RTG: Commutative Algebra at Nebraska (2024–2029)

Faculty

Eloisa Grifo Brian Harbourne Jack Jeffries
Eloísa Grifo Brian Harbourne Jack Jeffries
Tom Marley Alexandra Seceleanu Mark Walker
Tom Marley Alexandra Seceleanu Mark Walker


The NSF RTG Grant DMS-2342256 Commutative Algebra at Nebraska supports activities for undergraduates, graduate students, and postdocs in commutative algebra. More about the activities supported by this RTG grant can be found on our YouTube Channel.

Post-doctoral Trainees

Adam LaClair
Adam LaClair


RTG Graduate Trainees

  • Fall 2024: Taylor Murray (advisor: Jack Jeffries)
  • Fall 2024: Zach Nason (advisor: Tom Marley)
  • Spring 2025: Sabrina Fowler (advisor: Eloísa Grifo)
  • Spring 2025: Shah Roshan Zamir (advisor: Alexandra Seceleanu)
  • Summer 2025: Kara Fagerstrom (advisor: Alexandra Seceleanu)
  • Summer 2025: Robert Ireland (advisor: Eloísa Grifo)
  • Summer 2025: Ben Katz (advisor: Mark Walker)
  • Summer 2025: Stephen Stern (advisor: Brian Harbourne)
  • Summer 2025: Ryan Watson (advisor: Eloísa Grifo)
  • Summer 2025: Shah Zamir (advisor: Alexandra Seceleanu)
  • Fall 2025: Julianne Faur (advisor: Eloísa Grifo)
  • Fall 2025: Ryan Watson (advisor: Eloísa Grifo)
  • Spring 2026: Kara Fagerstrom (advisor: Alexandra Seceleanu)
  • Spring 2026: Ben Katz (advisor: Mark Walker)
    • Videos produced by our RTG Graduate Trainees



    Programs

    RTG Seminar

    Each RTG postdoc will run a year-long research seminar in their second year (years 2, 3, and 5), vertically integrating their research and teaching activities with those of our faculty and graduate trainees. The RTG seminar will have a year-long focus on an area of current interest. The Fall semester will be centered on covering the background, and the Spring semester will be a workshop in which students, postdocs, and faculty work together on research problems. The goal will be to publish original results or expository papers in a suitable journal, with work continuing beyond the academic year. Participants will produce materials to be publicly shared on the RTG website, including lecture notes from seminar talks. The RTG postdoc will co-direct their RTG seminar with a faculty member. They will choose a topic in which the postdoc has some experience, and they will co-direct the discussions and the selection of problems to consider. The postdoc will gain experience as a research mentor for students. By including others in their program, the RTG seminar will accelerate the postdoc's research; the faculty advisor will help ensure that the postdoc is not sacrificing their own research program in the process. Participation in the RTG seminar will be open to anyone who is interested, though RTG graduate trainees will take a central role and be required to give talks. The co-directors will help students prepare their talks. This will help graduate students transition from learning to research, further their communication skills, and help advanced students expand the breadth of their research.

    Big CMinar

    For the first half of the spring semester 2025, we ran a working seminar on Big Cohen-Macaulay modules.

    Commutative Algebra Seminar

    The UNL Commutative Algebra seminar meets every Wednesday at 3:30 pm.

    Commutative Algebra and Adjacent Book-club Session (CAABS)

    The Commutative Algebra and Adjacent Book-club Session (CAABS) meets every Tuesday at 9:00 am.

    RTG sponsored visitors

    Professional Development Workshop

    In 2025, 2027, and 2029, we will host Summer CAMP, a workshop for graduate students and postdocs in algebra (broadly construed) from across the US. We will focus on professional development with the aim of equipping participants with practical tools they need to be as competitive as possible in the job market, both for academic and nonacademic career paths. Activities will include workshops on curating websites, creating job application materials, crafting elevator pitches for mathematicians and the general public, and framing the broader impacts of one's research within societal and world challenges. It will also include panels with junior and senior faculty members, including someone who has served on a search committee, and a nonacademic mathematician.

    International REU

    This REU will be held at CIMAT, in Guanajuato, Mexico, in Summer 2025 and Summer 2028. This eight-week program will enable 10 US citizen undergraduate students recruited from institutions across the US to interact with commutative algebra experts from the US and Mexico and experience international research collaboration.


    Participants and mentors in the 2025 International REU in Commutative Algebra

    First Generation First Year Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU)

    Each summer, four undergraduates who are first generation college students will participate in a 4-week long program. Students will be introduced to the basics of proof writing, coding, and relevant foundational material, and work on a small research question. Preference will be given to incoming freshmen, with the goal of maximizing retention. The REU students will be primarily guided by two of the RTG Graduate Trainees, with support from a faculty member. Several of our current graduate students are first generation college students, and they would be excellent role models and mentors for the REU students; this will also be a professional development opportunity for the RTG Trainees.


    Participants in the 2025 FGFY REU