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


This is the webpage for the Commutative Algebra research group at Nebraska. 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.

Postdocs

Adam LaClair Lauren Cranton Heller Anna Brosowsky
Adam LaClair
NSF RTG Postdoc
Lauren Cranton Heller
NSF Postdoc Fellow
Anna Brosowsky
NSF Postdoc Fellow


Graduate Students

  • Danny Anderson (advisor: Mark Walker)
  • Kara Fagerstrom, RTG Graduate Trainee Summer 2025 and Spring 2026 (advisor: Alexandra Seceleanu)
  • Julianne Faur, RTG Graduate Trainee in Fall 2025 (advisor: Eloísa Grifo)
  • Sabrina Fowler, RTG Graduate Trainee Spring 2025 (advisor: Eloísa Grifo)
  • Juliann Geraci (advisor: Alexandra Seceleanu)
  • Ben Huenemann (advisor: Alexandra Seceleanu)
  • Robert Ireland, RTG Graduate Trainee Summer 2025 (advisor: Eloísa Grifo)
  • Ben Katz, RTG Graduate Trainee Summer 2025 and Spring 2026 (advisor: Mark Walker)
  • Kesavan Mohana Sundaram (advisor: Eloísa and Jack Jeffries)
  • Abbey Moos (advisor: Tom Marley)
  • Sara Mueller (advisor: Tom Marley)
  • Taylor Murray, RTG Graduate Trainee Fall 2024 (advisor: Jack Jeffries)
  • Zach Nason, RTG Graduate Trainee Fall 2024 (advisor: Tom Marley)
  • Ana Podariu (advisor: Alexandra Seceleanu)
  • Stephen Stern, RTG Graduate Trainee Summer 2025 and Spring 2026 (advisor: Brian Harbourne)
  • Uyen Tran (advisor: Mark Walker)
  • Noah Walker (advisor: Alexandra Seceleanu)
  • Ryan Watson, RTG Graduate Trainee Summer 2025, Fall 2025 (advisor: Eloísa Grifo)
  • Nicole Xie (advisor: Jack Jeffries)
  • Cleve Young, NSF Graduate Fellow (advisor: Jack Jeffries)
    • Videos produced by our RTG Graduate Trainees

    Past Graduate Students (since 2025)

  • Jordan Barrett (advisor: Jack Jeffries). Now a lecturer at the University of Oklahoma.
  • Nawaj KC (advisor: Jack Jeffries and Mark Walker). Now a postdoc at the University of Utah.
  • Shah Roshan Zamir, RTG Graduate Trainee Spring 2025 and Summer 2025 (advisor: Alexandra Seceleanu). Now a postdoc at Tulane University.


    • 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.

    The Spring 2026 installment of the RTG Seminar will be run by Adam LaClair on the topic of Koszul algebras.

    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 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