Student Seminars

Below is a list of various student-run seminars held in the Math Department. Many of these seminars can be taken as a 1-credit hour course (see MyPurdue to check). If you are organizing a seminar and would like it to be added to this list, contact us, and we'd be happy to add it!

If you are interested in the student-led seminars, please join us in the Discord here.

Student Colloquium

• Organizer: Ruiping Zhou — zou159@purdue.edu

• Website: https://rzou-shtuka.github.io/PurdueMathStudentColloquiumFall2026/

• When/Where: Wednesdays 4:30–5:20 PM, UNIV 129

• A relaxed and friendly place for graduate students to share mathematics, learn about what others are working on, and gain experience giving talks. Students from all areas and at all stages are very welcome.

Bridge to Research

• Organizer: Jelena Mojsilovic — jmojsilo@purdue.edu

• When/Where: Mondays 4:30–5:20 PM, PHYS 111

• A graduate student seminar providing Math Department faculty the space to give an introduction to their research. Especially useful for graduate students in search of their area and/or advisor. All are welcome.

Basic Skills Workshop

• Organizer: Julia Garner — garner54@purdue.edu

• When/Where: Not listed

• Founded in 2012 as part of Purdue's Association for Women in Mathematics by Lidia Mrad, to provide workshops giving graduate students skills outside the traditional academic setting — navigating graduate school, teaching, career planning, using technology for professional purposes, etc. Students can register for it as a one-credit-hour seminar course during the fall and spring semesters.

SCAM Lunch Seminar

• Organizers: Cesar Herrera, Jeffrey Utley, Stanley Gao — herre125@purdue.edu, utleyj@purdue.edu, gao757@purdue.edu

• When/Where: Fridays 11:30–12:20, UNIV 129

• Website: https://sites.google.com/view/purdue-scam-seminar/home

• Offers an opportunity for graduate students to present 20-minute talks on topics related to numerical analysis, computational and applied mathematics. Providing feedback is a key component, as the seminar aims to help students improve their presentations.

Student Operator Algebras Seminar

• Organizers: Alejandro Cano, Chrisil Ouseph — cano13@purdue.edu, couseph@purdue.edu

• Website: https://sites.google.com/view/alejandrocano/student-operator-algebras-seminar

• When/Where: Not listed

• Aims to ignite interest in the field of operator algebras, introducing participants to a diverse range of topics within C*-algebra and von Neumann algebra theory. The goal is to foster a vibrant community where graduate students from various disciplines can attend, learn, and engage with results, concepts, and tools that intersect with their own research and coursework.

Student Algebraic Geometry Seminar

• Organizers: Luke Miga, Reya Seyedpour — lmiga@purdue.edu, rseyedpo@purdue.edu

• When/Where: Not listed

• Student-led presentations on algebraic varieties. Much of the material will be accessible to students learning AG.

Ideal Conversations

• Organizer: Ben Mudrak — bmudrak@purdue.edu

• Website: https://sites.google.com/view/ideal-conversations/home

• When/Where: Not listed

• For anyone who wishes to participate in discussions or give talks on any topic related to commutative algebra or related fields.

Logic and Model Theory Seminar

• Organizer: Michael Poole — poole51@purdue.edu

• When/Where: Not listed — an organizational meeting will be held first

• Plans to host talks on the research of the current logic and model theory students, and also expository/introductory talks. There might also be a reading group. This is a new seminar.

Topolodays

• Organizers: Sarah Anderson, Geoffrey Baring — ande1324@purdue.edu, gbaring@purdue.edu

• When/Where: Not listed

• The primary mission is to create a welcoming and inclusive environment for all students who are interested in topology. Talks from grad students in all things topological, and sometimes food and topological activities.

Geometry & Topology Reading Seminar

• Organizer: Geoffrey Baring — gbaring@purdue.edu

• When/Where: Not listed

• This semester the plan is learning about foliations together — a rich object with many applications in geometry, topology, and group theory. The organizer is open to different topics for future semesters.

Homotopy & Higher Structures

• Organizers: Zhiheng Deng, Andy Yu — deng382@purdue.edu, yu1650@purdue.edu

• When/Where: Not listed

• This semester it will be a learning seminar focused on operads and iterated loop spaces, with the recognition principle for iterated loop spaces as the main goal.

ComQuaT (Quantum Topology Student Seminar)

• Organizers: Ashton Keith, Phil Rehwinkel — keith41@purdue.edu, prehwink@purdue.edu

• When/Where: Not listed

• Aims to introduce the active field of quantum topology, a blend of math and physics with applications to quantum computing. This semester the focus is skein modules and their connections to quantum groups and low-dimensional topology.

Graduate Student Analysis Seminar

• Organizers: Nicholas Dominic, Mandon Pathak — ngismond@purdue.edu, pathak30@purdue.edu

• When/Where: Weekly; day and room not listed

• Students voluntarily give talks (up to 50 minutes) on analysis topics of their interest, or research area. All analysis enjoyers may convene. Topics may include, but are not limited to:

  1. Harmonic analysis

  2. Partial differential equations

  3. Inverse problems

  4. Functional analysis

  5. Operator algebras

  6. Complex analysis

  7. Analytic number theory/combinatorics

  8. Geometric analysis

  9. Applied math

  10. Even probability

Student Geometric Representation Theory Seminar

• Organizers: Kyungtak Hong, Vinit Sinha — hong420@purdue.edu, sinha175@purdue.edu

• When/Where: Once a week for about two hours; day and room not listed

• A continuation of the learning seminar held last academic year. Participants are currently following Humphreys' Linear Algebraic Groups and will be starting with Section 23. The structure is based on participants taking turns preparing and giving talks on the scheduled sections.