Tag Archives: featured

Undergrad posts

Undergraduate math research

Here are some of our faculty members and their work providing undergrads with research experiences. Interest students are encouraged to contact the faculty member directly via email.
  • Monique Chyba has been working with undergraduates for many years, on drones, Covid, etc.
  • Elizabeth Gross has worked with undergraduate students on topics related to her research in algebraic geometry, algebraic statistics, and algebraic biology. 
  • Bjørn Kjos-Hanssen works with undergraduate researchers sponsored by UROP (Summer 2019, Spring 2023) and sponsored by Decision Research Corporation (Summers, 2020-2025)
  • Daisuke Takagi
    Possible research topics include the dynamics of bacteria and plankton, collecting and analyzing data from laboratory experiments, and mathematical modeling with differential equations.
    Here’s a link to his lab https://takagilab.com/
  • Sarah Widiasih Post has worked with undergraduate students on topics in mathematical physics, including projects supported by UROP on solitons and integrable systems.
  • Rufus Willett is interested in working with students on connections between linear algebra, topology, and analysis.
    Prerequisites will vary depending on the topic, but a good knowledge of the material in 307/311, 321, and 331 is important.
  • Malik Younsi worked with an undergraduate researcher sponsored by UROP (summer 2019)
  • Hailun Zheng is interested in working with students on topics concerning the combinatorics of polytopes or simplicial complexes. Student should have knowledge of linear algebra and maybe a bit about combinatorics or topology.
Students interested in undergraduate research might also consider Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REUs). A list is available here:  https://www.nsf.gov/crssprgm/reu/list_result.jsp?unitid=5044
Graduate posts

Graduate Research Communities in the Math Department

As part of a NSF Innovations in Graduate Education grant,  math faculty member Dr. Elizabeth Gross is currently running a “designed research community” for 7 PhD students.  The goal of this project is to help advance the careers of the PhD students by expanding their research networks, which can be a particular challenge for students in geographically isolated locations (like Hawaiʻi).  Four of the students come from our department:  Jose Esparza-Lozano, Kawika O’Connor, Udani Ranasinghe, and Christin Sum.  Three of the students are visiting:  Aviva Englander (University of Wisconsin), Devon Olds (North Carolina State University), and Bryan Currie (New Jersey Institute of Technology).  The seven students are collaborating on research, under Gross’s direction, on topics related to algebraic statistics and evolutionary biology. The students have been supported by Gross, as well as by Temporary Assistant Professor Max Hill and visiting researcher, Dr. Colby Long (Wooster College). 

As part of the program, the students are also engaged in professional development activities organized by faculty member and co-PI Dr. Daniel Erman, and co-hosted by many other math department faculty.  The program has also integrated other unique aspects of UH Mānoa into the program. The program included a visit to the Hawai`i Institute of Marine Biology for a Math-Bio Symposium, co-organized by Gross and Dr. Lisa McManus (HIMB), where graduate students and postdocs shared their research in an interdisciplinary setting, and in the coming weeks, will include a discussion lead by Stacey Potes (College of Education) on “Designing Culturally Responsive, Place-Based Mathematics Curricula in Hawaiʻi.”

People, Research

Erman grant on mathematics inspired by mirror symmetry

UH News has written an article by Daniel Erman’s collaborative NSF Focused Research Group grant on “Multigraded Commutative
Algebra, Toric Varieties, and Homological Mirror Symmetry.” The grant is for $1.5M across six different institutions: UH Mānoa, Auburn University, University of Minnesota, University of South Carolina, University of Southern California, and University of Oregon.

While the grant is primarily focused on collaborative research among the group of 7 PI’s, it will also support opportunities for early-career researchers and students, including workshops, graduate student support, and a postdoctoral fellow at UH Mānoa from 2025-2028.

You can read more about this project through the UH News Article.