at University of California, Berkeley. With this funding we were able to provide full travel and housing support for the all participants to attend the event in April 2013 and for the past participants that are students at Purdue University to attend the event in April 2014. This support includes honorariums for the faculty speaker and the Distinguished Graduate Students. The primary goal of the symposium is to showcase the mathematical research being conducted by underrepresented graduate students. This was accomplished by structuring the meeting such that 18 speakers gave 30-minute parallel research talks focusing on research leading to their graduate theses. Atleast 16 of those speakers were graduate students. Topics included: combinatorics, braid groups, graph theory, knot theory, representation theory, number theory, and algebraic geometry. In addition to the parallel sessions, two distinguished graduate students and one invited faculty member were chosen to give 1-hour lectures and a poster session featuring invited undergraduates was also planned. The broader impact of this symposium is that graduate students who attend USTARS are better equipped to find academic positions and continue the cycle of research and collaboration. At this unique meeting, attendees are exposed to a greater variety of current research, ideas, and results, and meet students and early-career faculty who serve as potential collaborators and future colleagues.This is particularly important for students with great academic potential not attending top tier research institutions as these students are often overlooked, despite a strong faculty and graduate student population. USTARS promotes diversity in the mathematical sciences by encouraging women and minorities to attend and give talks. In 2012, 28% of the mathematics doctorates were awarded to women while 13.2% were awarded to minority students (Doctorate Recipients from U.S. Universities: 2012, Arlington, VA (NSF 14-305), December 2013). Those who are participants of USTARS continue to influence the next generation of students in positive ways by serving as much needed mentors and encouraging students in the mathematical sciences to advance themselves and participate in research and conference events. USTARS exposes all participants to the research and activities of underrepresented mathematicians, encouraging a more collaborative mathematics community.
